Help merchants maximize their revenue

Merchants can authorize and secure an estimated amount before customers receive their goods or services to help reduce payment risk.

Enhance your payment offering

Provide value-added authorization services so you can attract and retain merchants.

Facilitate innovation

Offer merchants a flexible authorization framework so they can innovate and adapt based on their specific needs.

Reduce risk of non-payment

Protect business from non-payment by securing funds early, helping prevent losses from customers with insufficient funds or those that avoid payment.

Smooth customer journey

Enable a smoother, more predictable purchasing experience by securing funds for estimated amounts at the start of the transaction. As customers continue to receive goods or services, you can easily add incremental amounts without interrupting their flow. This creates a seamless, friction free journey from check in to checkout.

Lower costs

Help simplify payment operations by reducing the need for multiple authorization requests throughout the customer journey. By handling estimated and incremental amounts in a single streamlined process, you can potentially lower costs and minimize unnecessary transaction complexity. This efficiency translates into smoother operations and improved profitability.

Add flexibility to payment authorization

Expand your offerings with Estimated Authorization so you can help merchants enhance their customers’ experiences.

How it works

1. Consuming goods or services at the time of purchase

When a customer begins to consume goods or services and the final transaction amount is not immediately known (like during a hotel stay or when renting a car), the merchant can secure funds up front based on a genuine estimated amount of customer spend.

2. Incrementally authorize to secure additional customer funds

If the purchase amount changes to where the original estimated amount is no longer sufficient, the merchant can incrementally authorize additional customer funds before finalizing the transaction.

3. Funds are secured throughout the customer purchase journey

Authorizing across the customer purchase journey allows the merchant to proceed with delivery of goods or services to the customer and can help reduce or avoid bad debt. The acquirer sends a single clearing record for the final transaction amount, and the customer sees a single transaction on their statement.

Let’s talk payments

Reach out to us to learn how Visa Estimated Authorization can help boost successful transactions.