Authorization

• Three Main Settings

A payment card authorization is the validation of the cardholder's credit availability and the reservation of funds. The transfer of funds to the merchant does not occur until the settlement process has been completed.

For more information on authorization with Paymetric Gateway (XiPay) in general and the various authorization features, see Paymetric Gateway (XiPay) On-Demand (Authorization and Settlement Services).

Payment Card processing within SAP can encompass several different workflows or initiation points for authorizations:

• SD Order Processing

  • Sales Order processing

• Financial Accounting/Receivables Management

  • Paymetric's Receivables management programs

  • SAP's Biller Direct

• Internet commerce

  • SAP CRM

  • Internet Webstore Integration (BAPIs, BADI’s, IDOC’s)

In SAP ERP, the only inherent point of authorization is when a sales order is saved within the Sales and Distribution module. This is the most common initiation point for authorizations and all other authorization points require customized workflows or external integration to enable.

We facilitate the authorization call from SAP to XiPay On-Demand for routing to the processor, but standard SAP logic determines if and how much is eligible to be authorized.

How and when the SAP system performs an authorization depends on the settings you make when customizing checking group routines. In Customizing for Sales and Distribution, choose Billing > Payment cards > Authorization and settlement > Maintain checking groups.

Three Main Settings

The three main settings which influence authorization are:

• Authorization Requirements – Provides ability to set the system to authorize automatically for complete orders only, in Batch, per custom requirements.

• Authorization Horizon – Specifies the number of days before the material availability date, or billing date, that the system is to initiate authorization.

• Pre-Authorization – Carries out pre-authorization when the material availability date, or billing date lies outside of the authorization horizon.

Each payment card processor will have their unique integration requirements as outlined in the processor’s integration specification. One of the values of the Paymetric Gateway (XiPay) On-Demand service is that it assumes this burden by accepting a unified interface from SAP and formatting the data appropriately for each processor involved.

A payment card authorization can only be granted by the card’s issuing bank. We play no role in the decision or granting of successful or declined authorizations, but only facilitates the packaging and routing of the authorization request to the processor. Authorization declines are a common business occurrence just as much as successful authorizations. Only the processor or issuing bank can provide clarity as to why an authorization was declined.

Authorizations are only valid for a set time depending on the card type and processor. Once an authorization is expired a new authorization should be obtained to replace the expired one before the transaction can be settled.

Authorizations can be obtained automatically (through Paymetric Gateway (XiPay) On-Demand) or can be obtained verbally over the phone with the processor/issuing bank.

Fraud prevention tools can be invoked at authorization time such as Address Verification service (AVS) and Card Verification (CVV/CID), etc.