Preauthorize a card payment

In Mews Operations, you can preauthorize a credit card to temporarily hold funds for future charges, such as no-shows, deposits or incidentals. This lets you secure payment without charging the guest immediately. You can preauthorize virtual or physical cards at any time before payment, directly from a customer or company profile.

 

Note:

• You can charge a card only in the currency that you preauthorize the card in.
• You can charge a preauthorization only once. If you partially charge a preauthorization, you cannot charge the remaining balance later. After the initial charge, the system automatically hides the charge option for that preauthorization.

 

In this article you can learn about:

• How to preauthorize a credit card in Mews
  • Preauthorize a virtual card
    • From the Overview tab
    • From the Methods tab
  • Preauthorize a physical card
    • From a Mews Terminal

 

How to preauthorize a credit card in Mews

To preauthorize a credit card:

1. In Mews Operations, go to the main menu > Profiles and open a customer or company profile.
2. Click the Payments tab.
   
    
   
   
3. Follow the steps below to preauthorize a virtual or a physical card.

Preauthorize a virtual card

From the Overview tab

1. From the Overview tab, scroll down to Preauthorizations.
   
    
   
   
2. Click Preauthorize to preauthorize a card using Mews Payments, or to add an external preauthorization.
3. In the Preauthorization side-window, enter the following details:
   • Payment type: Click Online preauthorization.
   • Payment card: Click to select a saved card or click Enter new payment card and fill in the card details.
   • Amount: Enter the preauthorization amount.
   • Currency: Click to select a currency from the dropdown menu.
   • Preauthorization expiration date: Click to select a new date. Mews sets a default expiration date of 7 days from the current date. Note: The expiration date cannot be more than 28 days from the current date.
   • Notes: Enter any important additional information.
     
      
     
     
4. Click Submit.

From the Methods tab

1. Open the Methods tab and find the card you want to preauthorize.
2. Click under the Actions column, then click Preauthorize.
   
    
   
   
3. From the Preauthorize side-window, enter the following details:
   • Amount: Enter preauthorization amount.
   • Currency: Click to select a currency from the dropdown menu.
   • Preauthorization expiration date: Click to select a new date. Mews sets a default expiration date of 7 days from the current date. Note: The expiration date cannot be more than 28 days from the current date.
   • Notes: Enter any important additional information.
4. Click Submit.

Note: If you see the error message Action not possible. Please initiate a payment request to proceed, the card issuer does not accept this type of payment off session. An off-session payment happens when the system initiates the payment automatically or when you initiate it on behalf of the guest. In this case, you create a payment request for the guest to complete the authorization.

 

Preauthorize a physical card

From a Mews Terminal

1. From the Overview tab, scroll down to Preauthorizations and click Preauthorize.
2. In the Preauthorization side-window, enter the following details:
   • Payment type: Click Terminal.
   • Payment terminal: Click to select a terminal from the dropdown menu.
   • Amount: Enter preauthorization amount.
   • Currency: Click to select a currency from the dropdown menu.
   • Preauthorization expiration date: Click to select a new date. Mews sets a default expiration date of 7 days from the current date. Note: The expiration date cannot be more than 28 days from the current date.
   • Notes: Enter any important additional information.
     
      
     
     
3. Click Submit and complete the transaction with the customer’s physical credit card.
   
   

This preauthorizes a virtual or physical credit card in Mews Operations.

 

You can learn more about preauthorization in our Preauthorization FAQs article.