Introduction to advanced authorisation
As a Revolut Business customer with an active Merchant account, you can use advanced authorisation features to handle payment scenarios that require extended clearing windows or variable payment amounts. These features are for businesses where the final charge amount may not be known at the time of initial authorisation.
Advanced authorisation capabilities extend basic manual capture, giving you tools to manage deposits, holds, and incremental charges during service delivery.
What is advanced authorisation
Advanced authorisation features include pre-authorisation and incremental authorisation:
Pre-authorisation
Pre-authorisation allows you to reserve funds on a customer's payment method with extended clearing windows (up to 30 days, depending on card scheme and Merchant Category Code (MCC)), compared to standard authorisation (7 days).
- Hold funds for up to 30 days before capturing
- Reserve funds without immediate capture
- Cancel and release funds immediately if service is not delivered
- Avoid authorisation expiry during long-duration services
Incremental authorisation
Incremental authorisation builds on pre-authorisation by allowing you to increase the authorised amount after the initial authorisation. This is useful when additional charges occur during service delivery.
- Adjust for variable costs during service (minibar charges, fuel costs, damages)
- Increase authorised amount up to 5x the initial amount
- Capture additional charges without requesting new payment
- Process all charges as a single payment
When to use advanced authorisation
Advanced authorisation features are designed for these industries and use cases:
| Industry | Scenario | Feature needed |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels & lodging | Authorise room deposit, then increment for minibar and room service | Pre-authorisation + Incremental authorisation |
| Car rentals | Authorise deposit, then increment for fuel or damage charges | Pre-authorisation + Incremental authorisation |
| Equipment rentals | Hold deposit for extended rental period, capture final amount at return | Pre-authorisation |
| Event venues | Reserve funds for event deposit, capture after event completion | Pre-authorisation |
| Cruise lines | Authorise initial deposit, increment for onboard purchases during voyage | Pre-authorisation + Incremental authorisation |
| Service providers | Reserve funds for estimated service cost, capture actual amount upon completion | Pre-authorisation |
Feature comparison
Key differences between standard and advanced authorisation:
| Final authorisation | Pre-authorisation | Incremental authorisation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clearing window | 7 days (typically) | Up to 30 days (card scheme dependent) | Inherits from pre-authorisation; each increment can extend by +30 days (Mastercard only) |
| Capture mode | Automatic or manual | Manual only | Manual only |
| Amount changes | Fixed amount | Fixed initial amount | Can increase up to 5x initial |
| Use case | Standard purchases with known amounts | Deposits, holds, variable final amounts | Additional charges during service |
| Payment methods | All payment methods | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay only | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay only |
Payment method support
Pre-authorisation and incremental authorisation are only supported for card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. They are not available for:
- Revolut Pay account-to-account (A2A) payments
- Pay by Bank
- SEPA Direct Debit
- Apple Pay or Google Pay if the underlying card does not support these features
What's next
Explore specific guides:
- Pre-authorisation - Learn how to create orders with extended clearing windows
- Incremental authorisation - Learn how to increase authorised amounts during service delivery
- Clearing windows reference - Understand card scheme clearing window rules
Related resources:
- Authorise a payment to capture later - Basic manual capture tutorial
- Order and payment lifecycle - Understanding order states
- Create an order API reference - API endpoint documentation