Guarantee payment system?

Question

I would like to implement a guarantee payment system on a website I'm working on. By that I mean that the user would insert his credit card information but no money would be drawn from it at the moment he does so. The money could only be drawn if the client does not show up at the hotel to actually pay for it. In that case the owner should be able to get some amount back. I was looking at Braintree payments but haven't found anything in their doc mentioning a system like this. How should I go about it?

Answer 1

You want to do an Auth Only transaction. Auth Only transactions are very similar to Authorize & Capture transactions except the transaction is not captured. The merchant is issued a six digit authorization number indicating that the funds are available and the transaction is approved. However, the merchant will not receive those funds until they capture the transaction.

Authorizations are only valid for up to 30 days from when they are issued and for up to the amount they were authorized for. For example, if an authorization was obtained for $100, the merchant may use this authorization for any transaction up to $100 for that customer. However, they cannot go over $100 with that authorization number.

An Important thing to note is that the funds from authorizations are frozen on a customer's credit card and cannot be access by that customer. From the customer's point of view, that money is essential spent. Authorizations should not be used without a customer's consent and with care.

Authorizations are captured when a Force transaction is processed.