Purchase lifecycle
When you use an Airwallex issued card to make a purchase, an authorization request is initiated by the merchant which reaches Airwallex via the card scheme i.e., Visa. Airwallex performs a number of checks to ensure that the authorization is genuine and meets any authorization controls you have previously set up.
There are two types of authorization scenarios:
Dual message (Authorization followed by a Clearing transaction): In this case, the merchant’s bank initiates an authorization request to the issuer to reserve funds on the card for later clearing. The reserved funds will be shown in your reserve balance and are deducted fully when the merchant sends the clearing request. If the clearing request is not initiated in a timely manner (10 days), it is reversed and the funds are released back to you.
Single message (Authorization and Clearing transaction combined): The authorization and clearing requests are effectively combined into one final message and the requested amount will be deducted from your balance straight away.
Transaction types
The following transaction types are supported on your issued cards.
| Transaction type | Description |
|---|---|
| AUTHORIZATION | Funds reserved on the account balance in response to an authorization request. Also knows as “preauth”, “hold”, “reserve". A successful authorization will deduct funds from available balance. |
| CLEARING | Funds equivalent to the authorized amount deducted from account balance. Also known as debit transaction, capture (if preceded by a successful authorization with the same auth code/retrieval ref/transaction id |
| REFUND | Funds equivalent to the purchase amount refunded back to account balance. Also known as credit transaction, typically linked to a successful clearing transaction. |
| REVERSAL | Reversal of an existing authorization. Also known as cancelling a successful authorization. |
| ORIGINAL_CREDIT | Merchant-initiated credit transactions, not linked to a successful clearing transaction. |