How a force capture works
In a normal card payment the terminal or gateway asks the issuer for authorisation, receives an approval code and later captures against it. In a force capture the merchant keys the card details, the amount and an approval code received earlier into a terminal or virtual terminal, and the payment goes into the next clearing batch.
The usual legitimate case is a voice authorisation: the terminal could not reach the issuer, and the merchant telephoned for a code. Another is a capture against an authorisation made on a different system, such as a hotel's booking platform.
Why force capture is restricted
Nothing in the terminal proves that the code is real, belongs to the card or covers the amount. Invented codes have been used to push through payments that no issuer approved, and the merchant finds out when the payment is charged back.
The Visa Core Rules of 18 April 2026 require a merchant to obtain an approval response before completing a transaction, with listed exceptions such as an amount below a floor limit or a deferred authorisation (5.7.3.4). Acquirers and gateways therefore switch force capture off by default, enable it for named merchants and users, and review each use.
Force capture or capture?
- Capture
- Completes an authorisation that the same system obtained online. The issuer has already approved that card and that amount.
- Deferred authorisation
- A payment taken while the terminal is offline and sent for online authorisation once the connection returns. The issuer still decides.
Where a force capture shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- Fraud & riskReal-time fraud scoring, limits and case management, with the risk engines you already trust.
- BackofficeOne console to run the platform: customers, money, risk, content and staff permissions.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.