What is a zero-value authorisation?

In short

A zero-value authorisation is an authorisation request for an amount of zero, sent to check that a card is valid and its account open without placing a hold on any money. Visa calls the zero-value authorisation an account verification, and Mastercard calls it an account status inquiry.

Also called
Zero-amount authorisation, Account verification, Account status inquiry, Zero-dollar authorisation
Family
Accepting payments
Facts checked

How a zero-value authorisation works

The merchant's gateway sends an authorisation request with a zero amount, the card details and, where collected, the security code and the billing address. The issuer checks that the account exists and has not been reported lost or stolen, and answers with an approval or a decline, together with the results of the code and address checks. Nothing is held, and nothing appears on the cardholder's statement.

What the scheme rules say

The Visa Core Rules of 18 April 2026 define an account verification as a message sent by an acquirer to the issuer, using a currency unit of zero, to confirm that a transaction can be completed with the card. An issuer responds to such a request, and does not approve or decline them in a systematic or wholesale manner (7.3.10.1).

Mastercard's Transaction Processing Rules of 9 June 2026 require a purchase account status inquiry to have an amount of zero. A purchase authorisation request must not carry one major unit of currency, or any other nominal test amount that does not represent an actual purchase.

When a zero-value authorisation is used

  • Saving a card for later use when nothing is due yet
  • Starting a free trial or a subscription billed later
  • Checking a card added to a wallet or an account
  • Validating a card before a booking is confirmed

A small charge that is later refunded, the older way to test a card, is what these messages replace.

Where a zero-value authorisation shows up in a platform

Modules that do the work

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.

Every term

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