Partial authorization: what it is and how to handle it

Partial authorization is when a card issuer approves only part of a purchase because the card can't cover the whole amount, and the merchant collects the rest another way. Visa's partial authorization guide says the issuer sends back the available balance as the approved amount, and the merchant asks for another form of payment for the remainder. Visa requires every prepaid issuer and every acquirer to support it, and a growing number of debit issuers do too.

Without it, a $90 purchase on a card with $60 left simply declines, and the customer is left guessing at their balance. With it, the terminal takes the $60, shows $30 still due, and the sale carries on. This guide covers how partial authorization works at the register and the pump, which businesses have to support it, what to do when the customer can't pay the rest, and how to set it up. Network rules cited are as of October 2026.

What is partial authorization?

It's an approval for less than you asked for. Visa's guide describes participating issuers returning an approval for a portion of the original amount, so the remainder can be paid by other means using split-tender functionality. Split tender just means one purchase paid with more than one method: a gift card and a debit card, say, or a prepaid card and cash.

The approval carries its own response code. Visa's developer documentation lists code 10 as "Partial approval", and Mastercard's chargeback guide describes an issuer approving a partial amount with response code 10 and returning the amount it approved. Your terminal reads that code and the approved amount, and it should show your cashier both.

It's easy to mix up with two other things:

Estimated and incremental authorizations belong to hotels, car rentals, and similar businesses. Our guide to the authorization hold covers those, and the holds that come with every approval.

Partial approvals only come back if your terminal says it can handle them. Mastercard's chargeback guide describes a Partial Approval Terminal Support Indicator in the authorization request, and Visa's guide says acquirers must not flag partial authorization support for acceptance devices that can't do split tender. The flag tells the issuer that you can collect the rest. Without it, don't expect partial approvals.

How does partial authorization work at checkout?

From the customer's side it takes a few extra seconds. Behind the scenes, it runs like this:

1. Your terminal sends an authorization request for the full amount, flagged as able to accept a partial approval.
2. The issuer sees the card can't cover it and approves the available balance instead, with response code 10.
3. The terminal shows the approved amount and the balance still due.
4. The customer pays the balance with another card, cash, or another method.
5. Both payments go into your batch with the rest of the day's sales. If the customer can't pay the balance, you cancel the sale and reverse the partial approval instead.

Here's the math at a grocery store in Albuquerque. A customer's order comes to $112.40, and they pay first with a prepaid card that has $75.00 left on it.

• The terminal asks for $112.40.
• The issuer approves $75.00, the full remaining balance, with code 10.
• The screen shows $37.40 still due ($112.40 minus $75.00).
• The customer taps a debit card for $37.40, and that's approved in full.
• The receipt shows two payments that add up to $112.40, and the prepaid card now has a $0.00 balance.

Without partial authorization, that first tap comes back as a decline. The customer, who thought they had about $80 on the card, tries it again, gets declined again, and either puts items back or leaves. Partial authorization turns that into a ten-second split payment.

Which businesses have to support partial authorization?

Some merchants are required to, and every acquirer on Visa has to be able to handle it. Visa and Mastercard set it out like this:

The Mastercard rows come from the December 14, 2021 edition of its Transaction Processing Rules. Mastercard publishes new editions regularly, and the list of merchant category codes is longer than we show here, so ask your acquirer which rules apply to your merchant category code today.

If you're not on that list, partial authorization is still worth having anywhere prepaid and gift cards come through the line: grocery, pharmacy, convenience, discount retail. It rescues sales that would otherwise decline. Ask your processor what it takes to turn it on for your equipment.

What happens if the customer can't pay the rest?

You cancel the sale and reverse the partial approval, quickly. Visa's partial authorization guide lists the case where the cardholder doesn't offer additional funds to complete a split-tender purchase, and the sale is canceled, among the triggers for an authorization reversal. Visa's best-practices guide for merchants says the entire authorized amount must be reversed within 24 hours of when the merchant becomes aware the transaction won't be completed.

This matters more than it looks. A partial approval means the issuer has just set aside everything left on the card. Take a pharmacy in Tulsa where a customer's order is $64.00 and their prepaid card approves $40.00. The customer has nothing else to pay with and leaves without the order. If the cashier cancels properly, the terminal sends a $40.00 reversal and the customer's balance comes back. If the cashier just walks away from the screen, that $40.00 can stay tied up until the issuer drops the hold, and the customer can't spend it anywhere else in the meantime.

Two habits prevent this:

• Train cashiers to cancel a split-tender sale through the terminal's cancel or void flow, never by abandoning it.
• Ask your processor to confirm that canceling a partially approved sale sends the reversal automatically.

How does partial authorization work at the gas pump?

Pumps are a natural fit for partial authorization, because the pump doesn't know the final amount when the card goes in. Visa's guide describes pumps that start with a $1 status check, and says that when the issuer approves only part of the amount, the pump should dispense only what was approved and shut off when it reaches that value.

Visa's guide also covers what happens after the pumping stops. A customer who leaves before any fuel is dispensed triggers a reversal, and when less fuel is dispensed than was approved, the difference has to be reversed.

Picture a pump at a station outside Wichita. A driver's debit card comes back with a partial approval of $42.50. The pump shuts off at $42.50 if the driver keeps going. Say the driver stops at $38.10 instead. The station settles $38.10 and reverses the $4.40 difference ($42.50 minus $38.10), so that money goes back to the driver's available balance. Our guide to the authorization hold explains how pump holds work and why fast reversals matter to customers paying by debit.

How do you set up partial authorization?

Start with your processor, since it controls most of the settings. A practical checklist:

1. Ask whether your terminals and online checkout support partial approvals, and whether the flag is switched on today.
2. If you have to support it (fuel, cash back, or aggregated transactions on Visa, or a Mastercard category on the list), confirm it in writing.
3. Run a test split-tender sale with your rep before you rely on it at a busy register.
4. Check what the screen shows. The cashier should see the approved amount and the balance due without hunting for it.
5. Check the receipt. It should list each payment separately and add up to the total.
6. Confirm that canceling a partially approved sale sends the reversal.
7. Train staff on the three outcomes: approved in full, partially approved, declined.

Online is a different question. If your checkout can't take a second card for the balance, it shouldn't ask for partial approvals, and Visa's guide is clear that acquirers must not flag devices that can't do split tender. Most online stores are better off with a clean decline and a "try another card" message. Clearo's POS terminals take chip, tap, and swipe at the counter, and our online payments include hosted checkout and gateway integration; your rep can tell you which partial approval settings apply to each.

What are the common partial authorization mistakes?

Four of these five start with a cashier who doesn't recognize a partial approval on the screen. The other one starts in your settings:

• Treating code 10 as a full approval and handing over the goods before the balance is paid.
• Running the same card again for the full amount. Its balance is already set aside by the first approval, so the second try has nothing left to approve.
• Abandoning a split-tender sale on the screen instead of canceling it, so the partial approval is never reversed.
• Turning on partial approvals for a checkout that can't collect a second payment.
• Not telling the customer what happened. "Your card covered $75 of this; there's $37.40 left" heads off the "you overcharged me" conversation later.

When is partial authorization not worth it?

If you're on one of the required lists, it isn't optional, so this only applies to everyone else. It adds little for a business whose customers mostly pay by credit card for large tickets, such as a contractor or a law firm, or for a business that bills by invoice. If your customers almost never pay with prepaid or gift cards, there's little for it to rescue.

It also isn't worth forcing online, as above. A partial approval that your checkout can't finish is just a hold on the customer's money with no sale attached.

For counter businesses that see prepaid cards, gift cards, and debit cards every day, it's worth turning on. Visa and Mastercard rules come from the networks, not from state law, so the same settings apply to a business anywhere in the United States.

Next step

If you're not sure whether your terminals accept partial approvals, or whether a canceled split payment sends its reversal, that's a quick question for a rep. Contact us and we'll check your setup, or send a recent statement for a free statement review to see what your payment processing costs today.