Authorization FAQs
What is an authorization?
An authorization is a temporary hold TryNow places on a shopper’s card for the full TryNow order amount. This ensures we can charge for any kept items at the end of the trial—similar to holds used by hotels or rideshare apps.
How this appears on a shopper’s statement depends on their bank. Typically, it will either be labeled as “pending” or appear without a posted date, indicating the charge hasn’t been finalized.
How do extended authorizations work?
Shopify offers extended authorization periods to merchants on the Shopify Plus plan that use Shopify Payments. See this Shopify article to learn more. This allows authorized charges to stay on a shopper's credit card for up to 30 days for Visa, Mastercard and AmEx purchases without any need to re-authorize.
| Card Type | Authorization Period |
|---|---|
| Visa | Up to 30 days |
| Mastercard | Up to 30 days |
| American Express | Up to 30 days |
| Discover | Up to 10 days |
| JCB | Up to 10 days |
| Diners Club | 7 days |
| China Union Pay | 7 days |
If you manually capture a payment after the standard seven day period, then a 1.75% Shopify Payments charge will apply to the transaction in addition to standard credit card fees. Note that this is a Shopify Payments fee that unfortunately we do not have control over. Please reach out to your Shopify MSM to share any feedback.
How do re-authorizations work?
TryNow automatically tracks when an existing authorization is set to expire and re-authorizes a shopper's card one day before. No action needed from the merchant.
The shopper will see a new authorization appear on their statement and the old authorization will fall off in 24-48 hours, depending on bank processing. The shopper is notified via email before a re-authorization occurs.
Banks have limits around authorization periods. These authorization periods differ by card and can be extended periods for Shopify Plus merchants. See Shopify's documentation here.
The shopper receives a communication over email notifying them that the re-authorization is about to occur:
On a shopper's credit card statement, this appears as a new authorization, while the old authorization will be void or will fall off. There may be a short period of time (24 hours) in which the shopper may see two authorizations - this is due to bank processing delays, as the bank adds a new authorization and is in process of voiding the old authorization.
What happens if the re-authorization fails?
If the re-authorization fails, it typically means that the shopper does not have sufficient funds or there is an issue with the payment method initially provided. Therefore, TryNow captures on the original authorization to ensure that we do not completely lose out on funds to charge before the original authorization expires. This reduces risk for the merchant so that we can ensure there is always an authorization that we can capture on.
What happens if a shopper's card is canceled in the middle of their trial?
Once TryNow gains a valid authorization at the time of purchase, TryNow maintains a valid authorization on a shopper's card for the duration of the trial period. In the event that the shopper cancels their card, TryNow is able to capture payment on the original authorization.
Any pending transactions that have already received authorization will be processed and paid. This ensures the merchant will receive funds for the amount of the order.
What happens in the case of a failed authorization?
Immediately after an order is placed, TryNow then attempts to authorize the shopper's card. If the card is declined (e.g. due to insufficient funds), the failed authorization will appear in the Shopify timeline with the reason code (example below).
TryNow then immediately cancels the order to protect the merchant from fulfilling an order without a valid authorization. TryNow also sends the shopper an automated email letting them know that the order was canceled due to failed payment and instructing them to place another order using a different card.
Note: This occurs for standard buy now orders as well but more silently since Shopify does not allow the order to be created.
For Try Before You Buy orders, Shopify does not perform the same checks during checkout and still allow orders to be created with insufficient funds.
Unfortunately this is Shopify logic that is outside of our control. We would encourage you to reach out to your Shopify MSM to share any feedback.
Updated 7 days ago