Store the payment method and charge it at delivery
A hold won't last until you deliver, so keep the payment method instead and charge it when you're ready.
Your answers so far
- When do you deliver what the customer paid for?
- Weeks later, or on a date nobody knows yet. Change
Choose one
What to build
Store the customer's payment method when they order, along with their consent to a later charge. When you deliver, charge the stored payment method as a merchant-initiated transaction, because the customer isn't present at that moment.
What this means for PCI
This is guidance rather than a compliance determination. Which questionnaire you are eligible for depends on your full environment, so confirm it with your QSA or your acquirer before you rely on it.
Worth knowing
- A merchant-initiated charge needs a stored-credential consent that permits its reason, captured when the card is stored on a hosted payment page or in the Virtual Terminal. The direct API can't record that consent.
- Optionally verify the card at order time, so a card that's going to fail is found while the customer can still give you another one.
- The charge at delivery can be declined. Plan the message you send the customer when it is.