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Pre-Authorizing a Credit Card

Running a pre-authorization in EPASS is used to verify the authenticity of the customer's credit card. It is not used to create a temporary hold for a specific payment amount.

If the pre-authorization is successful and the card is valid, EPASS adds a $0.00 payment line to the Invoice Details. If not, a "Declined" payment line is added instead.

Before Starting​

You need to do the following before you can pre-authorize credit cards:

  1. Create a dedicated Payment Type for pre-authorizations.
  2. Activate the Add PreAuth security setting.
How to Activate the Security Setting

  1. Go to Tools > System Maintenance.

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  2. On the Tables tab, select User Security, and then click Open.

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  3. Select a User or Group from the list, and then click Security.

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  4. In the Keyword search box, enter PreAuth. Select Invoice Detail - Add PreAuth Payment.

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  5. Click OK.

Pre-authorizing a Credit Card​

Note

For non-cash customers (the EPASS Pay Cash Customer checkbox is cleared on the customer account record), pre-authorizations require the cardholder's:

  • Full name
  • City
  • State/Province
  • ZIP/postal code

This information must be present in the customer account record or entered during a form keyed pre-authorization.

  1. Go to the Details of the customer's invoice. Make sure that you are in Edit mode.

  2. Click the Payment Tab.

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  3. In the Payment Type dropdown, select your pre-authorization Payment Type.

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  4. Do the following:

    • If you have the physical card, select PIN Pad from the Entry Method dropdown, and then select the PIN Pad that you want to use from the PIN Pad dropdown.

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    -OR-

    • If you don't have the physical card, select PIN Pad Keyed or Form Keyed from the Entry Method dropdown.

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  5. Verify that Save Credit Card for Future Use is selected to save the card on file.

  6. Click OK. Enter the card information depending on the Entry Method you chose: either through a PIN Pad or through the Form Keyed window in EPASS.

Once the pre-authorization is processed, the result appears in the Invoice Details.

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See Also​

Updated

November 18, 2025