What is partial authorization? Definition and example

Partial authorization

Partial authorization is an issuer approving only part of the requested amount, usually the available balance on a prepaid or debit card, instead of declining, so the merchant can collect the rest with another payment method or cancel the sale.

Also called: partial approval, partial auth, partial authorisation, partially approved authorization, response code 10

Updated 19 October 2026

How does partial authorization work?

The merchant marks the authorization request as able to accept a partial amount. Visa’s description of its Partial Authorization Service says that when the card’s balance is less than the purchase amount, the issuer returns an approval for the available balance with a unique response code. The merchant subtracts that amount and asks for another form of payment for the rest. Online, providers expose it as an option: Adyen uses an allowPartialAuth flag and Stripe a request_partial_authorization setting.

Why does it matter?

It turns an insufficient funds decline into a sale. Visa says all its prepaid issuers and all acquirers must support the service, while it is optional for most merchants, and that e-commerce works the same way as in store: offer the customer another method for the balance. As an illustrative example: a customer places a 120 euro order with a debit card holding 80 euros. Instead of a decline, the issuer approves 80 euros, and the customer pays the remaining 40 euros by bank transfer. If the customer abandons the order, the merchant reverses the 80 euro authorization.

What are the limits?

Support varies by network, issuer and provider. Stripe offers it only for online card payments on Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express, notes that the issuer and card type decide availability, and says that as of May 2024 American Express restricted it to debit and prepaid cards and excluded recurring and cross-border payments. Adyen supports Visa and Mastercard and warns that not all issuers take part. Some providers do not support it at all: Airwallex cancels payments that come back partially approved. A partially approved amount cannot be over-captured.

Where does Omno use it?

Whether partial authorization can be requested, and how a partially approved amount is reported, depends on the connected provider. Omno’s routing-decision log records the response code for every attempt, and the hosted checkout lets a customer choose another method after a decline.

Frequently asked questions

What response code does a partial approval use?

Visa's service description shows a partially approved authorization returning response code 10, with the approved amount in the amount field and the original amount in an additional amounts field. Airwallex lists code 10 as partial approval for Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay. Providers often translate it into their own result, such as Adyen's PartiallyAuthorised.

What should a merchant do with the remaining amount?

Ask for it with another payment method, cancel the whole payment and release the hold, or capture only the approved part. Adyen lists all three, and Stripe recommends manual capture so the merchant can review the approved amount before capturing. Visa says that if the customer does not complete the sale, the merchant should reverse the authorization.