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Modulr glossary

Authorisation Hold

An authorisation hold is a temporary hold placed on a payer’s funds before final settlement. This ensures the necessary funds are available and helps mitigate payment risks. Businesses, especially in travel and hospitality, use authorisation holds to secure bookings and incidental charges, such as for trips that have been offered with free cancellation, or where the date of the trip and payment may change.

Applications

E-commerce:

Reduces fraud in online card payments by verifying the cardholder's identity

Banking and fintech:

Helps issuers and payment providers comply with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements.

Advantages

  • Enhanced security: Reduces unauthorised transactions by verifying that the genuine account holder is authorising the payment
  • Fraud prevention: Helps reduce chargebacks related to fraud.

Challenges

  • User Experience: Additional authentication steps can cause friction and increase checkout abandonment
  • Implementation complexity: Requires integration with card schemes and issuer systems.

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