Why isn't card pre-authorization a payment?
Pre-authorization means obtaining authorization for a specified amount and temporarily reserving it against a card's credit limit or available balance. At this stage, the restaurant has not received revenue from a completed sale. Capture is the conversion of an authorized transaction into a sale, subject to the applicable rules.
For example, if a total of TRY 2,000 is held for a reservation for four guests, the guest may see their available card balance reduced by that amount. But counting the same TRY 2,000 as sales in the restaurant's end-of-day settlement report would be incorrect. A hold, a payment and a refund are different transaction states.
How long a hold remains valid depends on the card network, bank, POS provider and transaction type. It is a mistake to assume an expired authorization can still be captured later.
What happens when guests arrive—or do not arrive?
Separate the policy for a guest who attends the reservation from the policy for a guest who does not. In an ordinary attended visit, the restaurant may request the release of the hold. A no-show capture must be considered against the cancellation and no-show terms communicated in advance, and the transaction types supported by the payment provider.
A reservation for six guests where only two arrive is more complex. The business should check which partial-attendance policy was disclosed beforehand and avoid conflating the payment outcome for guests who arrived with those who did not. Bank-dependent timing for partial refunds also matters.
Marking a reservation as a no-show does not mean the charge was successful. Bank declines, expired authorizations, cancelled or refunded transactions and disputes must be recorded separately.
- Are held amounts distinguished from captured amounts?
- Was the cancellation deadline clearly communicated?
- Were attendance and partial attendance recorded correctly?
- Was the bank transaction's final result verified?
How do Rezervem Manager and Pay handle this?
Rezervem Manager tracks reservation states such as arrived, cancelled and no-show. Rezervem Pay connects the technical outcomes of the related authorizations and payments to that operational record. A reservation status alone does not create a successful charge if the bank or payment provider did not complete it.
A restaurant can use its own virtual POS. Capturing or releasing an authorization remains subject to the applicable rules, payment method and account configuration. The Manager + Pay guide to payment security provides a step-by-step starting point.
The purpose is not to present an uncertain outcome as a success. It is to make reservation states and payment states readable as distinct records of the same guest visit.
