---
title: "Payments"
description: "Purchase, authorize and capture, void, refund and verify vaulted cards from your server."
image: "https://docs.ordercard.io/og.png"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ordercard.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Payments

Your server charges a vaulted card by sending its token to one of your gateways. Every operation is recorded as a [transaction](/api/transactions) and answers the same way whichever gateway you use: `201` when it succeeded, `402` with the reason when it did not.

## Charge now: purchase

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.ordercard.io/v1/gateways/gw_…/purchase \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ORDERCARD_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: order-1001" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "payment_method_token": "tok_…", "amount": 2500, "reference": "order-1001" }'
```

## Charge later: authorize, then capture

Authorize when the order is placed to hold the money, and capture when you ship. A capture can be for less than the authorization (for example when an item is out of stock) but never more, and only once.

```bash
# Hold $89.00
curl -X POST https://api.ordercard.io/v1/gateways/gw_…/authorize \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ORDERCARD_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "payment_method_token": "tok_…", "amount": 8900 }'

# Take $75.00 of it
curl -X POST https://api.ordercard.io/v1/transactions/txn_…/capture \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ORDERCARD_SECRET_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "amount": 7500 }'
```

Authorizations expire at the issuer after a few days (it varies by card network), so capture promptly. To release a hold you will not capture, void it.

## Undo: void or refund

- **Void** cancels an authorization, or a purchase or capture that has not settled yet (usually the same day). Nothing reaches the cardholder's statement.
- **Refund** returns money from a purchase or capture after it settled, in full or in parts, until nothing is left.

If a void is refused because the charge already settled, refund it instead.

## Check a card: verify

`verify` asks the issuer about the card without charging it, and stores the address and security code results on the card. Use it when you save a card for later.

## Rules every request follows

- Amounts are integers in cents. `amount` is what you charge before any surcharge, tax included; send `tax_amount` too if you know it.
- Send an `Idempotency-Key` on every request that moves money, so a network retry cannot charge twice. See [Conventions](/api/conventions).
- The card's billing address is sent for address verification. Override it for one charge with `billing`.
- A charge the issuer declined is still a transaction, with `status: declined`. See [Declines](/payments/declines).

## Following a payment

Captures, voids and refunds are separate transactions whose `parent` is the original. The original's `summary` shows `captured_amount`, `refunded_amount`, `voided`, `remaining_capturable` and `remaining_refundable`, and `GET /v1/transactions?parent=txn_…` lists everything done to it. [Webhooks](/webhooks) tell you about each one as it happens.

Source: https://docs.ordercard.io/payments/index.mdx