Last reviewed: October 16, 2026
An authorization-related charge that may apply under a processor's pricing arrangement and your agreement. An authorization request, approval, capture, and settlement are distinct events; an authorization-related charge does not establish that a sale was completed or settled. The charge may be separately itemized or incorporated into another transaction-related fee. Check the applicable fee schedule rather than assuming every authorization attempt incurs the same fee, and do not count an embedded charge twice.
See common payment processing fees that appear on merchant statements
An authorization request asks for approval; capture submits an authorized payment for completion, and settlement is a separate funds-transfer stage. Find the authorization-related entry in your agreement or fee schedule. Ask whether approved requests, declined attempts, retries, and duplicate authorizations are billable, and whether the charge is separate or bundled. Where your transaction and authorization records permit, compare billable event counts with statement charges and ask the provider to explain differences. Do not infer billable events from the number of settled sales alone. This is editorial guidance, not a fresh verification of any provider's fees or policies.
It depends on the processor. Some charge authorization fees on every submission — approved or declined. Others only charge them on approved authorizations. This is worth confirming before signing, particularly for merchants with recurring billing programs where card declines and re-attempts are common.
They may appear as a separate line item per transaction, or they may be bundled into a combined per-item or transaction fee. Ask your processor for a description of each per-event charge and whether declined transactions are billed separately. Reviewing the transaction detail section of your statement is the most reliable way to identify this fee.
The impact depends on your transaction count and average ticket size. Merchants with many small transactions generate more authorization events per dollar of revenue than those with fewer, larger sales. To see the full picture, calculate your effective rate using your complete statement — not just the percentage rate — so all per-event fees are reflected.
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