This article explains how to use the new AirPay Auth Before Dispatch feature. Normally bookings are sent to AirPay to be authorised on a customers card after the booking has dispatched. This new feature enables you to choose to send the booking to AirPay before the booking is dispatched. The customers card will be authorised, or authorised and captured, depending on how the booking is priced.
You can use this new feature to authorise and capture a fixed price airport booking before dispatch, or to choose to authorise an estimated booking before the taxi is dispatched, to ensure the customer can pay.
How we process cards
When a card is processed through AirPay it goes through two steps, these are called authorisation and capture:
- Authorisation ensures the funds required are available on the customer's card, and reserves these funds to be captured later. If the funds are not captured, the authorisation is cancelled and the funds become available on the customers card again. Authorisation can only be retained for five days.
- Capture is when the authorised funds are collected from the customers card. With AirPay Smart Auth it is also possible to capture more than the authorised amount.
When we only authorise, and when we authorise and capture
- If the booking has a fixed price AirPay will authorise AND capture the fixed price plus the AirPay fee. The price of the booking cannot change and has been paid in full.
- If the booking has an estimated price AirPay will only authorise the customers card for the estimated amount, plus the percentage uplift and AirPay fee. The actual price of the booking will be captured when the booking is completed.
- If the booking has no destination, AirPay will only authorise the customers card for your default amount, plus the percentage uplift and AirPay fee. The actual price of the booking will be captured when the booking is completed.
How to use this feature in iCabbi
- To send your booking to AirPay before it is dispatched enter A into the 'Extra' field, your booking can be in the future or 'NOW'.
- The booking will be sent to AirPay to authorise on the customers card (If the booking has a fixed price it will also be captured).
- Once the authorisation is successful the A will be removed from your booking and your booking will dispatch as normal.
- If the payment was only authorised, as the booking had an estimated price, the payment will be captured when the booking is completed.
- The drivers device will show the booking as authorised via AirPay when the booking is accepted, and then paid via AirPay when the job is completed.
When you cannot use Auth Before Capture
Card authorisation only lasts five days, we must capture the funds before the authorisation is cancelled.
You cannot send a booking with an estimated price or no destination to AirPay to be authorised before it is dispatched if it is more than five days in the future. This is because the card authorisation will be cancelled before AirPay can capture the correct payment. If you try to do this AirPay will not process the booking and the booking will not dispatch.
If the booking has a fixed price, and is more than five days in the future, you can send the booking to AirPay to authorise before dispatch, as we will authorise and capture the payment.
Payment issues
If we are unable to authorise the card (because the card is blocked or has insufficient funds) then AirPay will not remove the A from the 'Extra' field and the booking will not dispatch.
Enabling this feature on iCabbi and AirPay
To enable his feature you will need an additional webhook configured in iCabbi which sends your bookings to AirPay when they are created.
- First add a webhook for Booking Created
- To add this webhook go to your fleet settings in AirPay and select Webhooks.
- Next choose the Booking Created webhook from the drop down list and click the Create Hook button on the right.
- This will create a new webhook in iCabbi which sends your bookings to AirPay before they are dispatched.
- Please note that this webook may need additional configuration as it has been created via API.
- Next add a SMS template for prepay bookings in your fleet settings.
- Next add a short attribute to iCabbi, for your chosen short code, and configure this so that your bookings with this attribute will not dispatch.
- Finally add the short code key you would like to associate with prepay under 'Payment Required Attribute Short-Key' on your fleet settings (normally 'A').
