Authorization adjustments

An authorization adjustment modifies the hold on a card after the initial authorization but before any funds are captured. This is the correct tool when the final charge amount is not yet known at the moment of authorization — hotel check-ins that add incidentals, car rentals where the final mileage or fuel charge is added at return, restaurant orders where a tip is added after the meal, or subscription upsells where the invoice line items change before billing runs. Adjustments keep the original authorization alive rather than voiding it and starting over, which avoids a second issuer round-trip and a second round of friction for the cardholder.

Increase an authorizationAskCopy

To raise the hold, call vinr.payments.adjust with a new amount that is strictly higher than the current authorizedAmount. VINR submits an incremental authorization to the issuer network. The issuer re-evaluates the cardholder's available balance and the account's credit limit at that moment, so an increase can be declined even if the original authorization was approved.

import { Vinr } from '@vinr/sdk';

const vinr = new Vinr({ secretKey: process.env.VINR_SECRET_KEY });

const adjusted = await vinr.payments.adjust('pay_3Nf8x2a', {
  amount: 7500,
});

// adjusted.adjustedAmount   → 7500   (new authorized ceiling, in minor units)
// adjusted.originalAmount   → 5000   (the amount from the initial authorization)
// adjusted.status           → "authorized"
// adjusted.reversedAt       → null

If the issuer declines the increase, VINR returns a 402 error with code: "authorization_declined". The original authorization remains intact at its previous amount — you can still capture up to the original figure or void it entirely.

Decrease an authorizationAskCopy

To reduce the hold — for example, when an item is removed from a buy-now-ship-later order and you want to free up the cardholder's credit immediately — pass a amount that is lower than the current authorizedAmount.

const adjusted = await vinr.payments.adjust('pay_3Nf8x2a', {
  amount: 3200,
});

// adjusted.adjustedAmount   → 3200
// adjusted.originalAmount   → 5000
// adjusted.status           → "authorized"

Decrease support varies by card network. Visa and Mastercard support partial authorization reversals on most issuer BINs; American Express does not. VINR detects the network from the card BIN and handles the fallback automatically: if a network does not support decreases, VINR keeps the hold at the current amount and records the requested reduction as a pending adjustment that is applied at capture time (similar to capturing a partial amount). Your code does not need to branch on network — the response always reflects the effective authorized ceiling.

ReversalAskCopy

A reversal cancels the authorization in full before any capture. Use it when the transaction will not proceed at all — the customer cancels after authorization but before fulfillment, or the inventory check fails.

const reversed = await vinr.payments.reverse('pay_3Nf8x2a');

// reversed.status      → "cancelled"
// reversed.reversedAt  → "2026-05-31T14:22:00Z"

Reversal vs. void vs. refund — these are related but distinct operations:

VINR exposes both reverse and void because acquirer contracts and scheme rules determine which is appropriate. In practice, prefer reverse for any pre-capture cancellation unless your integration guide specifies void conditions. See Authorize & capture for void usage and Refunds for post-capture returns.

When to use eachAskCopy

Next stepsAskCopy