How To Complete or Release Pending Pre-Authorized Transactions

When customers pay-at-the-pump by Gift Card, the balance of the card is verified (“pre-authorization”) before fuel is pumped. Once refueling completes, the actual cost of the pumped fuel amount is calculated and the transaction completes to the exact $ amount (“completed pre-authorization”).

In some instances, a pre-authorized transaction does not fully complete, either due to an attendant error, communication issues/network timeout, or other. The pre-authorized transaction is thus left in an open, or pending-transaction state.

To correct and apply the actual $ value pumped, a manual completion or release of the transaction is required from the Ackroo Program Console.

Here is how to manually release a pending pre-authorized transaction.

CONFIGURE THE OPEN PRE-AUTH REPORTS:

To see if there are any incomplete, or open pre-auths on your program, you can configure a report by following these steps:

• Log in to your program at https://manage.ackroo.com/
• Select Generate Reports 
• Select Petroleum Reports under the Available reports field in the left column of this page.
• Two reporting options are available:
• Business With Open Preauths Transaction Summary (single Business)
• Program With Open Preauths Transaction Summary (all Businesses)

• Select Configure to the right of the report. Choose your Report Name, Run Schedule (daily, weekly, etc.), Report Period (daily, weekly, etc.), Format (.XLS, .PDF, Text) format, and Report Recipients (by email address for report delivery).

UNDERSTANDING YOUR REPORT:

The report will list any pre-authorized transactions that are still open/pending. Here is what you will find on one of these reports:

• Site #
• Transaction Date
• Device
• Transaction $ Amount
• Invoice Number
• Transaction Description
• Card Number
• Approval Code
• Transaction Number

COMPARING THIS REPORT WITH YOUR POINT-OF-SALE DATA:

Once you have the report showing pending pre-auths, compare this with reports from your point of sale to determine whether the pre-authorized transaction should be completed or released.

• A completion is indicated if the transaction was accepted from your point of sale and the card was debited (funds redeemed from the card). Note the $ value that was processed on the transaction.
• A release is indicated if the transaction was not completed on the point of sale, either by cancellation, time-out or otherwise, and the funds were credited back to the card.

COMPLETING THE PENDING PRE-AUTH:

• Log in to your program at https://manage.ackroo.com/
• Go to the Transactions tab and select Detailed View
• Search for the pending pre-authorization using either of the following values from the report:
• Card Number
• Transaction Number

• Once the transaction is populated in the table, select ACTION, then select Complete

• From here, you can adjust the Transaction Amount to the desired $ amount if need, or simply leave as is. Add an optional description and/or clerk ID then select OK.

RELEASING THE PENDING PRE-AUTH:

• Log in to your program at https://manage.ackroo.com/
• Go to the Transactions tab and select Detailed View
• Search for the pending pre-authorization using either of the following values from the report:
• Card Number
• Transaction Number

• Once the transaction is populated in the table,  select ACTION, then select Release

• Add an optional description and/or clerk ID then select OK.