Lesson 7 of 13
Cash capture.
How finance proves every order was paid: matching deposits to orders, and working the exceptions.
By Nagesh Koritala 4 min read Last verified: November 2026
- Lesson 1: Improve the checkout
- Lesson 2: The checkout flow
- Lesson 3: Authorization
- Lesson 4: Payment states
- Lesson 5: Capture
- Lesson 6: Clearing and settlement
- Lesson 7: Cash capture (this lesson)
- Lesson 8: Returns and refunds
- Lesson 9: Disputes
- Lesson 10: Tokens and stored credentials
- Lesson 11: Transaction types
- Lesson 12: Complete reference
- Lesson 13: Payments compliance
A deposit lands in the bank. It is one number, say $41,872.19, and it covers hundreds of orders, minus fees, minus refunds, minus any chargebacks. Finance has to prove every order inside it was paid. This is reconciliation, and the accounting step that clears each receivable is called cash application.
The key that makes this possible is the transaction ID. If your order record stores the gateway's payment ID for every authorization, capture, and refund, the match is automatic. If it does not, someone in finance matches by amount and date by hand. That is the moment a checkout design decision becomes an operating cost.
Sources for this guide
Card network rules change. Time limits, fees, and authorization windows here reflect published rules and provider documentation as of late 2026; confirm details with your processor before you build against them.
Sources
- Visa authorization and clearing time frame changes, April 2024 (TD Bank summary)
- Checkout.com: Visa authorization processing time frames
- Stripe: Place a hold on a payment method
- Revolut: Clearing windows by card brand
- Moov: Card-not-present best practices
- Adyen: Dispute timeframes
- Cybersource: Stored credential framework (CIT, MIT, standing instructions)
- VGS: DPAN vs MPAN
- Stripe: Apple Pay merchant tokens
- Google Pay: Payment data cryptography (PAN_ONLY and CRYPTOGRAM_3DS)
- Checkout.com: Google Pay authentication methods and liability shift
- Solidgate: Why the Apple Pay card number differs from the card
- Spreedly: Payment Account Reference (PAR)
- Visa: Authorization and reversal processing best practices
- Visa: Authorization framework time frames (2024)
- Visa: Declined transaction resubmission rules
- Visa: Dispute management guidelines for merchants
- Visa: VAMP fact sheet
- Visa: Account Updater FAQ
- Mastercard: Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition
- Mastercard AN 5524: CIT and MIT indicators (via AIB Merchant Services)
- Mastercard Gateway: Cardholder and merchant initiated payments
- Adyen: Mastercard Transaction Link Identifier
- American Express: US Disputes Reference Guide
- American Express: International Merchant Regulations
- Adyen: Adjust authorisation (validity by brand)
- Apple: Merchant tokens (MPANs)
- Apple: Payment token format reference
- Apple: Merchant Token Notification Services
- Google Pay: Merchant-initiated transactions
- Google Pay: Token lifecycle management
- Stripe: PaymentIntent lifecycle
- Stripe: Refund object
- Stripe: Dispute object
- Stripe: Subscription object
- Stripe: Decline codes
- PCI SSC: Future-dated requirements of PCI DSS v4.x
- Report URI: SAQ A changes in PCI DSS 4.0.1
- SecureTrust: PCI DSS SAQ types
- Chargeback Gurus: Regulation II and card-not-present debit
- Baymard Institute: Cart abandonment rate statistics (updated September 2025)
- Baymard Institute: The current state of checkout UX (2025)
- Baymard Institute: Checkout optimization and average form fields (2024)
- Baymard Institute: Inline form validation
- Baymard Institute: Adaptive validation error messages
- Adobe: 2025 US holiday shopping season
- US Department of Justice: Guidance on web accessibility and the ADA
- W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
- Apple: Human Interface Guidelines, accessibility
- Stripe: How to increase checkout conversion
- Stripe: The checkout process, reducing friction
Your progress stays on this device.
Next: Lesson 8
Returns and refunds.
The return workflow, and how to choose between a void, a reversal, and a refund.
Questions about payments? Email me. I read every note.