Partial Capture

Partial Capture Overview

Partial capture lets you ship and bill an order in pieces while keeping a single original Credit Key authorization. Instead of capturing the full financed amount when the order is first fulfilled, you can create partial captures as items ship, each tied back to the original order.

The /v2/order/{key}/partial endpoint is used to create one of these partial child orders against an existing, approved Credit Key order.

When to Use Partial Capture

Use /v2/order/{key}/partial when:

• The order will be fulfilled in multiple shipments (e.g., items ship from different warehouses).
• Part of the order is backordered or delayed, but you want to capture what has shipped now.
• You need to bill and reconcile shipments separately while preserving a single financing approval and total credit line.

In each of these cases, you don’t want to cancel and re-authorize the order; instead, you capture only the shipped portion and leave the remaining authorization open for later captures.

How Partial Capture Works

1. Customer is approved and original order is authorized

   • You create and authorize an order via the v2 Orders API.
   • Credit Key approves an amount (the total financed value) and holds that as an authorization.

2. You ship a subset of items

   • When a partial shipment is ready, you determine the amount to capture for that shipment (based on line items, taxes, and shipping you want to bill now).

3. **Create a partial capture using /v2/order/{key}/partial **

   • You call the partial-capture endpoint with:

     • A reference to the original (parent) order(CKID).
     • The capture amount for this shipment.
     • Optional merchant metadata references such as shipment ID, invoice number, or internal order references.

   • Credit Key creates a partial child order representing just this captured portion.

4. Remaining authorization is updated

   • The original order’s remaining authorized balance is reduced by the captured amount.
   • The remaining balance can be used for future partial captures (additional shipments) until you’ve captured the full approved amount or voided the remainder.

5. Subsequent shipments → additional partial captures

   • For each additional shipment, you repeat the process with the new capture amount and references.
   • Each call generates another partial child order and further reduces the remaining authorization.

6. Final shipment or unused balance

   • When all items are shipped, the sum of all partial captures should match the original approved amount.
   • If there is some amount you will never ship, you can void the remaining authorization (using the appropriate void/close endpoint) so that no extra funds remain held.

Benefits of Partial Capture

• Align financing with fulfillment – Only capture what you actually ship.
• Better customer experience – The customer’s financed amount mirrors real shipments rather than the original quote when parts are delayed or cancelled.
• Cleaner reconciliation – Each partial capture can be tied to a specific shipment or invoice, making settlement reports and ERP posting easier.
• No re-authorization required – You avoid repeated credit checks and approvals for each shipment; everything is managed under the original order’s authorization.