Several stages sit between the button and money on the account: card checks, buyer confirmation, authorisation of the amount, capture and settlement between banks. For the buyer it is seconds; for the merchant it is a chain where every link can fail.
The path of a payment
- The buyer enters the details on the provider secure page.
- The operation passes anti-fraud and 3-D Secure confirmation at the buyer bank.
- The bank reserves the amount on the card — that is authorisation, not yet a charge.
- The capture is confirmed and the store receives a status notification.
- Settlement between banks completes and the money goes to the merchant.
Where it usually breaks
- At confirmation: the buyer never got or never entered the bank code.
- At anti-fraud: the operation looks unusual for the card or for the merchant.
- On the store side: the notification never arrived and the order stayed unpaid in the system.
Why a bank declines a payment with money on the card is covered separately.
