Automatic Void on Authorizations

Automatic Void on Authorizations is a feature that automatically cancels (voids) pending payment authorizations that have not been captured within a configurable timeframe.

📘

This feature is disabled by default and must be enabled at the Merchant Payment Processor (MPP) level.

When a transaction is authorized but never captured — for example, when a customer abandons a booking or a ticket is never issued — the authorized amount remains held on the customer's credit limit indefinitely. This generates friction, support tickets, and a poor customer experience.

Automatic Void solves this by monitoring authorized transactions and automatically executing a VOID request when the configured expiration time is reached. DEUNA transitions the payment status from authorized to voided, releasing the held funds back to the customer.

This feature is especially useful for:

• Airlines: Void authorizations for tickets that were never issued after seat selection.
• Travel and hospitality: Release holds on bookings that were abandoned before confirmation.
• Large merchants: Clean up stale authorizations that tie up customer credit limits and generate support overhead.

How it works

The Automatic Void flow operates as follows:

1. Authorization: A payment is authorized and enters the authorized state.
2. Expiration monitoring: DEUNA continuously monitors the elapsed time since authorization.
3. Automatic VOID: When the configured expiration time is reached, DEUNA sends a VOID request to the payment processor.
4. Status update: On success, the payment status transitions from authorized to voided.
5. Event logging: The action is logged as system_generated: true for traceability.

📘

Only transactions in authorized status are eligible for automatic void. Transactions that have been fully or partially captured are not affected.

Configuration

Configure Automatic Void in the DEUNA Admin under the payment processor (MPP) settings.

Parameters

Steps to enable

1. Navigate to Connections in the DEUNA Admin.
2. Select the payment processor (MPP) you want to configure.
3. Enable the Automatic Void toggle.
4. Set the expiration time — the wait period before executing the void.
5. Set the maximum number of retries for failed void attempts.
6. Save the configuration.

⚠️

The minimum expiration time is 60 minutes. Setting a shorter value is not allowed.

Concurrency handling

If a /capture request and an automatic void are triggered at the same time for the same transaction:

• Capture is always prioritized. The automatic void is aborted.
• A visibility event is logged indicating the auto-void was skipped due to a concurrent capture.

This ensures that legitimate capture operations are never blocked by the automatic void process.

Retry mechanism

When a VOID request fails, DEUNA retries using exponential backoff:

Retry behavior by error type

• Hard failures (e.g., 4xx errors from the processor): No retries are attempted. A webhook notification is sent immediately.
• Soft failures (e.g., timeouts, 5xx errors): Retries are attempted up to the configured maximum.

📘

If all retry attempts are exhausted, the transaction remains in authorized status and a webhook notification is sent to the merchant.