Every sale counts, and businesses want to capture as many as possible. One of the most common obstacles is a declined payment — often because a debit or prepaid card doesn’t have enough funds. That’s where partial approval comes in.
Partial approval means the bank or card issuer agrees to cover part of a purchase amount rather than rejecting it completely. In other words, if the account balance can’t stretch to the full total, the system approves what’s there, and the customer can pay the difference with another method.
Picture a debit card purchase. A shopper wants to spend $50 but only has $35 in their account. Instead of getting declined, the bank approves the $35. The shopper can then settle the remaining $15 with a second card, cash, or whichever option works best.
These terms are often used interchangeably but carry distinct meanings in payment processing:
In practice, partial approval and partial authorisation are two sides of the same process, while partial payment refers to customer-initiated splitting of the transaction.
This mechanism benefits both sides: customers can use their available balance, and merchants avoid losing the sale altogether.
Gift cards and prepaid cards are loaded with a set balance. Once that balance runs out, the card can’t cover more than what’s left on it. Without partial approval, a purchase that exceeds the card’s balance would be declined outright. With it, the available funds can still be applied, and the customer can pay the rest with another method.
When a customer’s checking account doesn’t hold enough to complete a transaction, the bank can approve the amount that’ is available instead of declining the whole payment. The customer then has the option to pay the remaining balance using another debit card, a credit card, or even cash.
Partial approval is especially common at petrol stations. These merchants often place a pre-authorisation hold that’ is higher than the final fuel purchase (for example, $75 held while only $40 of fuel is dispensed). If the account doesn’t have enough to cover the pre-authorised amount, partial approval ensures the customer can still pay for the fuel actually pumped, rather than having the transaction rejected.
Many retailers allow customers to combine payment methods at checkout, often referred to as a split tender. Partial approval makes this process possible: if one card doesn’t cover the total, the system approves what it can and prompts the customer to finish the payment with another method.
Partial authorisation is mainly supported by major card networks such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, especially in regions where prepaid and debit card usage is high. It is also common in industries where variable transaction amounts occur, such as fuel and hospitality.
Support for partial approval may depend on the payment method and the acquirer’s configuration. For instance, prepaid cards almost always support partial approvals because balances are often lower than purchase amounts. By contrast, not all credit cards support partial authorisation in every market.
Enabling partial approval requires support across the acquiring bank, payment gateway, and merchant terminal or online checkout system. Merchants should:
Modern platforms such as Antom provide integration options through APIs and SDKs to handle multi-step transactions, balance checks, and split tenders.
Partial approval cuts down on unnecessary declines by approving whatever funds are available instead of blocking the entire transaction. This means more payments go through, authorisation rates improve, and merchants capture revenue that would otherwise be lost.
From a shopper’s point of view, a partial approval is far less frustrating than an outright flat decline. It allows them to use what’s in their account, whether prepaid or debit, without the awkwardness of being turned away. Online, it also reduces the chance that a customer abandons their cart after a failed attempt.
Partial approval makes it possible to complete a purchase using more than one payment option. If one card doesn’t cover the full amount, the customer can add another card or pay the balance in cash.
By keeping transactions moving, partial approval reduces the drop-off that often comes with declined payments. When customers see their available balance can still be applied toward the purchase, they’re more likely to follow through — leading to higher conversions and fewer abandoned checkouts.
Partial approval gives merchants a way to turn declined transactions that might otherwise be fully declined, by allowing part of the payment to go through into completed ones. By accepting the funds that are available — whether from a debit account, a prepaid card, or part of a split payment — it helps reduce lost sales and improves the customer’s experience at checkout.
For merchants looking to build in more flexibility, payment providers like Antom offer tools that support partial authorisation, configurable checkouts, and seamless settlement. These features combined make payment acceptance more reliable and revenue capture more consistent.