Simulate Issuing transactions

Last updated: June 18, 2025

You can simulate different transaction flows for an issued card in the sandbox environment before going live. This enables you to test transactions without making a real purchase to check the merchant and card scheme experience.

Your sandbox Issuing balance is updated to demonstrate the impact on your total sandbox balance.

You need a Checkout.com test account with Issuing enabled.
You must set up OAuth 2.0 authentication to authenticate your API requests.
Configure your webhook receiver to receive webhooks for the various Issuing events.
Create a test cardholder in the sandbox.
Issue a test card to the cardholder and make note of the card ID. This must be a single-use, virtual card that is activated on creation.

You can test successful and declined transactions and the webhooks for different events.

In the Dashboard, you can simulate transactions and add events.

Using the API, you can simulate:

An authorization or pre-authorization
An incremental authorization
A clearing
A reversal
A refund

Sign in to the Dashboard.
If simulating a transaction:
- Using a card, go to Issuing > Cards, and then select the card you want to test with.
- From the transactions list, go to Issuing > Transactions. For this, you require a card ID.
Select Simulate transaction.
In the Simulate transaction window > Authorization type dropdown, if the final transaction amount is:
- Estimated – Select Pre_authorization.
- Known – Select Authorization.
In the Amount box, provide the pre-authorization or authorization amount.
Optionally, provide the merchant category code.
Select Simulate.

Next, you can add events in the transaction journey:

Go to Issuing > Transactions, and select the transaction you want to add events to.
On the Transaction details page, select Simulate event.
Select the event type. This can be one of:
- Incremental authorization
- Reversal
- Clearing
- Refund
Provide the amount for the event type.
Select Simulate.

Call the Simulate authorization endpoint:

card.id field – Provide the card ID from the Create a card response, and optionally the expiry information.
transaction object:
- type field – Set to purchase.
- Optionally, provide the amount, currency, and merchant.category_code.
authorization_type field – If the final transaction amount is:
- Estimated – Set to pre_authorization.
- Known – Set to authorization, or do not include this field.

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/issuing/simulate/authorizations


1{
2  "card": {
3    "id": "crd_fa6psq242dcd6fdn5gifcq1491",
4    "expiry_month": 5,
5    "expiry_year": 2025
6  },
7  "transaction": {
8    "type": "purchase",
9    "amount": 2500,
10    "currency": "GBP",
11    "authorization_type": "pre_authorization"
12  }
13}

If you’ve configured the authorization relay service, you receive an authorization request to approve or decline. When the authorization request is processed, you receive an Authorization approved or Authorization declined webhook.


1{
2  "id": "trx_3vs4p7sagwlu3ejw7gkrssj2s4",
3  "status": "Authorized"
4}

A successful response returns the transaction id. You need this to simulate clearing the authorization.

The status can be one of the following:

Authorized – The authorization was successful.
Declined – The authorization was not successful – For example, due to insufficient funds in your Issuing balance, or spending controls configured in your account.

Information

Single-use cards are automatically revoked after a single successful authorization.

To simulate an incremental authorization:

Simulate a pre-authorization request.
Call the Simulate incrementing an authorization endpoint, and provide the transaction ID received in the pre-authorization response as the {id} path parameter.

In the request body, optionally provide the amount to increase the pre-authorization by in the minor unit of the transaction currency.

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/issuing/simulate/authorizations/{id}/authorizations


1{
2  "amount": 3500
3}


1{
2  "status": "Authorized"
3}

A successful response returns the transaction status. This can be one of the following:

Authorized – The authorization was successful.
Declined – The authorization was not successful – For example, because the card is invalid or expired, or the cardholder has exceeded the spending limit.

To simulate clearing a successful authorization, call the Simulate clearing endpoint, and provide the transaction ID as the {id} path parameter.

Optionally, provide the amount to clear in the minor unit of the transaction currency.
If the presentment amount is lower than the previously authorized amount, only the specified part of the authorized amount is cleared. If not provided, the full authorization amount is cleared.

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/issuing/simulate/authorizations/{id}/presentments


1{
2  "amount": 2500
3}

If successful, you receive a 202 response code.

When an authorization is cleared, you receive a Presentment received webhook containing a clearing_type field. This field indicates if your Issuing balance will be credited or debited.

The transaction status is updated in the Dashboard. To view the transaction timeline:

Sign in to the Dashboard.
Go to Issuing > Transactions, and select the transaction to view the Transaction details page.

Information

Clearing times in the sandbox environment are different to the live environment due to acquirer and card scheme cut-off times.

To simulate reversing a previous authorization, call the Simulate reversal endpoint:

Provide the transaction ID as the {id} path parameter.
Optionally, provide the amount to reverse in the minor unit of the transaction currency.
If the reversal amount is lower than the previously authorized amount, only the specified part of the authorized amount is reversed. If not provided, the full authorization amount is reversed.

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/issuing/simulate/authorizations/{id}/reversals


1{
2  "amount": 2500
3}


1{
2  "status": "Reversed"
3}

A successful response returns the transaction status. This can be one of the following:

Reversed – The reversal was successful.
Declined – The reversal was not successful – For example, because the reversal amount is greater than the previously authorized amount, or if the authorization has already been cleared.

To simulate a refund of a previous authorization:

Provide the transaction ID as the {id} path parameter.
Optionally, provide the amount to refund in the minor unit of the transaction currency.
If the refund amount is lower than the previously cleared amount, only the specified part of the cleared amount is refunded. If not provided, the full cleared amount is refunded.

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/issuing/simulate/authorizations/{id}/refunds


1{
2  "amount": 2500
3}

If successful, you receive a 202 response code.

Simulate Issuing transactions

Before you begin

How it works

Simulate transactions in the Dashboard

Simulate an authorization or pre-authorization

Request example

Response example

Information

Simulate an incremental authorization

Request example

Response example

Simulate a clearing

Request example

Response example

Information

Simulate a reversal

Request example

Response example

Simulate a refund

Request example

Response example