What does FORCE do in a credit card transaction?
From some API spec I have:
Force to place an Auth transaction into the current batch (PostAuth) or to place a transaction not processed through the LUCY Gateway™ into the current batch (ForceAuth)
So "AUTH" just places the funds on hold. If you want to have the funds transferred to your merchant bank you'd need to do "SALE" or "CAPTURE" or something. But what's the point of "FORCE"? Does "AUTH" not put the funds on hold immediately? Do you need to do "FORCE" to do that?
Answer
FORCE is also known as CAPTURE ONLY. This transaction type allows you to manually capture funds for transactions that were previously authorized outside the payment gateway. Additionally, because a Capture Only requires the Authorization Code of an original, successfully authorized transaction, you can use this transaction type to force captures for transactions that were declined by the payment gateway as a result of Address Verification Service (AVS) or Card Code Verification (CCV) rejection settings. Though they were declined by the payment gateway, an Authorization Code is usually still issued by the credit card issuing bank.