Authorize.Net CIM: Extra authorizations when using Hosted Forms

The Problem

If you switch to the new Accept Hosted iframe payment form for Authorize.Net you may notice additional transactions appearing in your dashboard. In some cases, you may notice there are no orders in the Magento Admin at all.

Additional Details

This happens because the hosted form 'Place Order' button has Authorize.Net create an authorization before Magento performs any additional processing to actually create the order.

That means:

1. There won't be a record of those authorizations in Magento's log files, because the authorization happens directly between the customer and Authorize.net;
2. If any error prevents Magento from creating the order, you will end up with an authorization but no order. We try to automatically void the transaction, but depending on the type of error this is not always possible.

While the Hosted Form may make failed submissions more obvious, the authorizations will expire within a week. No funds are captured unless and until Magento creates an invoice for an order.

Solutions

Check your Magento logs for any errors or exceptions occurring at checkout during order placement. As much as possible, you want to ensure an order always goes through once the customer clicks 'Place Order', unless there's a very good reason for the order to fail.

If the excess authorizations are problematic, consider changing the payment form. This only affects the Hosted payment form. To change the form, go into the Magento admin payment settings, and set the "Payment Form Type" to Accept.js.

If the Hosted Form is causing issues for your store, please feel free to open a support ticket with details.