Payment Schemes
Depending on the specifics of your business, you can use one-step or two-step payments.
With one-step payments, after a payment is authorized, it does not require your attention. The money is immediately transferred from the customer's account to the target account. Typically, one-step payments are used when payments must be completed instantly. For example, if the goods or services are provided immediately (e.g., digital goods).
With two-step payments, the customer's funds are first put on hold on their account. You need to capture the payment in order to complete the transaction. At this point you can also cancel the payment if, for example, you are unable to deliver the goods or for any other reason. The two-step scheme allow you to postpone the final completion of the payment.
Technically, one-step payments go through the same statuses as two-step payments. However, with one-step payments, the capture action is automated on the OmniCart side. The gateway API allows you to perform both one-step and two-step payments provided that you have sufficient privileges to execute requests with the appropriate parameters. See also the Payment Life Cycle section for more information on payment statues.