Boulevard uses pre-authorization to validate credit cards entered at the time of online booking. Our payment processor sends over a request to the issuing bank for either a $0 or a $1 authorization to verify that the card is issued and the bank allows it to be authorized. Regardless of whether or not the authorization is declined, we reverse our authorization request immediately. However, even if the bank declines the authorization, some people may still see an authorization for $1 on their credit card statement. The important thing to remember is that this is not a charge, and it disappears from their statement; depending on the bank, it is removed from their statement in anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks.

Our payment processor first attempts a $0 authorization in all cases except AMEX (which doesn’t support $0 authorizations - we try a $1 authorization right away.) If the $0 authorization fails, we then attempt a $1 authorization.

A client using Boulevard to book an appointment online cannot finalize the appointment until they have added a valid credit card that has been pre-authorized.

IMPORTANT: Pre-authorization ensures that the credit card is valid; it does not guarantee that the full funds are available at the time of checkout.