Payments and reconciliations

Payment methods can be authorized or charged at the following points in the customer journey: at checkout, during fulfillment, and after fulfillment.

At checkout​

At checkout, the customer must select one core payment method and can select alternative payment methods.

The payment methods are applied to the order total as follows:

1. SNAP EBT card (EBT-eligible items only)
2. Instacart credits (applied automatically)
3. Instacart gift cards
4. Core payment method

If the customer selects only a core payment method, the payment method is solely authorized for the order.

If the customer selects multiple payment methods, the alternative payment methods are charged for the allowable amounts. Any remaining amount is authorized on the core payment method. For example, a customer pays with a SNAP EBT card and a credit card. The total amount of the EBT-eligible items is charged to the SNAP EBT card up to the balance on the account. The customer enters a PIN to accept the charge. The remaining amount is authorized on the credit card.

During fulfillment​

The order total is likely to change during fulfillment. For example, weighed items, like meat or produce, might be more or less than estimated. The customer can also change their placed order by adding items, selecting replacement items with a different price, or requesting refunds when a suitable replacement is unavailable. Finally, a customer might cancel an order before it is fulfilled or adjust their tip.

The selected payment methods are affected in the following ways:

• If the order total increases by a predetermined amount after the order is placed, the core payment method is authorized for an additional amount to cover the difference. The amount that triggers a new authorization is subject to change.
• If the order total decreases, the authorized amount doesn't change.
• If an order is canceled, the alternative payment methods are refunded and a request is sent to the payment provider to release the authorization on the core payment method.

After fulfillment​

Shortly after the customer receives their order, a reconciliation process runs to ensure that the payment methods are charged correctly for the final order total. If the customer selected only a core payment method, the final order total is charged to the core payment method. The customer then receives a receipt with the final amounts charged to each payment method. For more information, see Receipts.

If the customer selected alternative payment methods, the payment methods that were used are refunded as follows:

1. SNAP EBT card (EBT-eligible items only)
2. Core payment method
3. Instacart credits
4. Instacart gift cards

The following sections describe the reconciliation processes for each payment method.

SNAP EBT card reconciliation​

If a customer used a SNAP EBT card at checkout, the reconciliation process calculates the subtotal of all the EBT-eligible items that were included in the fulfilled order. The calculation takes into consideration all the changes that occurred after the order was placed.

Example changes include:

• Weighed EBT-eligible items have a different final price than the estimated price.
• An EBT-eligible item is added to the order.
• An EBT-eligible item is replaced with another EBT-eligible item that is more or less expensive than the original item.
• An EBT-eligible item is replaced with a non-EBT-eligible item.
• An EBT-eligible item is refunded.

When the final subtotal of all the EBT-eligible items differs from the amount charged to the SNAP EBT card, the difference is reconciled in the following ways:

• If the EBT subtotal decreased, the difference is refunded to the SNAP EBT card.
• If the EBT subtotal increased, the difference is applied to the core payment method. An increase can’t be charged to the SNAP EBT card because the order is complete and there is no way to ask the customer to approve an additional charge to their card. The EBT-eligible items that are not charged to the SNAP EBT card are subject to sales tax.

The reconciliation process subtracts the final amount charged to the SNAP EBT card from the final order total.

Core payment method reconciliation​

After reconciling EBT (if applicable), any remaining difference in the order total is applied to the core payment method in the following ways:

• If the difference is a refund, the amount is deducted from the amount authorized on the core payment method. If the refund exceeds the authorization, the remaining refund is applied to the other alternative payment methods.
• If the difference is an increase to the order total not covered by EBT, the amount is charged to the core payment method.

Instacart credit reconciliation​

If Instacart credits were applied at checkout, and if a refund amount remains after reconciling EBT (if applicable) and the core payment method, the remaining amount is refunded as credits up to the amount of the credits applied to the order.

Instacart gift card reconciliation​

If a customer used a gift card at checkout, and if a refund amount remains after reconciling EBT (if applicable), the core payment method, and Instacart credits (if applicable), the remaining amount is refunded to the gift card.