The Fraud Review Process
For merchants who use Fraud Protection, every order that passes through Bolt Checkout undergoes Bolt’s Fraud Review process:
- The payment undergoes standard authorization.
- Bolt’s fraud decision engine reviews the order.
- If flagged for manual review, the order is analyzed by Bolt’s Risk Ops team.

Review Turnaround Time
Over 97% of orders are approved automatically by our fraud decision engine. When flagged for manual review, orders are reviewed within 1 business hour (9am-8pm EST, 7 days a week). You should not fulfill orders before they are approved.
INFO
Bolt initiates and completes investigations into fraud alerts within 7 days.
1. Payment Authorization
Bolt sends the charge to the card’s issuing bank for authorization.
Result | Shopper experience | Order status |
---|---|---|
Success | Sent to order confirmation page | In Review |
Failure | Notified that payment failed authorization | Failed |
NOTE
If an order total reaches $0.00 when a discount code or gift card is applied, the order bypasses Bolt’s fraud review engine and is automatically approved.
2. Fraud Engine Review
The order is processed by Bolt’s automated fraud review engine. Most orders are automatically approved.
Decision | Next step | Order status |
---|---|---|
Approved | Capture |
|
Flagged | Sent to Risk Ops team for manual review. | In Review |
Rejected | See available actions for recently rejected orders | Recently Rejected |
3. Risk Team Manual Review
During the manual review, the risk team can make one of the following decisions:
Decision | Next step | Order status |
---|---|---|
Approved | Capture |
|
Rejected | See available actions for recently rejected orders | Recently Rejected |
Available Actions for Recently Rejected Orders

You may take the following actions on recently rejected transactions:
Action | Description | Order status |
---|---|---|
Permanently reject | Manually confirm Bolt’s rejection of this order, or wait the duration of the rejection override window. | Permanently Rejected . |
Request re-review | If you believe Bolt has incorrectly rejected this order, you may submit the order for re-review along with evidence that supports your claim. | In Review |
Force approve (not recommended) | If you are certain that Bolt has incorrectly rejected this order, you may override our rejection. This action waives your indemnification on this transaction. |
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