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Overview

Synctera’s platform evaluates every transaction against a set of risk rules — fraud checks and spend controls. In most cases these automated evaluations produce the right outcome, but there are situations where a human reviewer determines that a decline or case was a false positive and the customer should be allowed to proceed. Evaluation overrides give you a controlled way to do this. An override tells the platform: “for this customer (and optionally this account, card, or spend control), skip the specified evaluation for a defined period of time.” Key characteristics:
  • Scoped — each override is tied to a customer_id and can optionally be narrowed to a specific account_id, card_id, spend_control_id, or transaction_id.
  • Typed — the type field indicates which category of evaluation to bypass: FRAUD (fraud-rule evaluation) or SPEND_CONTROL (spend-control limit evaluation).
  • Time-bound — every override has an active_at timestamp and an optional expires_at timestamp so overrides don’t remain in effect indefinitely.
  • Auditable — a reason (minimum 3 characters) is required on creation, providing a clear audit trail for compliance review.

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When to use evaluation overrides

Common scenarios include:
  • False-positive fraud decline — A customer contacts support because a legitimate transaction was blocked by a fraud rule. After review, an agent creates a FRAUD override so the customer can retry.
  • Temporary spend-control exception — A customer needs to make a one-time large purchase that exceeds their normal spend-control limit. A SPEND_CONTROL override allows the transaction without permanently changing the spend control.
  • Transaction-specific bypass — An override scoped to a transaction_id allows a single previously-declined transaction to be retried.

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Prerequisites

This guide assumes you have: You should also be familiar with:

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The evaluation override object

An evaluation override contains the following key fields:
FieldDescription
idUnique identifier (read-only, assigned on creation).
customer_idRequired. The customer the override applies to.
typeThe evaluation category to override: FRAUD or SPEND_CONTROL.
reasonRequired. Why the override was created (min 3 characters).
active_atWhen the override takes effect.
expires_atWhen the override expires (optional).
account_idOptionally scope the override to a specific account.
card_idOptionally scope the override to a specific card.
spend_control_idOptionally scope the override to a specific spend control.
transaction_idOptionally scope the override to a specific transaction.
{
  "id": "9b1deb4d-3b7d-4bad-9bdd-2b0d7b3dcb6d",
  "customer_id": "5f4ff599-7c29-4f69-a3d9-e103e151afbd",
  "account_id": "30044785-ddb0-4a51-be1c-402bd4ba2b2b",
  "type": "FRAUD",
  "reason": "False positive - customer confirmed transaction is legitimate.",
  "active_at": "2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "expires_at": "2024-12-31T23:59:59.000Z",
  "creation_time": "2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "last_updated_time": "2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"
}
See the API reference for the full request and response schemas.

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Managing evaluation overrides

1

Create an evaluation override

Use POST /v0/evaluation_overrides. At minimum you must provide a customer_id and a reason.Example: Fraud override for a customerAfter reviewing a fraud case, an agent determines the decline was a false positive and creates an override so the customer can transact normally for the next 24 hours:
curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/evaluation_overrides \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "customer_id": "5f4ff599-7c29-4f69-a3d9-e103e151afbd",
    "type": "FRAUD",
    "reason": "False positive - customer confirmed transaction is legitimate.",
    "active_at": "2024-06-01T00:00:00.000Z",
    "expires_at": "2024-06-02T00:00:00.000Z"
  }'
Example: Spend-control override for a specific account and spend controlA customer needs to make a one-time purchase that exceeds their weekly card limit. The override is scoped to their specific account and spend control:
curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/evaluation_overrides \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "customer_id": "5f4ff599-7c29-4f69-a3d9-e103e151afbd",
    "account_id": "30044785-ddb0-4a51-be1c-402bd4ba2b2b",
    "spend_control_id": "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-8901-bcde-f12345678901",
    "type": "SPEND_CONTROL",
    "reason": "One-time exception for large appliance purchase.",
    "active_at": "2024-06-01T00:00:00.000Z",
    "expires_at": "2024-06-01T23:59:59.000Z"
  }'
The response includes the system-generated id, creation_time, and last_updated_time:
{
  "id": "74454076-c36b-44fb-8062-d1743d668236",
  "customer_id": "5f4ff599-7c29-4f69-a3d9-e103e151afbd",
  "account_id": "30044785-ddb0-4a51-be1c-402bd4ba2b2b",
  "spend_control_id": "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-8901-bcde-f12345678901",
  "type": "SPEND_CONTROL",
  "reason": "One-time exception for large appliance purchase.",
  "active_at": "2024-06-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "expires_at": "2024-06-01T23:59:59.000Z",
  "creation_time": "2024-05-31T14:22:08.123Z",
  "last_updated_time": "2024-05-31T14:22:08.123Z"
}
2

List and review overrides

Use GET /v0/evaluation_overrides to list overrides. You can filter by customer, account, card, spend control, transaction, type, or reason.
curl \
  -X GET \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  "https://api.synctera.com/v0/evaluation_overrides?customer_id=5f4ff599-7c29-4f69-a3d9-e103e151afbd&type=FRAUD"
To retrieve a single override by ID, use GET /v0/evaluation_overrides/{evaluation_override_id}:
curl \
  -X GET \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  "https://api.synctera.com/v0/evaluation_overrides/74454076-c36b-44fb-8062-d1743d668236"
3

Update an override

Use PATCH /v0/evaluation_overrides/{evaluation_override_id} to modify an existing override. You can update the active_at, expires_at, and reason fields.For example, to extend an override’s expiration:
curl \
  -X PATCH \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/evaluation_overrides/74454076-c36b-44fb-8062-d1743d668236 \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "expires_at": "2024-06-07T23:59:59.000Z",
    "reason": "Extended override - customer traveling internationally this week."
  }'
4

Delete an override

To remove an override immediately (rather than waiting for it to expire), use DELETE /v0/evaluation_overrides/{evaluation_override_id}:
curl \
  -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  "https://api.synctera.com/v0/evaluation_overrides/74454076-c36b-44fb-8062-d1743d668236"

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Best practices

Evaluation overrides bypass safety controls. Use them judiciously and always with a clear, documented reason.
  • Set an expiration — Always provide an expires_at value so overrides don’t persist longer than intended. Prefer the shortest window that covers the customer’s need.
  • Scope narrowly — Use account_id, card_id, spend_control_id, or transaction_id to limit the override to only what’s necessary rather than giving a blanket bypass for the customer.
  • Document the reason — Write a clear, specific reason that a compliance reviewer can understand later (e.g., “False positive — customer confirmed wire to known payee” rather than “override”).
  • Review regularly — Use the list endpoint with filters to audit active overrides and ensure none have been left in place longer than needed.
  • Prefer deletion over expiry for immediate revocation — If circumstances change and the override is no longer appropriate, delete it rather than waiting for it to expire.

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API reference

See the full Evaluation Overrides API reference for request/response schemas and all available parameters: