Introduction to Credentialed Transactions

Credentialed transactions are transactions that involve either storing a customer's payment credentials for future transactions or using a customer's already stored payment credentials. When processing a credentialed transaction, you must indicate the type of credentialed transaction and the reason for the transaction. Credentialed transactions are also known as
credential-on-file
(COF) transactions.
There are several types of credentialed transactions:
  • Customer-Initiated Transactions (CITs):
    Any transaction a customer is actively participating in such as making a card-present payment, completing an online checkout, or by using a stored credential. CIT transactions can store the customer's credentials in your system for future CITs or merchant-initiated transactions.
  • Merchant-Initiated Transactions (MITs):
    Any transaction a merchant initiates without the customer's participation such as an industry practice transaction or a standing instruction transaction.
    • Industry Practice Transactions:
      MITs that are performed as subsequent transactions to a CIT because the initial transaction could not be completed in one transaction. Not every industry practice transaction involves a stored credential. If a stored credential is used only for one transaction, that transaction is not considered a credentialed transaction.
    • Standing Instruction Transactions:
      MITs that are performed to follow agreed-upon instructions from the customer for the provision of goods and services.

Figure:

MIT Types

Supported Services

These are the supported merchant-initiated services:
  • Delayed Authorization
  • Incremental Transactions
  • Installment Transactions
  • Mastercard Standing Order Transactions
  • Mastercard Subscription Transactions
  • No-Show Transactions
  • Reauthorization
  • Recurring Transactions
  • Resubmission
  • Unscheduled Credentials-on-File Transactions
The service determines the reason for the credentialed transaction.