Process Payments with `Unified Checkout` {#uc_pay_processing_intro}
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Payment processing is a payment completion option in your merchant configuration. Your configuration determines if your checkout system automatically handles and finalizes customer payments. When payment processing is enabled, `Unified Checkout` handles the complete payment for you automatically. When payment processing not enabled, you complete payments independently using your selected gateway.

Payment Processing Enabled
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`Visa Acceptance Solutions` recommends that you enable payment processing if you meet these requirements:

* Your integration is configured with the payment completion step. For more information about completeMandate() see [Complete Mandate](/docs/vas/en-us/unified-checkout/developer/all/rest/unified-checkout/uc-setup-capture-context/uc-capture-context-features/uc-cc-complete-mandate.md "").

* You do not have a designated technical team to process payments.

* Your integration includes any of these features:

  * Fraud checks with `Decision Manager` or `Fraud Management Essentials`
  * `3-D Secure`/ `Payer Authentication`
  * Stored customer credentials with the `Token Management Service`(`TMS`)
* Multiple payment methods  
  When payment processing is enabled, you can choose how payments should be handled:

* **Preferred Authorization**: The payment is authorized first and captured at a later time. This method works well for businesses that ship products to their customers. For example, you authorize the payment when the customer places and order and capture the payment when you ship it.

* **Sale**: The payment is captured immediately. This method works well for service businesses, digital products, and immediate purchases.

> IMPORTANT
> Not all payment methods are compatible with all processing types. Different payment methods work with different payment processing types. You must configure your payment processing settings to be compatible with your integration and review which payment methods are compatible. For information about payment methods and their processing compatibility, see [Payment Methods](/docs/vas/en-us/unified-checkout/developer/all/rest/unified-checkout/uc-pay-methods-intro.md "").

Payment Processing Disabled
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`Visa Acceptance Solutions` recommends that you disable payment processing if you meet these requirements:

* You want to process payments on `Visa Acceptance Platform` using your own API requests instead of relying on the automatic payment completion step.
* You want full control over your checkout and payment orchestration flow.
* You only use `Unified Checkout` to collect encrypted payment information and you handle the completion phase through `Visa Acceptance Platform` APIs or your custom back-end. The completion phase includes authorization, sale, fraud checks, `3-D Secure` and card storage.

When disable payment processing, the checkout system will collect payment information from your customers but you will need to process the actual payment on your end. When payment processing is disabled, you must consider the following:

* Customer payments are not completed automatically.
* Fraud checks and `3-D Secure` using automatic orchestration are disabled.
* Saved credentials and token management using automatic processing are disabled.
* You must handle payment completion yourself.