General information

Estimated reading: 2 minutes

1. Operation

A card transaction comprises a sequence of actions:

1.1. 3DS 2.0 Authentication

This ensures that the person making the transaction is indeed the cardholder. The customer’s bank analyzes numerous payment-related factors provided by CentralPay (IP address, location, device used, etc.) and compares them to its customer’s usual data:

If the data does not match or the transaction amount is significant, it requires manual identification via a code sent by SMS or through its banking application (“strong authentication” or “SCA”)
Otherwise, it directly authorizes the payment (“Frictionless”)

1.2. Bank Authorization

A request made by CentralPay to the payer’s bank to verify the validity and funds availability of their card. The “authorized” funds are blocked until the funds are captured. If no capture is performed within 7 days, the “authorized” funds are released, and the merchant will need to renew their authorization.

For eligible activities (rental, hospitality, etc.), the “pre-authorization” service allows the merchant to extend the authorization period up to 30 days.

1.3. Capture

Capture initiates the debit of the card based on an authorization or pre-authorization. A merchant can perform a full or partial capture of the authorized amount.

2. Accepted Card Types and Networks

Payment cards are issued by banks or approved payment institutions; they can be branded by one or more card networks (also called “Card Scheme”).

The networks accepted by CentralPay are:

Debit Card
VISA
MasterCard
American Express

In France, the majority of cards issued are co-branded CB and VISA or CB and Mastercard. In this case, the customer must have the option to choose the network they wish to use.

Cards can be debit or deferred debit / credit (in France, the majority of cards are debit), and can be for individuals (referred to as “Consumer”) or for professionals (referred to as “Corporate”).

Note that these parameters impact the transaction cost for the merchant (interchange fees and card network fees).