FAQ: white-label payment infrastructure

Platform and branding

Can I tailor the platform navigation to my merchants?

Menu configuration happens once, at your level. You rename entries, reorder them inside their zone and set which ones stay visible, and that configuration applies to every company and merchant account below you, which holds the experience consistent across your whole portfolio. Roles and permissions then determine what each user reaches inside that menu, and a reset action restores the original names and visibility at any time.

Can my merchants reach the platform on my own domain?

Each interface carries two domains, a primary and a secondary, whose labels follow the environment you run: production and sandbox in production, development and staging in development. You point the merchant interface and the admin interface at addresses you own. Your merchants sign in on your address and stay on it through every operation they perform.

Can one merchant run several brands inside the same structure?

Yes. A company groups the merchant accounts that belong to one legal or operational entity, and each brand, market or channel takes its own merchant account underneath. Configuration such as contracts, routing and matching applies per merchant account, while reporting consolidates across the company, so your merchants read each brand separately and the whole picture together.

How do the scope levels map to my organization?

The structure runs from Meta Program Manager to Program Manager, then Companies, then Merchant Accounts. You use the levels that match your model and keep the structure as flat or as deep as your business calls for. Groups let you gather companies or merchant accounts for access control, reporting and configuration inheritance, and TeamSpaces sit on top for the way your teams actually work.

How far does the branding go?

For an exact match with your visual identity, book a demo and explore custom themes with our team.

Who decides what a program below me can configure on its own?

Governance controls sit at the level above. A set of toggles decides whether a program can manage payment partners, create webhook templates, customize hosted payment pages, configure branding and interface options, and customize the menu for the companies and merchant accounts below it. When a toggle stays closed, the corresponding section becomes read-only or hidden, and the configuration remains centrally managed.

Providers and payment methods

Can I keep a contract active while excluding it from specific cases?

Exclusion rules act as a restriction layer on top of the contract configuration, and they take precedence over activation status. Supported parameters include amount, authorization currency, IP country, issuer country, issuer, list, merchant data, merchant store ID, sales channel, payment method name and payment method type. When an exclusion rule matches the operational context, routing and execution leave that contract aside. Every change is written to the audit logs.

Do recurring payments survive a card being reissued?

When a card expires, is replaced or is reissued, the scheme updates the corresponding network token, and subsequent charges keep running on it. The token captured on the first customer-initiated payment is stored in the NORBr Vault as a universal token, reusable across every provider configured on the merchant account, so each following charge reuses it directly.

How is a new provider or payment method added for a merchant?

A contract links a merchant account to a connector, whether payment, risk, authentication or network tokenization, and carries the credentials, the mapping and the configuration for that connector. Each contract type shows the sections it needs, from connection settings to provider-specific identifiers. Activation validation is specific to the contract type, so the checks run against what that provider actually requires.

What activates network tokenization?

Selecting a supported tokenization partner in the contract configuration. From that point, the linkage between the network token and the existing NORBr Vault token happens at infrastructure level, in real time, for every eligible transaction under that contract. Existing payment data stays where it is, and the API contract stays as it was.

What does scheme readiness cover for wallets?

Apple Pay certificates live at company level, so every merchant account under that company enabling Apple Pay picks them up, and one renewal covers the whole set. Google Pay works from the contract itself: a gateway merchant ID and a merchant name, entered when the method is activated, with the fields appearing at that exact moment. The activation checklist catches a missing value ahead of your merchant.

What does the activation test check before a contract goes live?

The test runs against the staged configuration and returns an execution summary with the provider result. For a network tokenization contract, the available scenarios include a token request, a token status check, a lifecycle event and a cryptogram request, depending on provider support. The test validates the configuration itself, and it creates a payment transaction only when the provider test flow requires one.

Where can my merchants explore the full payment method catalogue?

A dedicated table lists every payment method available on the platform, selected or not, with its logo and name, its type such as card, wallet, bank transfer or BNPL, its headquarters country, and the countries and currencies it supports. It works as a discovery layer: opening a row leads to the payment method detail, and the breadcrumb returns your merchants to where they started. Selection and configuration remain a separate action, handled inside the contract.

What happens when a provider handles PANs only?

During authorization the platform checks whether a usable network token exists for the payment method. When the selected provider supports network tokens, the transaction carries the token and its cryptogram. When it handles PANs only, the platform falls back to the PAN and the transaction continues. Each transaction records which path it took, so the behavior stays visible in reporting.

Which network token fields reach my systems?

Order detail and API payloads carry whether a token is associated, whether tokenization was requested, whether the token was used, its expiration month and year, the requestor identifier, the cryptogram and the tokenization partner. These fields appear when they apply, and their values follow provider capability, so integrations should treat them as optional and support the PAN path alongside.

Routing and recovery

Can a subscription plan change while past charges stay untouched?

A Plan holds the cadence, the amount, the currency, the renewal mode and an optional trial period, and every subscription referencing it inherits those parameters. Updating the Plan carries the change into future occurrences while past occurrences stay as they were recorded. Your merchants define the template once and adjust it as their offer evolves.

Can retry behavior differ by decline reason?

Yes. Each return code represents a specific failure scenario, and the mapping table sets three things per code: whether a retry happens, whether that retry targets the same provider or another one, and how the attempt behaves. The behavior can inherit the previous transaction, carry a challenge preference, or apply an SCA exemption reason such as low value, corporate, trusted beneficiary, risk analysis or delegated authentication. Each row shows whether it holds a default or a custom value.

Do provider outages consume the retry budget?

That is a setting. Counting attempts made during provider downtime holds the total number of retries in check while a provider is unavailable. Leaving them out of the count lets retries resume once the provider comes back. Your merchants choose the behavior that fits their volume and their tolerance.

How are recurring charges recovered when they fail?

A recurring charge follows the same recovery path as any other transaction: the fallback policy already configured for that merchant account applies, with the same return code mapping and the same retry targets. SCA exemption rules already in place cover merchant-initiated charges. Your merchants configure recovery once, and it covers one-off and recurring flows alike.

What happens after a failed payment attempt?

Each merchant account carries its own fallback policy: an active state, a maximum number of attempts including the first one, a maximum number of retries after the initial failure, and a decision on whether attempts made during provider downtime count toward those limits. When the policy is active, the platform retries according to that configuration and the return code mapping defined alongside it.

What happens to routing when a provider contract is revoked?

Every contract lists the routing rules that reference it, with the rule conditions, the user who created each one, and the transaction volume each rule sent over the last 30 days. Revocation opens up once those rules are updated or removed, so your merchants keep a working route at every step of the change.

Who builds the routing rules, my team or my merchants?

Each merchant account gets its own Routing Matrix, an ordered set of rules evaluated on every transaction before it reaches a provider. Your merchants build and reorder those rules directly in the Console, on the conditions that match their business. You set the defaults and the boundaries they operate within, which keeps your team available for the cases that deserve attention.

Which conditions can a routing rule use?

Issuer country, payment method, transaction amount, MCC, BIN and sales channel. A single rule can combine several conditions, and all of them must match for the rule to fire. Rules are ordered, so the first match wins and your merchants keep control of precedence.

Matching and reporting

Can each merchant shape its own views?

Views are built from any object table on the platform, covering transactions, orders, contracts, tokens and operations, with the columns, filters and sort order each merchant chooses. Each view carries its own visibility rule, staying private, shared with named colleagues, or opened to a whole team. Saved searches attach to the view they belong to, so a complex filter combination survives the next refresh.

Can matching and payment data leave the Console?

The Payment Partner and Matcher Engine views export to CSV for sharing, archiving or analysis outside the Console, and an audit file covering matching actions can be generated on demand. Exports built from a merchant view carry the column names, field order, file format and filename pattern defined in that view.

Does matching hold up under a financial audit?

Every action is written to an immutable log with its date and timestamp, the transaction or notification identifier, the user who performed it and the action type, whether match, match later, withdraw, discard or close out. Reasons are stored alongside the actions that require them. Logs filter by date range, identifier, status and user action, register closure logs summarize a full period, and an exportable audit file can be generated at any time.

Does one matching layer cover online and in-store?

Matcher™ applies the same logic across the whole account structure. A common omnichannel setup pairs a dedicated e-commerce tree, with one merchant account per country mirroring how the provider itself is organized, alongside the physical store accounts. Flows from several providers at once resolve into one matching layer rather than one process per provider or per market.

How does Matcher™ match transactions automatically?

Through a cascade running from the most precise strategy to the most tolerant. First by reference, when the notification and the transaction share an exact payment identifier. Then by merchant order reference. Then by data, comparing amount, store, payment method and a date window. Then by pairing, when a transaction is offset by an opposite movement such as a sale and a refund of the same amount in the same store. A transaction becomes Matched once the full amount is covered, and stays Pending while part of it remains.

How do I see which providers a merchant depends on?

Each contract detail shows the routing rules that reference it, the conditions leading to its selection, the user who created each rule and the transactions routed through it over the last 30 days. That view gives you the dependency picture ahead of any lifecycle action, and it surfaces concentration on a single provider early enough to act.

How is the impact of tokenization measured?

Through the same dashboards and overviews your merchants already use. Dedicated indicators cover network token usage rate, authorized transactions using a network token, transaction success rate on tokenized flows and orders using a network token. Dimensions cover token status, tokenization partner and token expiration data, so a widget combining any indicator with any dimension puts tokenized and non-tokenized performance side by side.

What does Close Out produce?

Close Out finalizes matching for a register and locks it against further modification. It generates a summary report showing total revenue, matched transactions, pending matches and withdrawn tickets, the last of which stays visible to authorized users. Registers close one at a time or several at once through multi-selection, which suits centralized operations across many stores.

What happens to items that stay unmatched at the end of the day?

Two documented paths. Match Later parks a transaction with a reason and a comment while the missing notification is still expected, and it stays visible in the Pending queue until the data arrives. Withdraw removes a transaction from totals and from further matching when a match will never come, and it requires a dedicated permission. Both stay in the logs with timestamp, user and reason.

Where do reconciliation files come from?

From the provider, retrieved through credentials held in the contract. When a provider requires them, the contract carries a dedicated reconciliation section with the file server host, username and password, the merchant identifier used by that provider for reporting, and the folder path where the files are published. Those values usually sit in the provider back office under settlement or reporting access.

Integration and events

Can a delivery be traced after the fact?

Event detail keeps the core metadata, the last delivery information, the linked order and transaction references, and the request and response payloads in a JSON viewer. The calls list records each attempt with its creation date, result, signature and timestamp. Resent events live in their own view, so a redelivery stays distinguishable from the original.

Can an endpoint be tested before it goes live?

Activation requires one successful test. Your merchants pick a trigger, the platform sends the matching synthetic payload using the exact signing logic of production deliveries, and an HTTP 2xx response confirms the endpoint accepts the request. The result shows the status badge, the full request preview with headers and payload, the response body, and the recent calls with their signatures. The test confirms reachability and acceptance, and business processing inside the receiving system remains yours to validate.

How does my system verify that a webhook came from the platform?

Each delivery is signed. Your receiving system recomputes the signature from the payload, the timestamp and the Merchant Account Secret Key, using the signature algorithm set on the endpoint, then compares the result with the signature header. Supported algorithms run from MD5 and SHA-1 through SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512. Signature verification is the recommended control, and it stays reliable across delivery infrastructure changes.

What can be shaped in a webhook endpoint?

An endpoint carries a name, a target URL and at least one trigger, with triggers grouped by event family across transaction, checkout and batch. Custom headers and payload configuration are available as optional steps at creation. Webhooks subscribe to the payment events the platform produces, which keeps event generation and event delivery as separate concerns.

Launch and support

How does a platform go from configuration to live traffic?

Define the scope structure, apply domains, themes and menus, grant roles, permissions and TeamSpaces, then connect providers through governed contracts and run their activation tests. Production access opens once the program is cleared for live processing. Each step happens in the Console, and the readiness indicators show what remains.

How do I control access to the production environment?

Production access is a dedicated governance toggle held at the level above a program. While it stays closed, that program works in sandbox, which lets a new operator configure its structure, contracts and branding ahead of live traffic. Opening the toggle is the moment live processing becomes available.

How do I tell whether a program is ready to go live?

The program list carries readiness indicators as columns: merchant domain configured, admin domain configured, theme configured, TeamSpaces enabled, contacts count, active API keys, configured webhook endpoints, and the governance permissions in effect. Creation and update timestamps sit alongside, with the user behind each. The picture is available from the table, ahead of opening any single program.

Where does support sit once my platform is live?

Technical documentation for integrators sits on the developer portal. Book a demo to walk through the support model that backs your team.

Commercial model

Does NORBr act as the merchant of record?

No. Market reach comes through the acquirers and local providers certified in the network, and the commercial relationship with each merchant stays yours. You choose which providers your merchants run on, market by market, and the infrastructure carries the flows across them.

How does pricing work?

Our team walks you through pricing during a demo, with your volumes and your growth plans on the table. Book a demo to see the model applied to your platform.

What stays my responsibility once the infrastructure is in place?

The commercial relationship with your merchants, the onboarding decisions you make about them, the pricing you set, the provider relationships you choose to hold directly, and the support you offer under your brand. The infrastructure covers the platform, the connections and the operational surfaces your merchants work in.

Which parts of a payment platform take longest to build in house?

The parts that stay invisible until they are missing. Provider contract management with per-provider credentials and activation tests. Signed event delivery with verification on the receiving side. A matching engine with an immutable audit trail. Role and scope models that hold across a multi-level structure. Certification cycles renewed every year. The API is the visible layer, and it sits on top of all of that.

Onboarding Workflow

Can we use Onboard without the NORBr payment platform?

Yes. It runs standalone, on the acquiring relationships you already hold. If you also run your platform on NORBr, an approved merchant moves into your payment stack carrying the information you already collected, and starts nothing over.

Can our own clients onboard their merchants in the platform?

Yes. You open a program for a client and they run onboarding inside it, under the brand you agreed on, with their own forms, their own payment partners and their own users. Programs stay sealed from one another.

What happens if a merchant corrects information after submitting?

A submitted application locks read-only. Your team reopens it and the merchant corrects it in place, pre-filled. The file your payment partner reviews stays the file you approved, and every change carries an author and a timestamp.

KYB Forms & Questionnaires

Can we adapt the KYB questionnaire to a merchant's industry?

Yes. You build one form per profile, from a shared library of questions. A travel merchant answers on credit risk and delivery horizon, a retail merchant on stock and locations. Adding, hiding or reordering a question happens in the interface.

Do we have to build our forms from scratch?

A set of ready-made onboarding forms comes with the platform, and standard KYB questions sit in the library from day one. You add what your programs require on top, and a client's program can start from the baseline you seeded.

Can we ask different questions before and after qualifying a merchant?

Yes. Prequalification is a short form, a few questions, enough to decide whether the conversation continues. The full KYB follows once you choose to go further. Programs that sign merchants they already know turn prequalification off in settings.

Document Review & Compliance

How are onboarding documents protected?

Every document is encrypted under a managed key, in transit and at rest, and each merchant's files sit in storage reserved for that merchant rather than a shared pool. The data read out of a document carries the same encryption as the document.

How long are documents and audit logs kept?

Each program sets the retention period: 24, 60 or 84 months. When it ends, documents and audit logs are removed automatically, and the removal is logged like every other action. Set the duration that matches the obligations you answer to.

Does the platform decide whether a document is valid?

Content is extracted on upload and expiry dates are checked as a document lands, so an out-of-date identity document surfaces immediately. The decision stays with your reviewer, who approves, challenges with a reason, or attaches the document to the question it answers.

Applications & Partner Sharing

Does a merchant fill in its KYB again for each payment partner?

The merchant completes one KYB. From it you generate one application per payment partner, each carrying the subset of information you chose to share. Submitting to a second partner creates a second application, and the merchant starts nothing over.

How does a payment partner review an application?

Each partner opens the applications you route to it in its own portal, reads what you shared, and asks for anything missing inside the file. The request reaches the merchant, who answers and attaches the document in the same thread.

Can we hide which payment partner a merchant is submitted to?

Yes. Payment partners are configured per program, and programs that keep their acquiring relationships private can hide partner identity from the merchant view. The merchant follows the status of its application, and the relationship stays your commercial asset.

Chargeback Alerts

What is the difference between RDR, CDRN and Ethoca?

RDR is Visa’s automatic resolution: eligible claims on Visa cards are refunded automatically, and are not counted in the chargeback ratio. CDRN (Verifi) and Ethoca (Mastercard) send you an alert, and you have 72 hours to refund before it becomes a chargeback.

Do our merchants see who provides the alerts?

They see Verifi or Ethoca as the source of each alert, inside your branded portal. The NORBr infrastructure behind it stays out of sight.

What happens when an alert cannot be matched?

It stays in the table with a Pending or Not eligible status and all the data the network sent, so your team can investigate.

How are alerts activated for a merchant?

Alerts are switched on per merchant account. From then on, every alert for that account appears in your console.

Trust Center

Can I verify NORBr’s PCI DSS status independently?

Yes. Search for “NORBr B.V.” on the Visa Global Registry of Service Providers. The entry lists the validation type, the assessor and the validity date.

Can my own auditors or compliance team get access?

Yes. Ask your NORBr support team and we send each auditor a personal 7-day invitation on their work email, scoped to the audit period.

How long does access last?

Prospects and auditors receive a 7-day invitation. Clients and partners get an account valid two years, then deleted automatically. Access can be reopened on request.

How often are ASV scans performed?

NORBr runs external vulnerability scans every week. Qualys, an Approved Scanning Vendor, certifies the results in line with PCI DSS: quarterly at most, usually monthly. Every certified report is published in the Trust Center as soon as it is issued.

Is NORBr a payment gateway or an acquirer?

Neither. NORBr is white-label payment infrastructure that connects and routes the payment providers you activate. Under PCI DSS it is a third-party service provider, listed by Visa as a Merchant Servicer. It does not hold funds or an acquiring licence.

What personal data do you keep about Trust Center users?

Only your work email address, used to send your access link and to watermark downloads. No password, no name, no company. Accounts are deleted automatically after two years.

Who can access the Trust Center?

Prospects evaluating NORBr, clients, partners and their auditors or compliance teams. Every access is opened by NORBr; there is no self-service sign-up.

Connector for Claude

Who can use the connector?

Anyone with a login on a NORBr-powered platform, from platform teams to program managers and merchants. Access is enabled on request: your NORBr contact shares the connector URL.

Do my merchants see the NORBr name?

No. Answers are phrased in terms of your platform, programs and merchants. NORBr stays invisible.

Can Claude change anything in my account?

No. The connector is read-only. It cannot refund, capture or cancel a payment, and cannot change routing, contracts or settings.

Is my password shared with Claude?

No. You sign in through OAuth with your existing credentials. Claude receives an access token, never your password.

Which data can Claude query?

Payment analytics for transactions, orders, checkouts and financial operations, within the scope your login already has.

#PayDecoding

What is buy now, pay later?

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is a checkout option that lets a shopper receive goods immediately and pay later, usually in four interest-free installments or in one payment after 14 to 30 days. A BNPL provider pays the merchant upfront and collects the repayments.

How do BNPL companies make money?

Mostly through merchant fees taken on each transaction. Some providers also earn interest on longer financing plans, late fees, card interchange when the shopper pays with a BNPL card, and advertising or affiliate revenue from their shopping apps.

Is buy now, pay later regulated in 2026?

In the UK, yes: the FCA regulates BNPL since July 15, 2026. In the EU, the Consumer Credit Directive CCD2 brings most BNPL under credit law from November 20, 2026. In the US, there is no federal BNPL-specific rule since the CFPB withdrew its 2024 guidance.

What is the difference between BNPL and installments?

Historically, BNPL meant paying nothing at purchase, while installments started with a first payment at checkout. Today the terms overlap: most providers offer pay in 4, pay in 30 days and longer plans. The real difference is who lends and under which rules.

Does BNPL affect your credit score?

It depends on the provider and the country. Many providers run a soft credit check that does not affect scores, but some report payments to credit bureaus. Missed payments can lead to fees, debt collection and, where reported, a lower credit score.

Which BNPL providers lead outside Europe and the US?

In the Gulf, Tabby and Tamara lead the market in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In Southeast Asia, Atome is a major player, while in China credit lines such as Huabei and JD BaiTiao dominate. In Latin America, wallets such as Mercado Pago and local providers such as Addi in Colombia offer installment credit, often to shoppers without a credit card.

What is cash on delivery?

Cash on delivery (COD) is a payment method where the shopper orders online and pays only when the parcel arrives, in cash or by card, QR code or mobile payment at the door. The courier collects the money and transfers it to the merchant, minus a fee.

Where is cash on delivery still popular?

COD remains common in India, Southeast Asia (notably the Philippines and Vietnam), parts of the Middle East and North Africa, and Eastern Europe, such as Romania. It is declining fast in Gulf countries, where cards and wallets have taken over.

What are the disadvantages of cash on delivery for merchants?

High return-to-origin rates, courier collection fees, delayed cash flow, fake orders and the risks of handling cash. Because a COD order costs the shopper nothing upfront, it is refused or returned far more often than a prepaid order.

Can you pay by card with cash on delivery?

Yes, in many markets. Couriers increasingly carry mobile card terminals or display QR codes, so shoppers can pay at the door by card, mobile wallet or instant payment such as UPI. This is often called pay on delivery.

How can merchants reduce COD returns?

By confirming orders before shipping, offering COD only to trusted shoppers and baskets, giving discounts for prepayment, sending payment links before dispatch, and asking for a small deposit on risky orders.

What is a chargeback?

A chargeback is the reversal of a card payment started by the cardholder through their issuing bank. The issuer takes the funds back from the merchant via the acquirer, and the merchant can contest with evidence. It covers fraud, non-delivery, processing errors and goods not as described.

What is the difference between a chargeback and a refund?

A refund is initiated by the merchant, who returns the money voluntarily. A chargeback is initiated by the cardholder’s bank, comes with a fee and a deadline, and counts in the merchant’s dispute ratio monitored by Visa and Mastercard.

What is friendly fraud?

Friendly fraud, or first-party misuse, is when the genuine cardholder disputes a purchase they made and received, by mistake or on purpose. Merchants surveyed in 2026 attribute about 44% of their chargebacks to it.

What is the Visa VAMP threshold in 2026?

Since 1 April 2026, a merchant in Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe or the US is rated Excessive under VAMP when fraud reports plus disputes reach 1.5% of settled transactions, with at least 1,500 events in the month. The threshold was 2.2% before.

How long does a customer have to file a chargeback?

It depends on the card scheme and reason code. At Mastercard, cardholders generally have 120 days from the transaction, and up to 540 days for some non-delivery cases. Merchants then have 45 days to respond with evidence.

What is payment fallback?

Payment fallback is the automatic switch to a backup route when a payment fails: another acquirer, gateway, credential or payment method. It recovers payments lost to outages, timeouts and soft declines without asking the customer to start again.

What is the difference between a soft decline and a hard decline?

A soft decline is temporary or route-related, such as an issuer timeout or technical error, and may succeed on a retry or another acquirer. A hard decline, such as a stolen card or closed account, will fail everywhere and must not be retried.

How many times can you retry a declined card payment?

Visa allows up to 20 retries on the same card, amount and currency in 30 days since May 2025. Mastercard allows 10 retries in 24 hours and 35 in 30 days. Beyond that, fees apply, and some decline codes must never be retried.

What is cascading in payments?

Cascading sends a transaction that was softly declined by one acquirer to a second acquirer, usually once and within seconds. It works when the second route has a better issuer connection, local acquiring or a different risk setup.

Do you need payment orchestration for fallback?

In practice, yes. Fallback needs several acquirer connections, normalized decline codes, routing rules and shared credentials. A payment orchestration layer provides these in one place, instead of custom code for each provider.

What is an installment payment?

An installment payment splits a purchase into a fixed number of payments, usually equal and on known dates. The shopper typically pays the first part at checkout, receives the item immediately, and pays the rest over the following weeks or months.

What is the difference between installments and buy now, pay later?

Installments traditionally start with a first payment at checkout, while buy now, pay later originally meant paying nothing upfront. Today most providers offer both formats, so the terms often overlap. The key differences are the lender, the duration and the applicable regulation.

Are 3x and 4x payments regulated in the EU?

From November 20, 2026, yes in most cases. The Consumer Credit Directive CCD2 removes the old exemption for interest-free credit repaid within three months. Providers must assess creditworthiness, give standard information and offer a 14-day withdrawal right.

What is parcelado in Brazil?

Parcelado is the Brazilian practice of splitting a credit card purchase into monthly installments, often without interest. In the first half of 2026, interest-free installments represented 43% of credit card value in Brazil, according to the card industry association Abecs.

Who carries the risk in an installment payment?

With a split-payment provider, the provider pays the merchant upfront and carries the credit risk. With card installments, the card issuer does. When a merchant runs its own installment plan, the merchant carries the risk of unpaid installments.

How long does an instant payment take?

An instant payment reaches the payee’s account in a few seconds. In Europe, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme makes funds available in less than ten seconds, and the service runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays.

Are instant payments mandatory in the EU?

Yes, for euro transfers. Since 9 October 2025, euro-area banks that offer credit transfers must also send instant ones, at a price no higher than standard transfers. Payment and e-money institutions must follow by April 2027, and non-euro EU countries in 2027.

Can an instant payment be reversed?

No. An instant payment is final once credited. There is no chargeback as with cards. A mistaken or disputed payment is solved by a refund transfer from the payee, which is why payee name checks happen before the payment is sent.

What is the difference between an instant payment and a card payment?

An instant payment moves money directly between bank accounts and settles in seconds. A card payment is authorized in seconds but settled later through the card network, carries interchange fees, and offers chargeback rights to the cardholder.

Which countries have the largest instant payment systems?

India’s UPI is the largest by volume, with over 24 billion transactions a month in 2026. Brazil’s Pix processed almost 80 billion transactions in 2025. Europe’s SCT Inst, the UK’s Faster Payments and the US RTP and FedNow networks follow.

What is an interchange fee?

An interchange fee is the fee a merchant’s bank (the acquirer) pays to the cardholder’s bank (the issuer) on each card payment. Card networks such as Visa and Mastercard set the rates, which depend on card type, channel, region and merchant category.

Who pays interchange fees?

The acquirer pays interchange to the issuer, then passes the cost to the merchant inside the merchant service charge, alongside scheme fees and the acquirer’s own markup. Consumers do not pay it directly, but it shapes prices, surcharges and card rewards.

What is the interchange fee cap in Europe?

Under the EU Interchange Fee Regulation, interchange on consumer cards is capped at 0.2% of the transaction for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. Member States can set lower caps for domestic transactions.

What is the 2025 Visa and Mastercard interchange settlement?

Announced in November 2025, it would cut the average US credit interchange rate by 10 basis points for five years, cap standard consumer credit rates at 1.25% and let merchants choose card categories to accept. It won preliminary approval in June 2026; final approval was pending in October 2026.

What is the difference between interchange and IC++ pricing?

Interchange is one cost component. IC++ (interchange plus plus) is a pricing model where the provider passes interchange and scheme fees through at cost and adds its own markup as a separate, visible line.

What is the Internet of Payment?

The Internet of Payment (IoP) is the ability of connected objects and AI agents, such as cars, EV chargers, appliances or shopping assistants, to make payments on behalf of a person or company, within limits that person has set in advance.

What is the difference between IoT and IoP?

The Internet of Things connects objects so they can exchange data. The Internet of Payment adds the ability to transact: a connected object or agent holds a payment credential and can buy goods or services for its owner.

Can an AI agent pay for me?

Yes, in early deployments. In 2026, Santander, Rabobank and ING completed AI agent payments in Europe with Mastercard Agent Pay, the first ones as pilots. The agent acts within limits set by the user and never receives the real card number.

Is it safe to let a device pay automatically?

It can be, if the device uses a network token instead of the real card number, has spending limits, and requires authentication such as a fingerprint or passkey for unusual purchases. Users should also get receipts and be able to dispute.

Do EV chargers in Europe have to accept cards?

Under the EU AFIR regulation, public chargers must allow ad hoc payment without a contract. New chargers of 50 kW or more deployed since April 2024 must accept cards, and existing ones of 50 kW or more on main TEN-T roads must comply from 1 January 2027.

What is the difference between live shopping and live commerce?

None. Live shopping, live commerce, livestream shopping and live stream e-commerce all describe selling products during a live video with an integrated checkout.

Which platforms offer live shopping?

The main ones in 2026 are TikTok Shop, Whatnot, eBay Live, Douyin and Taobao Live in China, and branded shoppable players on retailers’ own websites.

Is live shopping available in Europe?

Yes. TikTok Shop operates in 10 European countries, including the Netherlands since June 2026, and eBay Live is available in the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

How do payments work in live shopping?

The buyer pays inside the app, usually with a stored card or a wallet. The platform authorizes the payment, keeps its commission and pays the seller out once the order is shipped or delivered.

Why do live shopping platforms face more chargebacks?

Impulse buying, auction remorse and “item not as described” claims are common. Clear product presentation, delivery tracking and recorded streams help sellers win disputes.

What is a merchant category code (MCC)?

A merchant category code is a four-digit number, defined by ISO 18245, that classifies a merchant by its main type of business. It is sent with every card transaction so issuers can apply approval rules, fraud checks, pricing, rewards and spending controls.

Who assigns the MCC to a merchant?

The acquirer, or a PayFac or PSP acting on its behalf, assigns the MCC during merchant onboarding, based on the merchant’s main line of business. Card network rules require the acquirer to assign the correct code to each merchant location.

Can a merchant have more than one MCC?

Yes. Under Visa rules, a merchant with several distinct lines of business can use a different MCC for each one, and each outlet or e-commerce website is treated as its own merchant location.

Why was my card declined because of the MCC?

Issuers and card programs can block or restrict certain merchant categories, such as gambling, crypto or adult content, or apply stricter fraud rules to them. If the shop’s MCC falls in a blocked category, the payment is declined, whatever you are buying.

Does the MCC affect card processing fees?

Yes. Interchange rates can depend on the merchant category. In Visa’s US schedule, for example, supermarkets and other specific segments have their own rates, so a wrong MCC can make a merchant overpay or underpay.

#PayDecoding

What is an NFT in simple terms?

An NFT (non-fungible token) is a unique digital certificate on a blockchain that shows who owns a specific item, such as artwork, a ticket or a membership. Unlike coins, one NFT cannot be swapped one-for-one for another.

Are NFTs still worth anything in 2026?

The market has shrunk. NFT sales fell 37% to about $5.63 billion in 2025 and average prices dropped to around $96. Value now lies mostly in use cases such as ticketing, loyalty and authenticity, not speculation.

Does owning an NFT mean owning the copyright?

No. An NFT proves ownership of the token. The rights to the underlying image, music or content depend on the license the creator attaches, which often allows only personal display.

Are NFTs regulated under MiCA?

Truly unique NFTs are excluded from MiCA. But large series, collections and fractional NFTs can be treated as regular crypto-assets. Regulators look at substance, not at the “NFT” label.

Can you buy an NFT with a credit card?

Yes, on many marketplaces through card acceptance or fiat on-ramps. Because the token transfer is irreversible while card payments can be disputed, merchants face higher chargeback and fraud risk.

What is payment orchestration?

Payment orchestration is a software layer that connects a business to several payment providers, acquirers and payment methods through one integration, then routes each transaction, retries failures on another route, manages tokens and centralizes reporting.

What is the difference between a payment gateway and payment orchestration?

A payment gateway connects a merchant to one processor or acquirer. A payment orchestration platform sits above several gateways and acquirers, choosing between them for each transaction and offering one API, one token vault and one view of the data.

How does payment orchestration increase approval rates?

It routes each transaction to the provider most likely to approve it, for example a local acquirer for domestic cards, retries technical errors and soft declines on a second route, and uses network tokens, which issuers tend to approve more often.

Who needs payment orchestration?

Businesses that work with several providers, countries or payment methods: international merchants, marketplaces, PSPs, PayFacs and ISVs that embed payments for many sub-merchants. A single-market business with one acquirer usually does not need it yet.

Is payment orchestration the same as smart routing?

No. Smart routing is one feature of payment orchestration. Orchestration also covers connectivity to many providers, fallback and retries, provider-independent tokenization, risk tools, reconciliation and reporting.

What is PSD3?

PSD3 is the EU’s third Payment Services Directive. With the Payment Services Regulation (PSR), it replaces PSD2. PSD3 covers licensing and supervision of payment and e-money institutions, while the PSR sets directly applicable rules on fraud, refunds, strong customer authentication, open banking and fees.

When will PSD3 and the PSR apply?

A political agreement was reached in November 2025 and the Parliament’s ECON committee approved the texts in May 2026. The final plenary vote is indicatively scheduled for December 2026. Most rules apply 21 months after entry into force, so late 2028 at the earliest.

What is the difference between PSD3 and the PSR?

PSD3 is a directive that each member state transposes into national law; it covers authorization and supervision of payment institutions. The PSR is a regulation that applies directly across the EU; it covers conduct rules such as fraud liability, SCA, open banking and transparency.

Does PSD3 make banks refund fraud victims?

Yes, in certain cases. Under the PSR, a customer tricked by someone impersonating their bank gets a full refund, provided the fraud is reported to the police and the bank. PSPs that lack adequate fraud prevention, such as payee name checks, must also cover losses.

Does PSD3 replace strong customer authentication?

No. Strong customer authentication remains. The PSR adjusts it: two biometric checks can count as two factors, exemptions are tightened, and PSPs must have detailed agreements with technical providers that perform authentication for them.

What is Request to Pay in simple terms?

Request to Pay is a digital message from a payee asking a payer to pay a set amount. The payer can pay now, pay later, or decline. If accepted, a bank transfer, usually instant, is sent with the amount and reference already filled in.

What is the difference between Request to Pay and direct debit?

With direct debit, the payee pulls money from the payer’s account under a mandate. With Request to Pay, the payee only sends a request, and the payer decides whether and when to push the payment. The payer stays in control of every payment.

Is Request to Pay the same as RTP?

Not always. RTP often means real-time payments, and it is also the name of The Clearing House’s US instant network. Request to Pay is a messaging service that can run on such networks. In the US it is called Request for Payment (RfP).

Is there a European Request to Pay scheme?

Yes. The European Payments Council runs the SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme. Rulebook 4.0 simplified it in 2024, homologation was streamlined in 2025, and fees are set by local communities rather than centrally. Adoption is still limited in 2026.

Can Request to Pay be used for fraud?

Yes, fake requests are a known risk. India stopped peer-to-peer UPI collect requests in October 2025 for this reason. Safe Request to Pay services verify who can send requests, show the payee’s verified name, and let payers decline easily.

What is save now, buy later?

Save now, buy later (SNBL) is a payment model where a shopper saves toward a specific purchase in a dedicated account or plan, then buys once the goal is reached. Merchants often add a bonus. No credit is granted, so there is no interest or debt.

What is the difference between SNBL and BNPL?

Buy now, pay later delivers the item first and collects payments afterward, which creates debt. Save now, buy later collects payments first and delivers the item at the end, so the shopper never owes money. BNPL suits urgent purchases, SNBL suits planned ones.

Is save now, buy later the same as lay-by?

Lay-by is the traditional form of SNBL: the store reserves an item and hands it over once fully paid. Digital SNBL adds automatic deposits, savings accounts, merchant rewards and virtual cards, and can work online as well as in stores.

Is my money safe with a save now, buy later app?

It depends on the provider. Reputable SNBL providers hold savings at a partner bank or safeguard them as a licensed payment or e-money institution. Check who holds the money, whether deposit protection applies, and how quickly you can withdraw it.

What is a stablecoin in simple terms?

A stablecoin is a digital token on a blockchain that tracks the value of a currency such as the US dollar or the euro. The main ones are backed one-to-one by cash and short-term government debt and can be redeemed at par with the issuer.

Are stablecoins legal in the EU?

Yes, under MiCA. Euro and dollar e-money tokens can be offered if issued by an authorized credit institution or electronic money institution. Crypto platforms must hold a MiCA license, and the transitional period for providers ended on 1 July 2026.

What does the GENIUS Act require?

The US GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, requires one-to-one reserves in cash, insured deposits or short-term Treasuries, audited monthly reserve reports, approved issuers only and no interest paid to holders. It takes effect on January 18, 2027.

Can stablecoin payments be charged back?

No. A confirmed stablecoin transfer is final, like a push payment. There is no card-style chargeback, so refunds and disputes depend on the merchant’s or platform’s own policy and process.

How big are stablecoin payments in 2026?

Stablecoin supply was about $300 billion in late October 2026, but genuine payments are much smaller. McKinsey estimates about $390 billion a year, roughly 0.02% of global payments, mostly B2B.

What is unified commerce?

Unified commerce is a retail model where stores, websites, apps and marketplaces run on one shared platform for stock, customers, orders and payments, so shoppers can buy, collect and return anywhere, and the retailer sees one customer and one ledger.

What is the difference between omnichannel and unified commerce?

Omnichannel connects separate systems for each channel through integrations. Unified commerce uses one platform and one data model for all channels, so stock, orders, customer data and payments are shared in real time without syncing.

What does store to web to store mean?

It describes shopping journeys that move between physical and digital channels: researching online and buying in store, ordering a missing size in store for delivery, buying online and collecting or returning in a shop.

Why are payments important for unified commerce?

Payments link the channels. Shared tokens recognize customers everywhere, split authorization and capture support click and collect, referenced refunds allow returns in any channel, and one reconciliation gives finance a single view.

How big are retail returns?

The US National Retail Federation expected $849.9 billion of merchandise returns in 2025, or 15.8% of sales. Online purchases are returned more often, at 19.3%, and retailers estimate 9% of returns are fraudulent.

What is a velocity limit in payments?

A velocity limit is a fraud rule that caps how many times, or how much, an action can happen in a time window, such as payment attempts per card or cards per device. When the threshold is crossed, the payment is declined, challenged or reviewed.

What is a velocity check?

A velocity check is the real-time test of a transaction against velocity limits. It counts recent events linked to the same card, device, IP address or account and compares them with thresholds before the payment is approved.

How do velocity limits stop card testing?

Card testing sends many small attempts with different card numbers from the same devices or sessions. Velocity limits count attempts per device, IP and session and block the burst before authorization requests reach issuers.

What is the Visa VAMP enumeration threshold?

Under Visa’s Acquirer Monitoring Program, a merchant is identified for enumeration when 20% or more of its authorization attempts are flagged as card testing, with at least 300,000 enumerated attempts in a month.

Can velocity limits block real customers?

Yes. Limits that are too strict can decline real customers during sales, ticket releases or live events. Thresholds should be tuned by merchant, product and season, and a step-up authentication is often better than a hard decline.

What is Verification of Payee (VoP)?

Verification of Payee is a check that compares the name entered by the payer with the name of the account holder linked to the IBAN, before a transfer is authorized. The payer sees a match, close match, no match or check-not-possible result and decides whether to continue.

Is Verification of Payee mandatory in the EU?

Yes. Under the Instant Payments Regulation, VoP has been mandatory for euro credit transfers, standard and instant, since 9 October 2025 for PSPs in the euro area. PSPs in EU countries outside the euro area must offer it by 9 July 2027.

What happens if VoP returns no match?

The payer is warned that the name does not belong to the account. They can correct the details, contact the payee or cancel. If they pay anyway and the money goes to the wrong account, the PSP that ran the check is not liable.

What is the difference between VoP and Confirmation of Payee?

They do the same job. Confirmation of Payee is the UK service, launched in 2020 and run under Pay.UK rules. Verification of Payee is the EU version, required by the Instant Payments Regulation and run under the European Payments Council’s VOP scheme since October 2025.

Can businesses opt out of Verification of Payee?

Business customers sending bulk payment files can opt out of VoP and opt back in at any time. The Instant Payments Regulation gives this option only to non-consumers. Without the check, misdirected payments are harder to recover, so many platforms verify beneficiaries at onboarding instead.

What is a void transaction?

A void transaction cancels a card payment after authorization but before capture and settlement. The merchant sends an authorization reversal, the issuer releases the hold, and no money moves. It is faster and usually cheaper than a refund.

What is the difference between a void and a refund?

A void happens before settlement and removes the pending charge, so no money moves. A refund happens after settlement: the merchant sends a new credit, the customer waits several business days, and processing fees on the original payment are often not returned.

How long does a merchant have to void a transaction?

Until the payment is captured or settled, often the end of the business day for batch processing. Card schemes also limit how long an authorization can stay open: at Visa, 10 days for e-commerce, and at Mastercard 7 days for a final authorization.

Does a voided transaction show on a bank statement?

It may appear briefly as pending while the hold is in place. Once the void is processed, the pending amount disappears and no charge or credit appears on the statement.

Can you void an instant bank payment?

No. Instant payments and most account-to-account transfers settle immediately, so there is no window to void. A mistaken payment has to be returned with a refund.

What is a variable recurring payment (VRP)?

A VRP is an open banking payment where the customer gives one consent, in their banking app, for a provider to make repeated payments of varying amounts to a payee. Each payment must stay within the limits the customer set, and the consent can be revoked at any time.

What is the difference between sweeping VRP and commercial VRP?

Sweeping VRP moves money between accounts owned by the same person, such as topping up savings. Commercial VRP (cVRP) pays a third-party business, such as a utility or a government body. In the UK, cVRP launched in June 2026 under the UKPI scheme.

Is VRP better than direct debit?

VRP settles in seconds, gives the customer limits they control in their bank app, and confirms each payment immediately. Direct debit is batch-based and widely accepted. In 2026, VRP is limited to certain sectors in the UK, while Direct Debit still processes billions of payments a year.

Are variable recurring payments available in the EU?

Not yet. No EU scheme offers VRP to merchants in 2026. The European open banking scheme SPAA has been on hold pending the PSD3 and Payment Services Regulation. Brazil offers a comparable service with Pix Automático.

Can a VRP payment be disputed?

There is no card chargeback for VRP. Protections come from the scheme rules: the UK’s UKPI scheme includes consumer safeguards and a dispute process. The customer can also revoke the consent at any time to stop future payments.

What is a payment facilitator (PayFac)?

A payment facilitator is a company registered with the card schemes through an acquirer that onboards smaller merchants as sub-merchants, collects their card payments and pays them out. It handles onboarding and risk monitoring, and bears the first loss if a sub-merchant fails.

What is the difference between an ISO and a PayFac?

An ISO is a sales agent: it sells an acquirer’s services, but the merchant contracts with the acquirer and the ISO never receives funds. A PayFac signs merchants on the acquirer’s behalf, can receive settlement and pays out its sub-merchants.

What is the difference between a PSP and an acquirer?

PSP is a broad term for any provider that lets merchants accept payments, from gateways to full-stack processors. An acquirer is the licensed member of the card schemes that contracts with merchants and settles card payments to them. Some PSPs are also acquirers.

Is an ISV a payment provider?

Not necessarily. An ISV builds business software and can embed payments by referring merchants to a provider, partnering with a PayFac, or registering as a PayFac itself. Only in the last case does it carry scheme obligations and merchant risk.

When does a sub-merchant need a direct contract with the acquirer?

Under Visa rules, when a sponsored merchant exceeds US$1 million in annual Visa sales, the acquirer must be added to its merchant agreement. The PayFac can continue to process transactions and receive settlement for that merchant.

What does Xpay mean in payments?

Xpay is an industry nickname for mobile wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. They let a phone or watch act as a payment card, using a token instead of the card number and NFC for contactless payments.

Is Apple Pay safer than a physical card?

Apple Pay and similar wallets do not share the real card number with the merchant. Each payment uses a device token and a one-time cryptogram, and must be approved with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, which limits the value of stolen data.

Can other wallets use the iPhone NFC chip?

Yes. Since Apple’s commitments to the European Commission in July 2024, wallet providers established in the EEA can use the iPhone’s NFC chip for free, and users can choose a default payment app. Elsewhere, Apple offers a separate, fee-based program.

Do merchants pay fees on Apple Pay and Google Pay?

When the wallet holds a card, the payment runs on card rails, so the merchant pays the usual card costs: interchange, scheme fees and the acquirer’s markup. Any extra wallet-related fee depends on the PSP’s pricing.

When will Wero work in stores?

Wero took its first in-store steps in Belgium in September 2026. EPI plans wider in-store rollout in France and Germany from 2027. NFC payments on iPhone and Android will start with cards, with instant-transfer funding planned from the second half of 2027.

#PayWorldTour

What is the most popular way to pay in Argentina?

Instant transfers between bank and wallet accounts. Argentines made 779 million peso transfers in August 2026, against 159 million credit card payments a month. Online, credit cards still lead with 67% of digital sales in 2025.

Is Cuota Simple still active in 2026?

No. The government program stopped in June 2025 and its rules were repealed in June 2026. Interest-free cuotas still exist, but banks, wallets and merchants now fund them.

Can Argentines pay foreign merchants with their cards?

Yes. Currency controls for individuals were lifted in April 2025, but card purchases abroad paid in pesos carry a 30% tax perception under RG 5617. Cardholders can avoid it by paying their card bill in dollars.

Does Argentina have a national QR standard?

Yes. The BCRA's Transferencias 3.0 makes every merchant QR readable by any wallet or banking app. Interoperable QR payments reached 117.2 million in August 2026, up 67.5% in a year.

What is the most popular payment method in Australia?

Debit cards. They made 49% of consumer payments in 2025, ahead of credit cards (23%) and cash (15%). Most debit cards carry both eftpos and Visa or Mastercard, and about 40% of card payments are made with a phone or watch.

Can merchants in Australia still charge a card surcharge?

No, not on eftpos, Visa or Mastercard cards. The RBA removed surcharging on these networks from October 1, 2026, and American Express, UnionPay and PayPal said they would follow. Weekend, public holiday and service fees are not affected.

What are PayID and PayTo?

PayID is an alias, such as a phone number or email, linked to a bank account for instant NPP transfers, used by about half of Australians in 2025. PayTo is an NPP debit mandate that customers approve in their banking app, replacing traditional direct debits over time.

Is buy now, pay later regulated in Australia?

Yes. Since June 10, 2025, BNPL providers such as Afterpay, Zip and Klarna must hold an Australian credit licence, join AFCA and follow responsible lending obligations adapted to low-cost credit.

What is the most common way to pay online in the Baltic States?

Cards and bank links lead online checkout in all three countries. Shoppers in the region pay online more than most Europeans: 29% of day-to-day payments in Lithuania were made online in 2024. Merchants usually offer Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside bank links from the main local banks.

Is cash still used in the Baltic States?

Yes, but less every year. Cash made up 21% of payments in Latvia in February 2026 and 39% of point-of-sale transactions in Estonia in 2024. Estonia and Lithuania round cash totals to 5 cents, while card payments stay exact.

Is Klarna available in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania?

No. Klarna does not list the Baltic States among its consumer markets. Local players fill the gap: ESTO, Inbank and Citadele's Klix Pay Later offer pay in 3, pay later and installment plans.

How fast are bank transfers in the Baltic States?

Most are instant. In Lithuania, 68% of euro payments in CENTROlink were instant in 2025. Bank links built on these rails confirm payment to the merchant within seconds.

What is the most popular payment method in Canada?

Credit cards. They accounted for 33% of all retail payment transactions in 2024, ahead of debit cards at 30%, according to Payments Canada. At the point of sale, the Bank of Canada's 2025 survey puts credit at 48% of payments, Interac Debit and other debit at 25% and cash at 18%.

Can online merchants accept Interac in Canada?

Yes, in several ways. Interac Debit works online through Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay at participating merchants, Interac e-Transfer Business Request Money can be added to checkout, and Konek offers bank-backed direct payments. Business Request Money processed more than 160 million transactions in 2025. Interac Online, the older bank-redirect method, was discontinued in 2024.

Do Canadians still use cash?

Yes, but less every year. Cash covered 18% of point-of-sale payments in 2025, down from 21% in 2024, and 76% of Canadians still carried some. Cash is mostly used for small in-person purchases.

Does Canada have real-time payments and open banking?

Interac e-Transfer already moves money in near real time. Payments Canada's Real-Time Rail is set to launch in Q4 2026, after its rules took effect on August 24, 2026. The Consumer-Driven Banking Act passed in March 2026, with read-only data sharing first and payment initiation targeted for mid-2027.

What is the most popular payment method in Chile?

The debit card. In the central bank ENUPE 2025 survey, 81% of people said they use debit frequently, against 64% for cash. Banks processed 4.6 billion debit card transactions in 2025, more than four times the number of credit card payments.

Is Transbank still the only card acquirer in Chile?

No. Since the move to a four-party model in 2020, the CMF counts nine acquiring operators. Transbank's share of in-person acquiring fell to 40% to 50% in 2025, according to FNE data, with Getnet, Mercado Pago, Klap and Kushki gaining ground.

Can online shoppers in Chile pay by bank transfer?

Yes. Pay-by-bank providers such as Khipu and Fintoc let shoppers pay from any Chilean bank, and Khipu alone reports more than 4 million transactions a month. Regulated payment initiation under open finance is scheduled from July 2028 for individuals.

Do Chileans pay in installments?

Yes, cuotas are standard with credit cards, often interest-free during promotions. For people without a credit card, BNPL is growing: Mercado Pago granted more than 2.5 million installment loans in its first year.

What is the most popular payment method in China?

Mobile wallets. Alipay and WeChat Pay together hold more than 90% of third-party payments, and CNNIC counted 1.017 billion online payment users at the end of 2025. Most of these payments are funded by UnionPay debit cards linked to the wallets.

Can foreigners use Alipay and WeChat Pay in China?

Yes. Visitors can link Visa, Mastercard and other foreign cards to both apps, or pay with partner e-wallets from home. Ant Group says more than 10 million inbound travelers used its solutions in 2025. Alipay charges a 3% fee on foreign card payments above RMB 200, according to a 2026 travel guide.

Do merchants in China have to accept cash?

Yes. The renminbi is legal tender and the PBoC fines businesses that refuse it, including seven businesses penalized in May 2024. The 2024 State Council plan requires large venues to accept mobile payment, bank cards and cash.

Is there BNPL in China?

Yes, as credit lines inside super-apps: Huabei in Alipay, JD BaiTiao, Meituan Yuefu, Douyin Yuefu and WeChat Pay Fenfu, plus bank credit card installments. Since September 30, 2026, credit products must be separated from payment options at wallet checkouts.

What is the most popular online payment method in Colombia?

Direct account payments, many of them through PSE. Account debits made up 46.5% of online transactions and 57.2% of their value in 2025, ahead of credit cards at 39.8% of transactions. PSE alone handled 236 million transactions in the first quarter of 2026.

What is Bre-B?

Bre-B is Colombia's interoperable instant payment system, operated by Banco de la República and live since October 2025. It moves money 24/7 between banks and wallets using keys or QR codes, and reached about 240 million transactions a month in October 2026.

Do Colombians still pay in cash?

Yes. Banco de la República survey data show 66% of Colombians preferred cash in 2026, down from 91% in 2012. Online shoppers without cards pay at cash networks such as Efecty, which has about 10,000 points.

Which BNPL providers are used in Colombia?

Addi leads, with 2.7 million active customers and 33,000 partner stores in 2025. Sistecrédito finances purchases at partner retailers, and many shoppers use credit card cuotas or cards such as RappiCard to pay in installments.

What is the most popular way to pay online in Egypt?

There is no single winner. Cards, Fawry reference codes paid in cash, mobile wallets, InstaPay and cash on delivery all matter. Fawry alone processed 2.08 billion transactions in 2025, and Meeza and international cards cover most card payments.

What is InstaPay in Egypt?

InstaPay is the CBE's instant payment network, run by Egyptian Banks Company, for real-time transfers between bank accounts, cards and wallets. It had about 22 million registered customers in Q2 2026. Transfers cost 0.1% of the amount, between EGP 0.50 and EGP 20.

Can Egyptian cards pay foreign merchants?

Yes, but with limits. Banks cap foreign currency spending on credit cards, and some have suspended it on debit cards. HSBC Egypt, for example, caps non-cash foreign currency purchases at EGP 100,000 a month on most credit cards. Local acquiring or local methods reduce declines.

Which BNPL providers are used in Egypt?

valU leads, followed by Contact, Aman, Souhoola, Sympl, premium card, MNT-Halan and Fawry's lending products. FRA-supervised consumer finance companies granted EGP 96.3 billion of financing to 10.8 million clients in 2025.

What is the most popular online payment method in Germany?

PayPal. It took 28.7% of online retail turnover in 2025, just ahead of purchase on invoice at 26.1%. Direct debit (14.4%) and cards (13.7%) follow, so a German checkout needs all four.

Do people in Germany still pay in cash?

Yes, but less. Cash covered 45% of everyday transactions in 2025, and for the first time Germans paid more often without cash than with it. Cash still accounts for 32.3% of retail turnover according to the EHI.

What replaced giropay in Germany?

Wero. The banks closed giropay on December 31, 2024, and Wero, from the European Payments Initiative, has been live for online payments in Germany since the end of 2025. Retailers such as dm, Decathlon and Lidl already accept it.

How do the 2026 consumer credit rules affect invoice and BNPL?

From November 20, 2026, BNPL offers become regular consumer loans that require a creditworthiness check whatever the amount. Invoices financed by providers such as Klarna or Ratepay are covered, while a merchant's own free invoice due within 50 days (14 days for large online sellers) stays outside the rules.

What is the most popular payment method in Saudi Arabia?

mada debit cards, mostly used contactless. E-commerce sales on mada cards reached SR37.6 billion in July 2026, and 8.6 billion of mada's 8.9 billion transactions in 2023 were contactless. Apple Pay is the leading wallet.

Does the UAE have a domestic card scheme?

Yes. Jaywan, run by Al Etihad Payments, is the UAE's first national card scheme. Banks started nationwide issuance on July 20, 2026, and the Ministry of Finance added Jaywan and Aani to federal payment channels in August 2026.

Which instant payment systems exist in the GCC?

sarie in Saudi Arabia, Aani in the UAE, Fawran in Qatar, WAMD in Kuwait, Fawri+ in Bahrain and Oman's mobile payment switch. Usage is growing fast. Aani reported a sixfold year-on-year increase in transfers in April 2026.

Is BNPL regulated in the GCC?

In Saudi Arabia, yes. BNPL providers need a SAMA finance license, and Tamara Finance received one in March 2025. Tabby added consumer and SME finance licenses in July 2026.

What is the most popular payment method in Indonesia?

E-wallets and QRIS. About 60% of online purchases are paid by e-wallet according to the Xendit and Cube 2026 report, and QRIS counted 70.6 million users and 49.4 million merchants in Q3 2026. Bank transfers by virtual account and cash on delivery follow.

What is QRIS?

QRIS is Bank Indonesia's national QR code standard. One code accepts payments from every wallet and banking app, and it processed 12.55 billion transactions in the first half of 2026. Since October 1, 2026, merchants pay no fee on QRIS payments up to Rp100,000.

Do Indonesians still pay in cash?

Yes, especially offline and for cash on delivery. In BPS data for 2024, 74.79% of e-commerce businesses named cash or COD as their most used method. Shoppers can also pay online orders in cash at Indomaret and Alfamart stores.

Is paylater regulated in Indonesia?

Yes. Banks and finance companies offering paylater are supervised by OJK, which reported Rp31.56 trillion of bank BNPL and Rp13.62 trillion of finance company BNPL outstanding in July 2026. Kredivo, SPayLater, GoPay Later, Akulaku and Indodana are the main brands.

What is the most used payment method in Italy?

At the counter, cash still leads, with 61% of point-of-sale transactions in 2024. By value, though, digital payments now dominate: they reached €518 billion in 2025 and covered 45% of household consumption. Cards, mostly BANCOMAT co-badged debit cards, are the main cashless method.

How do Italians pay online?

Cards come first, with 51% of online payments by number in 2024, followed by e-payment solutions such as PayPal with 28%. Credit transfers weigh only 3%, while BNPL and local wallets such as Satispay and BANCOMAT Pay are growing.

What is the difference between Satispay and BANCOMAT Pay?

Satispay is an independent app linked to the user’s bank account, with 6.5 million users in 2026. BANCOMAT Pay is the mobile service of the domestic debit scheme, built into the apps of participating banks. Both handle payments in store, online and between people.

How big is buy now pay later in Italy?

BNPL reached €9.9 billion in 2025, up 45% from 2024. Scalapay, Klarna, PayPal Paga in 3 rate and HeyLight are the main names, and consumer credit banks such as Findomestic and Agos cover larger installment purchases.

#PayWorldTour

What is the most popular payment method in Japan?

Credit cards. They made up 82.7% of cashless payment value in 2025, according to METI. QR code wallets are the second cashless method by value, at 10.2%.

Is Japan still a cash society?

Less and less. The cashless payment ratio reached 58.0% in 2025, and the government now targets 65% by 2030. Cash still matters for part of the population, which is why konbini payment and cash on delivery remain common online.

How do konbini payments work?

The shopper picks convenience store payment at checkout and receives a number or barcode. They pay in cash at Seven-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson or another chain, and the merchant is notified once the payment is made. Japan had 56,208 convenience stores in September 2026.

Which QR wallet should merchants accept in Japan?

PayPay first: it had 75 million registered users in August 2026 and handles most code payments. Rakuten Pay, d払い, au PAY and Merpay reach the customers of Japan's large points and telecom ecosystems.

What is DuitNow QR?

DuitNow QR is Malaysia's national QR payment standard, run by PayNet. A merchant shows one code that every participating bank and e-wallet app can scan. It processed 3 billion transactions in 2025, double the 2024 volume, and works across borders with Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Cambodia.

Is FPX being replaced in Malaysia?

PayNet is moving online checkout from FPX to DuitNow Online Banking/Wallets, which adds e-wallets to bank payments and connects over 40 banks and e-wallets. Maybank switched its customers on March 31, 2025. FPX is still listed by PayNet, so merchants often see both.

How is BNPL regulated in Malaysia?

The Consumer Credit Act 2025 came into force on March 1, 2026. BNPL providers must be licensed by the new Consumer Credit Commission, with licensing from June 1, 2026 and a six-month transition. The market had 7.5 million active accounts at the end of 2025.

Which e-wallet is most popular in Malaysia?

Touch 'n Go eWallet, with 26 million verified users and 13.5 million monthly active users in 2026. Maybank's MAE ranks second in the Ipsos 2025 e-payment study, followed by GrabPay, Boost and ShopeePay.

What is the most popular online payment method in Mexico?

Debit cards. In AMVO's 2026 study, 69% of online shoppers paid with a debit card, 54% with a credit card and 23% in cash at a store such as OXXO. Shoppers use 2.3 methods on average, so merchants need several options.

What is SPEI and can merchants use it at checkout?

SPEI is Banco de México's instant interbank payment system, running 24/7. It handled more than 7.3 billion transfers in 2025. Merchants accept it through gateways that issue a CLABE reference per order and confirm payment in seconds.

What are meses sin intereses?

Meses sin intereses (MSI) let credit card holders split a purchase into monthly payments with no interest, usually from 3 to 24 months, while the merchant absorbs the cost. Only a minority of shoppers hold credit cards, which is why cardless BNPL such as Kueski Pay and Aplazo grew. 9% of online shoppers used cardless BNPL in 2025.

How do Mexicans pay online with cash?

They receive a reference at checkout and pay at a store counter, mostly at OXXO, which had 24,708 stores in Mexico in June 2026, or at chains such as 7-Eleven and Farmacias del Ahorro. Payment is confirmed to the merchant automatically. Cash on delivery is also common.

What is the most popular payment method in Morocco?

Cash. Currency in circulation reached 513 billion dirhams at the end of 2025, around 30% of GDP, and two thirds of card operations are still ATM withdrawals. Online, 84.1% of shoppers pay cash on delivery.

How do Moroccans pay online?

Mostly cash on delivery, then cards. Moroccan cards made 44.8 million e-commerce payments worth 12.1 billion dirhams in 2025, up 16%. Mobile wallets and instant transfers are growing but remain small online.

Who acquires card payments in Morocco in 2026?

Since February 1, 2026, merchants are served by payment institutions such as Attijari Payment, M2T, Damane Cash, Lana Cash, Al Filahi Cash, Saham Paiements and CDM Pay, plus Naps, Barid Cash and VPS. The CMI transferred about 55,000 merchant contracts and became a multi-acquirer platform.

Is BNPL available in Morocco?

Yes, but it is young. Alya was approved by Bank Al-Maghrib in March 2024 to offer interest-free payment in up to four installments, and acquirers are adding split payment to terminals. Only 10% of consumers have tried BNPL, according to the Mastercard New Payments Index.

What is the most popular online payment method in Nigeria?

Bank transfer. Shoppers pay to a one-time account number generated at checkout and the NIP rail confirms it in seconds. Paystack reported that 58% of its Nigerian transactions in 2023 were bank transfers, against 36% for cards.

How much cash can you withdraw in Nigeria in 2026?

Since January 1, 2026, individuals can withdraw up to N500,000 per week and companies N5 million across all channels. Amounts above the limit carry a 3% or 5% fee, ATM withdrawals are capped at N100,000 per day, and deposit limits have been removed, as Channels TV reports.

What is the difference between Verve and AfriGO?

Both are domestic card schemes. Verve is owned by Interswitch and has issued 100 million cards, while AfriGO was launched by the CBN and NIBSS in 2023 and counted over one million cards by September 2025.

Is the eNaira still used?

Barely. The CBN admits adoption has been slow, and the CBDC has processed about N22 billion in transactions since 2021. Its Payments System Vision 2028 now targets government-to-person and cross-border use.

What is the most popular way to pay online in the Philippines?

E-wallets, led by GCash and Maya, are the main digital method. GCash had 41.5 million monthly active users in Q2 2026. Cash on delivery still accounts for about 23% of e-commerce payments, so most merchants keep it next to wallets and cards.

Do people in the Philippines still pay in cash?

Yes, but less every year. Non-digital payments still made up 35.3% of retail payment volume in 2025, according to the BSP, and only 50% of adults owned an account in 2025. Over-the-counter networks such as 7-Eleven CLiQQ and ECPay let cash users pay online.

What is QR Ph?

QR Ph is the national interoperable QR code standard, mandated by the BSP for banks and e-money issuers. Payments settle through InstaPay, and the BSP counted 2.47 billion QR Ph payments in 2025, more than card payments by volume.

Which BNPL providers are used in the Philippines?

The main ones are GCash's GGives and GCredit, BillEase, Atome, Home Credit and Maya Credit, along with bank credit card installment plans. Home Credit alone counted 12 million customers in August 2025.

What is the most popular online payment method in Poland?

BLIK. In the Gemius E-commerce in Poland 2025 study, 72% of online shoppers said they pay with BLIK, ahead of fast bank transfers (64%) and cards (43%). BLIK processed 1.4 billion online payments in 2025.

Do people in Poland still pay in cash?

Yes, but less and less. Cash covered 40.2% of in-person payments in the 2023 NBP payment diary, against 81.8% in 2012. Most shops that take cards must also accept cash under the Payment Services Act.

Which BNPL providers are used in Poland?

PayPo and Allegro Pay lead the market, joined by BLIK Pay Later, PayU's deferred payment hub, Klarna and Twisto. PayPo alone handled 22.5 million transactions in 2025. A new consumer credit act transposing the EU CCD2 directive is expected to apply from November 20, 2026.

Can foreign merchants accept BLIK?

Yes. BLIK is available through Polish gateways and international PSPs, and since September 2026 Stripe offers it automatically to Polish shoppers in over 30 countries. Stripe reports a 46% average conversion increase for businesses that add BLIK for customers in Poland.

What is the most popular payment method in South Africa?

Cash still leads by number of payments, with 56% of consumer payments by volume in the SARB's 2023 Payments Study. Debit cards lead by value, with 55% of what consumers spend. Online, debit cards, Capitec Pay and Apple Pay are the top choices.

What is PayShap?

PayShap is South Africa's real-time payment rail, run by PayInc (formerly BankservAfrica) since March 2023. People pay using a phone number or ShapID, and merchants can send PayShap Requests. Volumes passed 45 million transactions a month in October 2025.

Which payment methods should an online store offer in South Africa in 2026?

Start with Visa and Mastercard cards plus Apple Pay and Google Pay, then add pay by bank with Capitec Pay, Instant EFT and PayShap. BNPL from Payflex or PayJustNow lifts basket size, and a cash voucher such as 1Voucher or OTT reaches shoppers without cards. In Stitch's 2026 survey, 93.3% of consumers tried a new payment method in the past year.

Is BNPL popular in South Africa?

Yes. Stitch's 2026 report found that 71% of credit-active consumers use BNPL at some frequency and 38.9% tried it for the first time in the past year. PayJustNow alone serves over 2.6 million shoppers.

What is the most popular payment method in South Korea?

Credit cards. They made up 46.2% of transactions in the 2024 Bank of Korea payment survey, and Koreans spent 2.859 trillion won a day on credit cards in 2025. More and more of these cards are used through apps such as Samsung Wallet, Naver Pay and Kakao Pay rather than as plastic.

Do people in South Korea still use cash?

Rarely. Cash covered 15.9% of transactions in 2024, and its main users are people aged 60 and over. When customers do pay cash, merchants in designated sectors must issue a cash receipt for amounts of 100,000 won or more.

What is halbu?

Halbu is the installment option built into Korean credit cards. Shoppers choose a number of months at checkout and the card issuer spreads the payment. Card companies recorded 148.3 trillion won in installment purchases in 2025, while interest-free periods have become shorter.

Can foreigners pay with Korean wallets?

Often only after setup. Toss and Kakao Pay register domestic cards only, and identity checks need a Korean phone number in the user's own name, as Toss explains. Foreign cards may work for payment but often fail at identity verification, so cross-border merchants should keep international card acceptance.

What is the most popular payment method in Switzerland?

It depends on how you count. By transactions, mobile devices lead with 34.5% in May 2026, mainly TWINT and Apple Pay. By method, the debit card remains first at the point of sale in the SNB's 2025 survey, followed by cash and payment apps.

Do online shops in Switzerland need TWINT?

In practice, yes. TWINT is accepted by about 86% of Swiss online shops, and roughly 35% of its commercial transactions are remote. It holds 60.3% of online mobile payments in the latest Swiss Payment Monitor.

Do people in Switzerland still pay in cash?

Yes. Cash covered 23.2% of all transactions and 27.1% of in-store payments in May 2026, according to the Swiss Payment Monitor. Support is strong: 79.2% of respondents oppose abolishing cash.

Is purchase on invoice still common in Switzerland?

Very. Invoices covered 34.6% of online spending in May 2026. Providers such as CembraPay, Powerpay and Swissbilling handle the credit check and guarantee payment, and CembraPay alone billed CHF 694 million in 2025.

What is the most popular payment method in Turkey?

Cards, and above all credit cards. In June 2026, credit cards made 1.13 billion of the 1.94 billion card payments and 86% of their value, and shoppers often split larger purchases into installments, or taksit. Online, cards covered two thirds of e-commerce payments in 2025, ahead of bank transfers such as FAST and cash on delivery.

Can you use Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal in Turkey?

No. Turkey is not on Apple's list of Apple Pay countries or Google's Google Pay list, and PayPal left in 2016 after it was refused a license. Merchants rely on cards, FAST transfers and local wallets such as iyzico and Papara instead.

Why do installments matter in Turkey?

Turkish shoppers expect to split larger purchases into monthly installments on their credit cards. In 2025, installments accounted for 57.8% of e-commerce purchases, according to Garanti BBVA Payment Systems. A checkout without taksit options loses high-value orders.

What is TROY?

TROY is Turkey's domestic card scheme, launched by the Interbank Card Center (BKM) in 2016. It reached 90 million cards and 25.3% of card payment value in 2025. Many TROY cards are used only domestically, so merchants selling to Turkey should accept it.

How fast are bank transfers in Turkey?

Instant. The central bank's FAST system runs 24/7 and processed 5.4 billion transfers in 2025, with a limit of TL 100,000 per transaction. FAST also powers TR Karekod QR payments and a request-to-pay service for businesses.

What is the most popular payment method in the United Kingdom?

The debit card. Debit cards carried 26.6 billion payments in 2025, 54% of all UK payments, according to the UK Finance UK Payment Markets 2026 report. Most of them are contactless, by card or phone.

What is Pay by Bank in the UK?

Pay by Bank is an open banking payment: the shopper approves the payment in their banking app and the money moves instantly by Faster Payments, without a card. Open banking payments reached 40.16 million in June 2026, and commercial variable recurring payments launched the same month.

Is buy now, pay later regulated in the UK?

Yes, since July 15, 2026. Under the FCA's PS26/1 rules, interest-free BNPL is regulated credit: lenders need authorisation and must check affordability, and customers can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Klarna, Clearpay and PayPal lead the market.

Do people in the UK still use cash?

Yes, but less every year. Cash payments fell to 3.9 billion in 2025, 8% of all payments, according to UK Finance, while £76.7 billion was still withdrawn from LINK ATMs that year. Post Office branches and banking hubs keep cash services available as bank branches close.

What is the most popular payment method in the United States?

Cards. Consumers made 16 credit card and 15 debit card payments in an average month of 2025, two thirds of all payments, according to the 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. Debit still leads by total transactions, with 99.3 billion payments in 2024 against 67.1 billion on credit cards.

Do Americans still pay with cash and checks?

Yes. Cash covered about 1 in 7 consumer payments in 2025, and 90% of consumers plan to keep using it, according to the Federal Reserve. Checks are declining but still counted 9.2 billion payments in 2024.

Does the United States have instant payments?

Yes, on two networks. The Clearing House RTP network set a record of 2.27 million transactions in one day in May 2026, and the Federal Reserve's FedNow Service settled 6.4 million payments in Q3 2026. Zelle provides near-instant transfers between bank customers inside banking apps.

How is BNPL regulated in the United States?

Mostly through general consumer credit law and state rules. The CFPB withdrew its BNPL interpretive rule in May 2025, and New York has passed its own Buy-Now-Pay-Later Act requiring providers to be licensed. Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay and PayPal Pay Later are the main providers.

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