How do payment operators handle cash on delivery alongside digital payments?

They record COD orders next to online payments so reconciliation covers both. Reconciliation and settlement views and omnichannel coverage keep cash, card and wallet payments in one view per merchant.

Cash is still a payment method

In many markets, a share of e-commerce orders is paid in cash when the parcel arrives. The courier collects the money and remits it to the merchant days later, minus a fee. For the merchant, it is a sale like any other; for the operator, it is a payment that never passed through the platform unless it is recorded there.

Recording COD on the platform

• Create the order as a transaction with the method "cash on delivery" and a pending status.
• Update it when the courier confirms collection, then when the remittance arrives.
• Reconcile courier remittance files against the orders, as settlement files are reconciled for cards.
• Track refusals and returns, which are the real cost of COD.

Why it matters

Merchants want one view of their sales, whatever the method. Reporting that shows cash, card and wallet payments together, per merchant and per market, is what lets them see that COD orders are refused twice as often, or that a prepaid option converts better in a given city. Operators with omnichannel coverage already handle in-store cash through terminals; COD is the same logic applied to a courier.