The following is a list of common scenarios that merchants use when creating transactions. Your use case will really depend on how your checkout is handled.

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E-commerce

A customer provides their payment details for a one-off payment and the payment method is not stored. The transaction is created directly after the payment details are provided.

  • payment_source=ecommerce
  • merchant_initiated=false
  • is_subsequent_payment=false

This is the end of this scenario. There is no merchant-initiated part.

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Fast checkout

A customer at checkout agrees to store their card for quicker checkouts in the future.

  • payment_source=card_on_file
  • merchant_initiated=false
  • is_subsequent_payment=false

The same customer then returns to the checkout at a later point and decides to checkout with this stored card.

  • payment_source=card_on_file
  • merchant_initiated=false
  • is_subsequent_payment=true

Embed automatically applies the properties in this scenario for new and stored payment methods when the paymentSource prop is left to its default value.

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Unscheduled payments

A customer at checkout agrees to store their card for future transactions, and allows the merchant to initiate an unscheduled transaction in the case that there are any additional charges they incur on their account.

  • payment_source=card_on_file
  • merchant_initiated=false
  • is_subsequent_payment=false

At a later point, this same customer might incur some extra charges on their account. The merchant can then charge the card while the customer is not present.

  • payment_source=card_on_file
  • merchant_initiated=true
  • is_subsequent_payment=true

Subscriptions vs Unscheduled payments

The key difference between this scenario and a subscription is that a subscription is generally handled as a scheduled payment with a predictable amount and recurrence, where an unscheduled payment can occur outside of a schedule and for any amount.

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Installments

A customer at checkout agrees to pay for goods over a certain amount of installments.

  • payment_source=installment
  • merchant_initiated=false
  • is_subsequent_payment=false

A customer is then charged for each subsequent installment by the merchant when the payment is due. The customer is not present for this transaction.

  • payment_source=installment
  • merchant_initiated=true
  • is_subsequent_payment=true

Subscriptions vs Installments

The key difference between this scenario and a subscription is that an installment has a finite number of transactions, where a subscription is generally recurring until the subscription is canceled.

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Subscriptions

A customer at checkout agrees to pay for a regular recurring subscription for a certain amount, paid at a fixed interval.

  • payment_source=recurring
  • merchant_initiated=false
  • is_subsequent_payment=false

This customer is then charged for each subsequent payment when the payment is due. The customer is not present for this transaction.

  • payment_source=recurring
  • merchant_initiated=true
  • is_subsequent_payment=true