Payment in installments
A payment is considered to be an “installment payment” if the amount for the purchase is debited to the buyer’s account in several installments.
The first installment works as an immediate full payment, the subsequent installments are similar to deferred full payments.
Only the first installment can be guaranteed to the merchant on the condition that the capture date for the installment is set before the authorization expiry date depending on the payment method (see: Authorization request validity period) .
As part of the implementation of PSD2, the cardholder will be required to undergo strong authentication when making the first installment payment.
If the authorization (or information) request is accepted on the day of the order, a transaction is created for each Installment payment due date.
Otherwise, only one rejected transaction is created. The History tab in the Merchant Back Office indicates the number of initially planned installments.
Simplified diagram
On the day of the order:
- The merchant site submits a payment request in several installments.
- The payment gateway initiates the cardholder’s authentication process with the issuer.
Authentication is requested for the total amount of installment. Regulations require strong authentication.
- After the strong authentication, the gateway proceeds with the authorization request on the amount of the first installment by providing the cardholder’s authentication details.
- The issuer generates a unique transaction identifier and resend it in the response.
- The payment gateway notifies the merchant website about the payment result.
For subsequent payments:
- The payment gateway performs an authorization request for the installment amount, providing the initial transaction identifier (ITC) as a chaining reference.
- The issuer recognizes the transaction as an MIT that is part of a series of payments previously authenticated by the cardholder and proceeds with the authorization request.
The transaction is not rejected for lack of authentication (soft decline).
- If the merchant has enabled the “Instant Payment Notification URL on batch authorization”, the payment gateway notifies the merchant site of the payment result.
In this use case, the way the chaining reference is handled is transparent to the merchant.
A verification is made to check the payment method validity throughout the payment schedule.
If the card is invalid, a warning message is shown to the buyer, who must use another payment method or abandon the payment.
However, if the card is renewed or terminated before the end of the payment schedule, the payments will be refused by the issuing bank (auto 54 return code: Payment method expired.
In this case, you will receive an e-mail notification via the “Refusal e-mail for deferred payment” notification rule.
List of payment methods compatible with payment in installments:
| Network code | Payment method | Card types(vads_payment_cards) | Supports payment in installments |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACCORD | Illicado gift Card | ILLICADO |  |
| ACCORD_SANDBOX | Illicado gift cards - Sandbox mode | ILLICADO_SB | |
| ALMA | Alma in 2 installments | ALMA_2X | |
| ALMA | Alma in 3 installments | ALMA_3X | |
| ALMA | Alma in 4 installments | ALMA_4X | |
| ALMA | Alma in 10 installments | ALMA_10X | |
| ALMA | Alma in 12 installments | ALMA_12X | |
| AMEXGLOBAL | American Express | AMEX |  |
| APPLE PAY | Apple Pay wallet payment | APPLE_PAY | |
| AURORE | Cpay card | AURORE-MULTI | |
| CB | CB | CB | |
| CB | e-Carte Bleue virtual card | E-CARTEBLEUE | |
| CB | Maestro | MAESTRO | |
| CB | Mastercard | MASTERCARD | |
| CB | Visa | VISA | |
| CB | Visa Electron | VISA_ELECTRON | |
| CB | VPay | VPAY | |
| CB | Apetiz Meal Voucher card | APETIZ | |
| CB | Chèque Déjeuner Meal Voucher card | CHQ_DEJ | |
| CB | 1st generation Mastercard electronic meal voucher | EDENRED | |
| CB | Sodexo Meal Voucher card | SODEXO | |
| CONECS | Bimpli Meal Voucher card (ex Apetiz) | APETIZ | |
| CONECS | Chèque Déjeuner Meal Voucher card | CHQ_DEJ | |
| CONECS | Conecs Meal Voucher card | CONECS | |
| CONECS | Sodexo Meal Voucher card | SODEXO | |
| CVCONNECT | Chèque-Vacances Connect | CVCO | |
| FRANFINANCE | Franfinance payment in 3X | FRANFINANCE_3X | |
| FRANFINANCE | Franfinance payment in 4X | FRANFINANCE_4X | |
| FRANFINANCE_SB | Franfinance payment in 3X - Sandbox mode | FRANFINANCE_3X | |
| FRANFINANCE_SB | Franfinance payment in 4X - Sandbox mode | FRANFINANCE_4X | |
| FULLCB | Payment in 3 installments with no fees with BNPP PF | FULLCB3X | |
| FULLCB | Payment in 4 installments with no fees with BNPP PF | FULLCB4X | |
| GATECONEX | Bancontact | BANCONTACT | |
| GATECONEX | Diners Club | DINERS | |
| GATECONEX | Discover | DISCOVER | |
| GATECONEX | e-Carte Bleue virtual card | E-CARTEBLEUE | |
| GATECONEX | Maestro | MAESTRO | |
| GATECONEX | Mastercard | MASTERCARD | |
| GATECONEX | Visa | VISA | |
| GATECONEX | Visa Electron | VISA_ELECTRON | |
| GATECONEX | VPay | VPAY | |
| GOOGLEPAY | Google Pay wallet payment | GOOGLEPAY | |
| IDEAL | iDeal Internet Banking | IDEAL | |
| JCB | JCB | JCB | |
| ONEY_API | Oney 3x 4x payment | ONEY_3X_4X | |
| ONEY_API | Payment 10x 12x Oney | ONEY_10X_12X | |
| ONEY_API | Payment Oney Pay Later | ONEY_PAYLATER | |
| ONEY_API | Oney partner brand cards | ONEY_ENSEIGNE | |
| ONEY_API_SANDBOX | Oney 3x 4x payment (Sandbox mode) | ONEY_3X_4X | |
| ONEY_API_SANDBOX | Oney 10x 12x payment (Sandbox mode) | ONEY_10X_12X | |
| ONEY_API_SANDBOX | Payment Oney Pay Later (Sandbox mode) | ONEY_PAYLATER | |
| ONEY_API_SANDBOX | Oney partner brand cards in Sandbox mode | ONEY_ENSEIGNE | |
| PAYPAL | PayPal | PAYPAL | |
| PAYPAL_SB | PayPal - Mode sandbox | PAYPAL_SB | |
| PAYPAL_BNPL | PayPal Pay Later | PAYPAL_BNPL | |
| PAYPAL_BNPL_SB | PayPal Pay Later - Mode sandbox | PAYPAL_BNPL_SB | |
| SEPA | SEPA DIRECT DEBIT | SDD | |