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Overview

A merchant may want to perform a zero-authorization card transaction to:

Store card details for future use – Card schemes often insist that a zero-authorization transaction be sent before allowing card credentials to be stored for future use.
Add a card (card registration) – A customer is sometimes required to add a card to their account so that it can be verified and used to charge the customer at a later date. For example, adding a card at the beginning of an evaluation period so it can be verified and charged at the end of the evaluation period.
Verify a card – A merchant may want to move a potential customer to the next stage in the sales cycle by asking them to supply their card details. This allows the merchant to verify the existence of a card without charging it as well as testing the customer’s level of commitment to eventually completing the sale.

Merchants can perform zero-authorization transactions with 3D-Secure (3DS) or with non-3DS tokenization.

Perform a zero-authentication transaction only if the merchant is not performing a payment during the same user session. Perform any payments in a separate session.

3DS Zero-Auth

To perform a zero-authorization transaction with 3DS, follow the instructions in 3DS Server-to-Server. When the merchant sends the initial /payments request, specify:

amount=0
transactionType=Auth
zeroAmountReason – Press here for possible values.

Example `/payments` 3DS Zero-Authorization Request

{
  "processingEntityId": "<your processingEntityid>",
  "amount": 0,
  "currency": "USD",
  "transactionType": "Auth",
  "zeroAmountReason": "addCard",
  "paymentOption": {
    "card": {
      "store": "buyerToken",
      "cardHolderName": "John Smith",
      "cardNumber": "5101081046006034",
      "expirationMonth": "10",
      "expirationYear": "2026",
      "cvv": "345",
      "threeD": {
        "continueWithoutLiabilityShift": false,
        "fingerprintNotificationUrl": "<fingerprint notification URL>",
        "challengeNotificationUrl": "<challenge notification URL>",
        "challengeWindowSize": "01",
        "platformType": "02"
      }
    }
  },
  "buyerDetails": {
    "buyerId": "<unique customer identifier in your system>"
  },
  "deviceDetails": {
    "browser": {
      "acceptHeader": "Y",
      "colorDepth": 48,
      "javaEnabled": true,
      "javaScriptEnabled": true,
      "language": "en",
      "screenHeight": 1024,
      "screenWidth": 678,
      "timeZone": "+3",
      "userAgent": "Mozilla"
    }
  }
}

Zero-Auth with Non-3DS Tokenization

This flow triggers non-3DS tokenization and should be used for traffic outside PSD2 regulations. To perform a non-3DS zero-authorization transaction, follow the instructions in Non-3D-Secure. When the merchant sends the /payments request, specify:

amount=0
transactionType=Auth
zeroAmountReason – Press here for possible values.

Example `/payments` Non-3DS Zero-Authorization Request

{
  "processingEntityId": "<your processingEntityId>",
  "amount": 0,
  "currency": "USD",
  "transactionType": "Auth",
  "zeroAmountReason": "addCard",
  "paymentOption": {
    "store": "buyerToken",
    "card": {
      "cardNumber": "5101081046006034",
      "cardHolderName": "John Smith",
      "expirationMonth": "10",
      "expirationYear": "2026",
      "cvv": "345"
    }
  },
  "custom": {
    "description": "Some description"
  },
  "deviceDetails": {
    "ipAddress": "<customer's IP address>"
  },
  "buyerDetails": {
    "buyerId": "unique customer identifier in your system",
    "firstName": "John",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    "companyName": "Nuvei Corp",
    "dateOfBirth": "1978-01-01",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "phone": "6175551414",
    "billingAddress": {
      "address": "22 Main Street",
      "zip": "02460",
      "city": "Boston",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "phone": "6175551414",
      "addressMatch": "true"
    },
    "shippingAddress": {
      "sameAsBilling": "true",
      "address": "22 Main Street",
      "zip": "02460",
      "city": "Boston",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "phone": "6175551414"
    }
  }
}

Appendix

Possible Values for `zeroAmountReason`

Value	Description	Notes
recurring	For when multiple transactions are submitted by the Merchant separately based on an agreement between the Merchant and the cardholder.	For example: A gym subscription in which the cardholder is charged $40 per month. Typically the first transaction is a CIT and all the rest are MITs. Each transaction has its own authorization and clearing. Charges are stopped only if the agreement between the merchant and the cardholder is terminated.
installments	For when a single transaction is divided into multiple charges.	There is one authorization for the full amount and a clearing per installment. Charges are stopped when the full amount is charged.
addCard	For when a cardholder adds their card to be used for future transactions.	For example: Adding a card to Uber for future rides.
maintainCard	For when a Merchant wants to verify that an existing card is still valid.
accountVerification	For a verification different than those listed above.

Zero-Authorization