Merchant-Initiated Transaction
The Merchant-Initiated Transaction Rule exempts transactions initiated by the merchant without direct cardholder involvement (MIT / 3RI). These are transactions governed by a prior agreement between the cardholder and merchant, where the merchant initiates payments from the card at a later point without the cardholder being present.
Because the cardholder is not present during an MIT, SCA cannot be performed. The exemption is applied provided the merchant was previously authenticated as part of the original mandate setup.
Visa recommendation: SCA is required when the initial mandate is set up via a remote electronic channel, but is not necessary for subsequent merchant-initiated payments.
MIT Use Cases
Instalment Payments
A cardholder pays for goods in regular instalments - typically long-term with a fixed amount and fixed frequency. The original purchase is authenticated; subsequent instalments are exempted.
Split Payments
A cardholder splits the total for an order into multiple payments, typically short-term with a variable amount and fixed or variable frequency.
Delayed Delivery or Charge
Payment is made after a trial period, or a pre-order is charged before delivery.
Partial Split Shipment
Ordered products are not all available at the same time and the merchant ships and charges them separately.
Agent Payment with Multiple Merchants
A travel agent manages orders for multiple merchants (e.g. hotel and airline) under one authentication but multiple authorisations.
Unknown Final Amount
The final amount is not known at the time of authentication - for example, a taxi fare, toll, or car rental fine. The merchant authenticates for the pre-agreed amount plus a typical margin.
Recurring Payments
Fixed or variable recurring payments such as subscriptions, utility bills, or mobile top-ups, including free trial periods followed by paid subscriptions.
Flow
flowchart LR
classDef success fill:#e6ffed,stroke:#38a169,color:#276749
classDef process fill:#ebf8ff,stroke:#4299e1,color:#2c5282
START([Transaction received]) --> MIT{Is Merchant Initiated<br/>Transaction?}:::process
MIT -->|No| NEXT([Next Rule])
MIT -->|Yes| AUTH{Merchant previously<br/>authenticated?}:::process
AUTH -->|Yes| ACC([Frictionless · SUCCEEDED]):::success
AUTH -->|No| NEXT2([Next Rule])
Example
The following rule exempts MIT transactions where the originating transaction for the same merchant has been previously authenticated.
Updated 24 days ago