Card Issuing
Card Authorization Policies
Authorization policies let you define rules to reject card transactions prior to real-time decisioning. They are commonly used to enforce baseline business and risk rules (e.g., allowed merchants, geographies, and velocity limits).
Policies can be attached at the scope of a card program, card account, or individual cards. Each scope can have at most one authorization policy version active at any given time.
Any policies at the card program, card account, or card scope are jointly applied together and a card transaction will be declined if any of them fail.
Card Transaction Authorization Policy Lifecycle and Versioning
Card transaction authorization policies have versions which allow the policy to change over time.
Each card transaction policy cannot be changed once it is close to becoming effective so that there is sufficient time for the system to enforce the policy.
The active card transaction authorization policy is the one with the most recent effective on time that has occurred before the time the card transaction is being processed.
Card Transaction Authorization Policy Rules
Card transaction authorization policies allow specifying two different types of rules: category rules and spend rules.
Card Transaction Category Rules
Card transaction category rules apply to different transaction traits, such as who or where the card transaction is originating from:
- Merchant Category Code: the network MCC value to target a classification of merchants
- Merchant Identifier: the network identifier to target a specific merchant
- Merchant Country Code: the country the merchant is located in
- Merchant Currency Code: the currency the merchant accepts payment in
Rules against these categories are specified in terms of allowlists and blocklists. Allowlists specified the set of allowed values and blocklists specify the set of disallowed values.
Card Transaction Spend Rules
Card spend rules apply to transaction patterns, specifically around the volume and frequency of occurrence within a given time interval.
The total volume is the sum of total spend, both held and captured, (as an absolute value of amount) over a period of time. The number of transactions is count of transaction that occurred during that time.
Supported intervals:
- a single transaction
- one day
- a week
- thirty days
- all time