Credit Cards

Summary

The credit card payment method enables Merchants to process e-commerce credit card transactions. This payment method is preferred for its convenience and speed, making it a vital component for e-commerce and online businesses.  

Credit Card Capabilities

Credit Card Payment Flow

When a payer checks out, their card data is captured and tokenized by Preczn, and the resulting token is what your Platform uses to request transactions. Behind the scenes, Preczn resolves that token back to the underlying card data when it builds the request to your Connection (for example, Stripe). Understanding this exchange is important — see How Preczn exchanges your token for card data below.

The process typically involves the following steps:

1. The payer enters their credit card details on a website during the checkout process.
2. Preczn encrypts the entered data, creates a token (tkn_...), and returns it to the Platform. The raw card data is retained in Preczn's PCI-DSS Level 1 token vault.
3. The Platform requests a Sale using the token.
4. Preczn resolves the token to the associated card data in the vault and uses it to build the payment request it sends to the Connection.
5. The Connection forwards the payment data to the card-issuing bank for verification and authorization.
6. The issuing bank approves or denies the transaction based on the cardholder's available credit and account status.
7. Upon authorization, the transaction is processed, funds are transferred from the cardholder's account to the Merchant's account, and the sale is completed.
8. Both the Merchant and the buyer receive a confirmation of the transaction's outcome.

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    actor Payer
    participant Platform as Your Platform
    participant Preczn as Preczn<br/>(Token Vault)
    participant Connection as Connection<br/>(e.g. Stripe)
    participant Bank as Issuing Bank

    Payer->>Platform: Enters card details at checkout
    Platform->>Preczn: Card data via PaymentFields
    Preczn->>Preczn: Encrypt & vault raw card data
    Preczn-->>Platform: Return token (tkn_...)
    Platform->>Preczn: Request Sale with token
    Preczn->>Preczn: Resolve token to card data in vault
    Preczn->>Connection: Send payment request built from card data
    Connection->>Bank: Forward for authorization
    Bank-->>Connection: Approve / Decline
    Connection-->>Preczn: Transaction result
    Preczn-->>Platform: Transaction result
    Platform-->>Payer: Confirmation

How Preczn exchanges your token for card data

Your Platform never handles raw card numbers — you hold a Preczn token (tkn_...) and pass that token when you request a transaction. When Preczn forwards the transaction to your Connection, it resolves the token back to the underlying card data stored in the token vault and builds the processor request from that card data.

sequenceDiagram
    participant Platform as Your Platform
    box rgba(129, 90, 255, 0.16) Preczn
    participant Preczn as Payment API
    participant Vault as Token Vault
    end
    participant Connection as Connection<br/>(e.g. Stripe)

    Platform->>Preczn: Sale request with token<br/>tkn_789fa789fs789fs
    Preczn->>Vault: Look up tkn_789fa789fs789fs
    Vault-->>Preczn: Card data<br/>number: 4321000000000012<br/>exp: 12/29 · cvv: 123
    Preczn->>Connection: Sale request built from card data<br/>(number, exp, cvv)

ℹ️ The same exchange applies to other payment methods

This token-to-credentials exchange isn't specific to credit cards. For every payment method, your Platform holds a Preczn token and Preczn resolves it to the underlying payment credentials when it builds the processor request:

• ACH / bank accounts — resolved to the account and routing numbers.
• Apple Pay & Google Pay — resolved to the wallet's network token.

In each case Preczn sends the payment credentials to your processor — it never forwards the Preczn token itself.

Credit Card Testing

Use Preczn test cards to test your integration. These test cards work only against test Merchants and test Connections. A test transaction is automatically directed to the processor's sandbox environment.

Preczn Test Cards

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Info

When using the test card values below, Preczn will automatically map these values to the appropriate test card utilized by your configured Connection.

It is important to note, some processors utilize unique triggers to simulate different test scenarios. Please see your Connection's page for details unique to your processor.

Approved Cards

 
Decline Card

 
Approved Debit Card