{"id":10330,"date":"2025-08-06T17:37:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/glosario\/credential-on-file-cof\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T09:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:53:09","slug":"credential-on-file-cof","status":"publish","type":"glosario","link":"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/credential-on-file-cof\/","title":{"rendered":"Credential On File (COF)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-start=\"240\" data-end=\"513\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_a_Credential_On_File_COF_transaction\"><\/span><strong data-start=\"240\" data-end=\"291\">What is a Credential On File (COF) transaction?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"240\" data-end=\"513\">A <strong data-start=\"296\" data-end=\"324\">Credential On File (COF)<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/transaction\/\"><strong>transaction<\/strong><\/a> is one in which the merchant uses a customer&#8217;s previously stored payment information because the cardholder has expressly authorized its storage and use for future purchases.<\/p>\n<h2 data-start=\"515\" data-end=\"765\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_a_COF_work\"><\/span><strong data-start=\"515\" data-end=\"539\">How does a COF work?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"515\" data-end=\"765\">Card data (for example, number or <a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/token\/\">token<\/a>) is stored after the customer provides it in an initial transaction. The merchant can reuse this information for subsequent purchases <strong>without the customer needing to enter it again.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"767\" data-end=\"814\">There are two main types of COF transactions:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"815\" data-end=\"1178\">\n<li data-start=\"815\" data-end=\"966\">\n<p data-start=\"817\" data-end=\"966\"><strong data-start=\"817\" data-end=\"858\">CIT (Customer Initiated Transaction):<\/strong> Transactions <strong>initiated by the cardholder<\/strong>. The customer directly authorizes the payment using stored data.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"967\" data-end=\"1178\">\n<p data-start=\"969\" data-end=\"1178\"><strong data-start=\"969\" data-end=\"1010\">MIT (Merchant Initiated Transaction):<\/strong> Transactions <strong>initiated by the merchant<\/strong>. The merchant processes the payment based on a prior agreement with the customer, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/solution\/recurring-payments-platform\/\"><strong>subscriptions<\/strong><\/a> or automatic payments.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 data-start=\"1180\" data-end=\"1378\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_are_COF_transactions_important\"><\/span><strong data-start=\"1180\" data-end=\"1219\">Why are COF transactions important?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1180\" data-end=\"1378\">Correctly identifying COF transactions is <strong>key under <a href=\"https:\/\/paynopain.com\/en\/glossary\/psd2\/\">PSD2<\/a> regulations<\/strong>, as in merchant-initiated payments, the cardholder is not authenticated in real time.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1380\" data-end=\"1637\">For this reason, specific security protocols must be applied to ensure the transaction is protected. If transactions are not properly flagged as COF, they may be <strong>declined by the issuer<\/strong>, affecting both the customer experience and the merchant\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1639\" data-end=\"1823\">A common example of this type of transaction is a <strong>monthly subscription<\/strong> to a streaming service, where the merchant securely stores the card data to make automatic charges every month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a Credential On File (COF) transaction?<br \/>\nA COF transaction is a payment where the merchant uses the cardholder\u2019s stored and previously authorised card details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9072,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-10330","glosario","type-glosario","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Credential On File (COF) - 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