Payment-method icon

Bancontact card for API only

Accept Bancontact with raw card data, and build your own UI to have full control over the look and feel of your checkout page.

A Bancontact card payment is like a regular card payment, except for the following:

  • There is no CVC. For co-badged cards, the CVC field can still appear.
  • 3D Secure authentication is mandatory.
  • Separate captures are not supported.

This page explains how to accept Bancontact card card payments with raw card data.

To collect raw card data, you need to be fully PCI compliant.

If you are not fully PCI compliant, use our Bancontact card Component for Web or Android instead.

Before you begin

Before starting your integration:

  1. Make sure that you have set up your back end implementation.
  2. Add Bancontact card in your test Customer Area.

Build your payment form for Bancontact card

When making a Bancontact card payment, collect the following shopper details:

Card details Example input Required
Card number "6703444444444449" -white_check_mark-
Card expiry month "03" -white_check_mark-
Card expiry year "30" -white_check_mark-
Cardholder name "S.Hopper"

Bancontact cards have no security code.

You can also get the required fields from the /paymentMethods response, as explained in our API-only integration guide. In your call, specify:

The required input fields are included in the object with type: bcmc.

We provide a Bancontact card logo which you can use in your payment form. For more information, refer to Downloading logos.

Make a payment

From your server, make a /payments request, specifying:

  • paymentMethod.typescheme.
  • paymentMethod.brandbcmc.
  • paymentMethod.number: The card number (without separators).
  • paymentMethod.expiryMonth: The card expiry month.
  • paymentMethod.expiryYear: The card expiry year.
  • paymentMethod.holderName: The name of the cardholder.
  • browserInfo: The shopper's browser information.

    The browserInfo is required for web-based integration.

  • returnURL: The URL where the shopper will be redirected back to after completing the 3D Secure authentication.

Sample /payments request for web-based implementation:

The /payments response contains an action object with type: redirect.

Handle the redirect

To complete the payment, redirect the shopper to perform 3D Secure authentication.
For more information and detailed instructions, refer to Handling redirects.

Present the payment result

Use the  resultCode from the /payments/details response to present the payment result to your shopper. You will also receive the outcome of the payment asynchronously in a webhook.

For Bancontact card payments, you can receive the following resultCode values:

resultCode Description Action to take
Authorised The payment was successful. Inform the shopper that the payment was successful.
Cancelled The shopper cancelled the payment. Ask the shopper whether they want to continue with the order, or ask them to select a different payment method.
Error There was an error when the payment was being processed. For more information, check the refusalReason field. Inform the shopper that there was an error processing their payment.
Refused The payment was refused. For more information, check the refusalReason field. Ask the shopper to try the payment again using a different payment method.

Recurring payments

Bancontact recurring payments are not available in the test environment. To test your integration, do a penny test in the live environment instead.

We support recurring transactions for Bancontact through SEPA Direct Debit. To make recurring payments, you need to:

  1. Create a shopper token.
  2. Use the token to make future payments for the shopper.

Create a token

We strongly recommend that you request explicit permission from the shopper if you intend to make recurring SEPA payments. Being transparent about the payment schedule and the charged amount reduces the risk of chargebacks.

To create a token, include in your /sessions or /payments request:

  • storePaymentMethod: true
  • shopperReference: Your unique identifier for the shopper (minimum length three characters).

When the payment has been settled, you receive a webhook containing:

  • eventCode: RECURRING_CONTRACT
  • originalReference: The pspReference of the initial payment.
  • pspReference: This is the token that you need to make recurring payments for this shopper.

Make sure that your server is able to receive RECURRING_CONTRACT as part of your standard webhooks. You can enable the RECURRING_CONTRACT event code in the webhook settings page.

Make a payment with a token

To make a payment with the token, include in your /payments request:

  • paymentMethod.storedPaymentMethodId: The pspReference from the RECURRING_CONTRACT. You can also get this value by using the /listRecurringDetails endpoint.
  • shopperReference: The unique shopper identifier that you specified when creating the token.
  • shopperInteractionContAuth.
  • recurringProcessingModel: Subscription or UnscheduledCardOnFile.

For more information about the shopperInteraction and recurringProcessingModel fields, refer to Tokenization.

Test and go live

Before making live payments, use the following credentials to test your integration:

Card number Card type CVV2/CVC2 Username Password Issuing country/region Expiry date
5127 8809 9999 9990 BCMC / Mastercard Debit BCMC: None
Mastercard: 737
user password BE 03/2030
6703 4444 4444 4449 BCMC / Maestro None user password BE 03/2030
4871 0499 9999 9910 1 BCMC / Visa Debit BCMC: None
Visa: 737
user password BE 03/2030

1 Depending on your payment method setup, transactions with this test card are routed to Bancontact or Visa.

You can force a decline using these credentials with "holderName": "DECLINED".

    "paymentMethod": {
      "type": "bcmc",
      "number": "4871049999999910",
      "holderName": "DECLINED",
      "expiryMonth": "03",
      "expiryYear": "2030"
    }

This gets the following response:

    "refusalReason": "Refused",
    "resultCode": "Refused",

You can check the status of test payments in your Customer Area > Transactions > Payments.

Add Bancontact card in your live Customer Area.

See also