Account Funding Transactions (AFT)
KA-07260
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12/24/2024 18:19 PM
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What is an AFT?
Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) refer to transaction type used to withdraw funds from a Visa or Mastercard account for the purpose of funding another account. AFTs can be used with a corresponding Original Credit Transaction (OCT) to move money between accounts.
- An account funding transaction (AFT) withdraws funds from a sender’s account.
- An original credit transaction (OCT) deposits funds into a recipient’s account.
Even though an AFT usually precedes a corresponding OCT, the AFT and OCT are independent transactions.
What are the compliance requirements for AFTs?
To enhance the security of the ecosystem, AFTs are transaction types subject to rules established by Visa and Mastercard in addition to any applicable law and regulations governing money transfers.
Acquirers must enable AFT origination for the following use cases:
| Use Case | Example |
| Person-to-Person (P2P) money transfer | Funding a money transfer operator to initiate a subsequent P2P payment via OCT or other type of money transfer |
| Account-to-account (me-to-me) money transfer | Funding an account owned by the same customer |
| Funding small business disbursements | Funding an entity offering payment services to small businesses (e.g., payroll, invoice payments) to initiate subsequent disbursements |
| Staged digital wallet pre-funding | Funding a staged digital wallet (unless funding a back-to-back purchase)1 |
| Stored value wallet funding | Funding a stored value wallet that can be used for purchases from multiple merchants2 |
| Prepaid load / reload2 | Funding a load / reload of a prepaid card account3 |
| Cryptocurrency and liquid assets | Acquisition of stocks, shares, foreign currency and cryptocurrency |
1 Back-to-back purchases that include the staged digital wallet BAI of WT (Business Application Identifier of Wallet Transfer) and the merchant category code of the merchant being paid are an exception, as these are truly purchase transactions rather than converted AFTs.
2 Single merchant wallets must be topped up with a purchase transaction.
3 Prepaid top-up will use AFTs in both card-present and card-not-present transactions.
Merchants using the following Merchant Category Codes (MCC) may be required by their acquirer to adopt AFT if their business aligns with the specified use cases.
| MCC Code | Description |
| 4829 | Money Transfer - Wire Transfer |
| 6012 | Non-Financial Institutions - Foreign Currency, Money Orders (not wire transfer), and Travelers Cheques |
| 6051 | Financial Institutions - Merchandise, Services, and Debt Repayment |
| 6211 | Securities Brokers/Dealers |
| 6540 | Account funding, stored value card purchase, prepaid load (non-financial institution) |
The exact rules and availability of AFTs will vary depending on the card network and the jurisdiction.
Which processors support AFT?
Cybersource supports AFT transaction processing on select processors as an optional feature of standard credit card processing:
| Status | Cybersource Processor Name | Acquirer |
Available | Visa Platform Connect | Depends on Acquirer readiness |
| Smartpay | Chase Paymentech | |
| Barclays2 | Barclays | |
| Coming soon | FDIGlobal | First Data / FiServ |
| Streamline2 | Worldpay | |
| Opdfde | FirstDataEurope (FiServ) | |
| Opdcardnet | Lloyds International |
For up-to-date timelines on processor readiness, contact Cybersource Customer Support.
If your business currently falls under the expected usage of AFT but you are processing with a different processor, please contact Cybersource.
How do I implement AFT?
Merchants should contact their acquirer to confirm if AFT is supported.
For processor implementation details, refer to the documentation available in the Developer Center:
| Cybersource Processor Name | Developer Guide |
| Visa Platform Connect | https://developer.cybersource.com/docs/cybs/en-us/payouts-aft/developer/ctv/rest/payouts-aft-dev/payouts-aft-about-guide.html |
| Smartpay | Coming soon - For up-to-date timelines on Paymentech processor documentation, contact Cybersource Customer Support. |
| FDIGlobal | Coming soon - For up-to-date timelines on FDIGlobal processor documentation, contact Cybersource Customer Support. |
| Barclays2 | https://developer.cybersource.com/docs/cybs/en-us/payouts-aft/developer/barclays/rest/payouts-aft-dev/payouts-aft-about-guide.html |
| Streamline2 | https://developer.cybersource.com/docs/cybs/en-us/payouts/developer/streamline2/rest/payouts-dev.html |
| Opdfde | https://developer.cybersource.com/docs/cybs/en-us/payouts/developer/opdfde/rest/payouts-dev.html |
| Opdcardnet | https://developer.cybersource.com/docs/cybs/en-us/payouts/developer/opdcardnet/rest/payouts-dev.html |
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