How to Use Visa Transaction Controls

Using the Customer Rules API

Use the Customer Rules API to register a consumer's account to the service and establish the payment rules and thresholds that will define the types of transactions that the consumer wants to block or for which they would like to be alerted.

The Customer Rules API supports the following functions:

  • Enrolling and un-enrolling a card in the service
  • Adding, updating, retrieving, and removing consumer transaction controls for a card
  • Retrieving the list of control types that are available for a specific card
  • Retrieving the list of transaction type controls that can be configured for a specific card
  • Retrieving the list of merchant type controls that can be configured for a specific card
  • Retrieving the project configuration data for callback notification settings

The technical details of each operation can be found on the Documentation tab.

Using the Notification Delivery Callback API

Used to send purchase notifications to the issuer who will then create the cardholder-facing message and deliver it via email, SMS or push.   The issuer is responsible for creating and delivering the notification based on the data provided.  Note: future product enhancments can result in new data elements being available in the Notification Delivery Callback API payload.  The client should be flexible enough to review these new data elements without adversly impacting their existing notification process.

Using the Alert History and Customer Profiles API

The Alerts Preference Management API captures the cardholder's mobile number, email and/or device ID that Visa will use to send all Alert notifications.  Issuers must enroll in the VTC on-behalf-of Alert Delivery Service to use this API.

Using the Authorization Decision API

The Authorization Decision API is used to send transaction data for non-Visa processed transactions to VTC.  VTC will respond with a recommendation to "Decline" or "Decision Accordingly" based on the cardholder's VTC settings.  The issuer is responsible for making the authorization decision and then sending that back to VTC for use in alert messaging. 

The Transaction Controls Authorization Decision API supports the following functions:

  • Requests a decision on a pending transaction.
  • Updates the state of a decision based on the actual authorization decision made by the issuer.
  • Retrieves the details of a specific decision.
  • Retrieves a paginated list of previous decisions filtered by card.
  • Retrieves a paginated list of the most recent decisions.

The technical details of each operation can be found on the Documentation tab.

Using the Enrollment Callback API

The Enrollment Callback API notifies the client that a cardholder has activated or deactivated their rules settings.

  • Notifies when a customer enables the first control rule or first set of control rules on a registered card.
  • Notifies when a customer disables the last active control rule or the entire set of active control rules on a registered card.
  • Notifies when a customer re-enables the first active control rule or first set of active control rules on a registered card.
  • Notifies when a customer deletes the last remaining control rule or last set of active control rules on a registered card.

The Notification Delivery Callback API notifies the client that an alert message has been generated and should be delivered to the cardholder. The issuer host is responsible for communicating the alert to the customer using the issuer's or customer's choice of channel.  Note: future product enhancments can result in new data elements being available in the Notification Delivery Callback API payload.  The client should be flexible enough to revieve these new data elements without adversly impacting their existing notification process.   

The Alerts Preference Management API captures the cardholder's mobile number, email and/or device ID that Visa will use to send all Alert notifications. 

Using the Program Administration API

The Program Administration API allows issuers to limit the VTC card controls available for use in the Sandbox.  By default, all VTC card controls are exposed and available for use in the Sandbox. 

The Program Administration API supports the following functions:

  • Limit which VTC card controls are available for use in the sandbox. 
  • Expose any card controls that were previously hidden. 

The technical details of each operation can be found on the Documentation tab.