A customer-initiated transaction, or CIT, is a payment started by the customer during an active checkout or payment session.
It happens when the customer actively chooses to pay, selects or enters a payment method, and confirms the transaction. CITs are common in online checkout, in-app purchases, wallet payments, card payments, and other flows where the customer is present at the time of payment.
A customer-initiated transaction usually begins when the customer decides to make a purchase, add funds, pay an invoice, or complete another payment action. For example, the customer may enter card details at checkout, select a saved card, confirm a digital wallet payment, approve a bank transfer, or complete 3D Secure authentication. The transaction is then sent through the payment provider, acquirer, payment network, issuer, or payment method provider for approval.
If the payment is approved, it can move to capture, clearing, and settlement, depending on the payment flow. If it is declined, the customer may be asked to retry, authenticate again, update payment details, or choose another payment method.
Customer-initiated transactions often involve authentication because the customer is present during the payment. It may include 3D Secure, one-time passcodes, banking app confirmation, biometric approval, wallet confirmation, or another verification method. The exact requirements depend on the payment method, issuer, region, transaction risk, regulatory rules, and provider setup.
A customer-initiated transaction can also use stored credentials. For example, a customer may select a saved card or payment token at checkout and actively confirm the purchase. The transaction is still customer-initiated because the customer is present and taking action at the time of payment.
Tokenization is often used in these flows to replace sensitive card details with secure payment tokens, allowing the customer to reuse a saved payment method without the merchant storing the original card data.
Customer-initiated transactions are commonly used for:
The exact classification depends on the payment method, card network, acquirer, issuer, region, and provider setup.
