Cards · On request
Cartes Bancaires (CB)
Cartes Bancaires (CB) is the French domestic card scheme, run by the Groupement des Cartes Bancaires since 1984: most cards issued by French banks carry the CB brand together with Visa or Mastercard. A checkout that recognises a co-badged card can route the payment over the CB network, which is usually cheaper than the international brand; authentication runs through 3-D Secure, and disputes follow the scheme's chargeback rules.
Key facts
- Countries
- France
- Currencies
- EUR
- Operations
- Pay-in · Payout · Recurring · Refund
- Settlement
- T+1
- Chargebacks
- under the scheme rules
How a payment goes through
- 1The payer enters the card on the hosted checkout; the number is encrypted before it leaves the page
- 2The vault stores a token; routing picks the acquirer by BIN, country and amount
- 33-D Secure when the issuer asks; the acquirer authorises
- 4Callback to the merchant, status in the journal for five years
How a payment goes through
- The checkout takes the card on the payment form and recognises a co-badged CB BIN, or uses a saved token.
- The network is chosen: CB where the merchant set it as the default, unless the payer picks the other brand.
- The issuing bank authenticates the payer through 3-D Secure; the provider authorises the payment in seconds, and settlement follows T+1.
- Tranzify writes the result and calls the merchant’s webhook.
CB against Visa and Mastercard in France
| CB | Visa / Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | Groupement des Cartes Bancaires CB, since 1984 | the international schemes |
| Cards | most cards from French banks, co-badged | the same cards abroad, and cards without CB |
| Authentication | 3-D Secure | 3-D Secure |
| Settlement | T+1 | T+1 |
| Chargebacks | scheme rules | scheme rules |
| Cost | usually lower on domestic payments | the fees of the international brand |
A French card that is not routed over CB is still accepted, only as a Visa or Mastercard payment; the saving comes from recognising the co-badge and routing it domestically, which the providers below do once the client turns it on.
Who uses it
E-commerce and delivery with a mostly French customer base, where domestic routing lowers the cost of nearly every card payment; travel and SaaS for recurring charges by token. A client (a payment company) enables Adyen, Stripe or Checkout.com for Cartes Bancaires under its own contract; the integration is enabled on request. Refunds go back to the card through the same provider.
How to connect
- 1Onboard with Tranzify and get your network, keys and back office.
- 2Enter your account with the provider in the terminal settings — Tranzify already speaks its API.
- 3Add routing rules: countries, currencies, amounts, BIN ranges, priorities and weights.
- 4Go live. Every payment, callback and retry is in the journal for five years.
Providers offering this method
On request — Request this integration
Industries
Frequently asked questions
Is a CB card also a Visa or Mastercard?+
Who chooses the network?+
Are recurring charges and refunds possible?+
Related methods
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