Questions and answers about PostFinance Pay

Here you will find answers to questions about payment notification, fee entries, credit advice and more.

Preconditions and general information

  • In order for PostFinance payment methods to be integrated into an online shop,
    you must have:

    • a business account at PostFinance or a third-party bank in Switzerland
    • a contract with a payment service provider (PSP) that can offer PostFinance Pay
    • shop software or a proprietary solution that can interact with your payment service provider’s interface

  • The one-stop online payment solution. Information at postfinance.ch/e-payment.

  • You can pre-register by filling in the form at postfinance.ch/e-payment. You will then be contacted by a PostFinance employee.

  • PostFinance Pay provides a secure and reliable payment solution at attractive terms. See the “Prices and conditions” section for information on our 1.3% commission model.

  • You can receive a transaction statement as a PDF or as a file with PMS, MFTPF, in e-finance or by e-mail.

  • PostFinance Pay offers your shoppers high standard limits of CHF 10,000 per day and CHF 15,000 per month, which can be increased by the shopper.

  • The shopper always enters their security elements in the PostFinance server environment  using the highest security standards. Third parties cannot view the entered data. Card and account numbers cannot be saved by the merchant.

Payment option

  • Authentication is only possible with the PostFinance App via Face ID, Touch ID, card reader or Mobile ID.

  • Yes, there is. The PostFinance Pay token enables shoppers to make quick and easy payments in the form of one-touch payments or invisible payments. As part of a one-off registration process per merchant, the PostFinance Pay token is stored with the online shop in the personal profile of the person making the purchase. No further authentication is required from the person making the purchase for future purchases.

  • Yes, provided that the successful authorization is submitted within 30 days and was not executed with the PostFinance Pay token without a transaction signature.

  • The merchant does not need any information about the shopper’s account – the account that was used for the payment process is credited automatically. A delivered transaction must be credited within 14 months. No more than the delivered amount can be reimbursed. Multiple credits (or partial credits), are also possible for a submitted and processed amount.

  • An authorized basket amount can be submitted unchanged with a reduced amount or in the form of multiple sub-amounts for processing. In such cases, the total of the submissions may not exceed the authorized amount. The submission must be made no later than 30 days after successful authorization. Delivered amounts over 30 days old will no longer be processed.

Payment screen

  • PostFinance consistently implements the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0, AA).

Payment notification

  • Depending on the chosen entry method, delivered transactions are credited to the PostFinance business account either individually – soon after delivery – or in a daily batch entry or daily to the Swiss third-party account.

  • No, outpayments to a third-party account are only possible in Swiss francs.

  • All transactions are credited in an individual entry one working day after delivery.

    PostFinance Pay entry detail:

    CREDIT FOR E-PAYMENT TRANSACTIONS
    POSTFINANCE Pay
    DELIVERED ON 28.08.2022
    SAMPLECOMPANY LTD
    PFYPX0000000000
    WWW.SAMPLEMERCHANT.CH

  • Every transaction is credited individually and soon after delivery.

    PostFinance Pay entry detail:

    CREDIT FOR E-PAYMENT TRANSACTION
    POSTFINANCE Pay
    OF 29.08.2022
    SAMPLECOMPANY LTD
    PFYPX0000000000
    WWW.SAMPLEMERCHANT.CH
    PAYMENTID 30162958000489326395
    ORDER NUMBER 00000000XXA0450192

Swiss third-party account

  • No, only credits to Swiss bank accounts are allowed. An account in Liechtenstein is also considered an account abroad.

  • The transaction fees are deducted directly from the total revenue and the net amount is transferred to your bank account.

  • Example of PostFinance payment types for online shops: third-party account

    POSTFINANCE E-PAYMENT
    [URL]
    [MerchantID]+[DATE]
    GROSS AMOUNT, COMMISSION AMOUNT

  • No, only Swiss bank accounts are allowed.

Fees

  • The fees are shown separately for transactions below and above CHF 25 / EUR 17.

    PostFinance Pay entry detail:

    PRICE FOR E-PAYMENT
    POSTFINANCE Pay
    UP TO CHF 25 / EUR 17
    WWW.SAMPLEMERCHANT.CH
    NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS: 15
    REVENUE CHF 30.76
    JANUARY 2016

Credit advice

  • Merchants can reconcile the payment data using the options offered by their payment service provider (merchant GUI, API, etc.). If required, a credit advice can be requested for the PostFinance payment type, which will be sent either as a PDF file or on paper (charges apply). Available delivery channels are post, e-mail or e-finance. For monthly delivery we supplement the list of transactions with the fees incurred during the previous month.

  • The key information contained within the files for electronic reconciliation is the processing results of both the PostFinance payment methods. Depending on the payment service provider chosen by the merchant, we generate a reconciliation advice file (RAF) or an EPAY reconciliation file (ERF) for collection. In both cases it is in XML format. Reconciliation files are generated from the time of activation. Delivery cannot be ordered for transactions executed before activation. RAFs are generated when a payment service provider uses the ep2 protocol to process PostFinance payment methods. This is particularly attractive for merchants with high to very high transaction volumes. An ep2 infrastructure is a precondition for further processing by the merchant. You can find more information about this at The link will open in a new window ep2.ch. ERFs are generated when a payment service provider uses the non-ep2 protocol to process PostFinance payment methods.

  • The delivery channels are listed below:

    RAF 

    • MI-Rec server (PMS): For automated downloading and for further processing of RAF. Requires the merchant to have an ep2 infrastructure.
    • E-finance: For semi-automated reconciliation of transactions. Download the RAF in e-finance and manually import it into the merchant’s system.
    • MFTP (File Delivery Service): For automated downloading and for further processing of RAF.

    ERF file (EPAY reconciliation file)

    • E-finance: For semi-automated reconciliation of transactions. Download the ERF in e-finance and manually import it into the merchant’s system.
    • MFTP (File Delivery Service): For automated downloading and for further processing of ERF.

    Credit advice

    • E-finance: For manual reconciliation, PDF
    • E-mail: For manual reconciliation, PDF
    • Post (charges apply): For manual reconciliation, PDF

  • If you have any questions regarding transactions, please contact our Customer Service or our advisors. Transactions are archived for a period of 15 months. Account entries are archived for a period of ten years.