Card on File (CoF)

Card-on-file (CoF) is the storing of customer card and payment information by a merchant, i.e. keeping card information “on file”.

A card-on-file transaction is therefore a transaction which involves the cardholder authorizing a merchant to store their card information and bill them when appropriate.

Shoppers can opt-in or opt-out of this card detail storage, allowing them to choose the level of data that the merchant can keep concerning them. By choosing to store these details for future use, the shopper is creating a ‘Card on File’ – this is the default payment details assigned to this customer, enabling faster checkout through features such as one-click payments and recurring payments such as subscriptions, and more.