Card Brand Identifiers

Some card brands return identifiers that make it possible to track and correlate transactions throughout the payment lifecycle, especially in card-on-file, recurring, installment, and other subsequent merchant-initiated transaction scenarios.

These identifiers are important for ensuring traceability, reconciliation, and the link between related transactions. When used correctly, according to card brand and issuer rules, they can also help increase authorization rates because they allow the issuer to identify that a transaction is related to a previous interaction performed by the cardholder.

Currently, Cielo provides the following identifiers returned by the card brands:

How does the card brand identifier flow work?

To ensure the link between related transactions, especially in recurring payments, installments, and card-on-file scenarios, merchant-initiated transactions (MITs) must reference the original client-initiated transaction (CIT).

In this context, the identifiers returned by the card brand in the initial transaction (CIT) must be stored by the merchant and used in subsequent MITs within the same transaction lifecycle.

Expected flow according to card brands and issuers

1. The client performs the initial transaction (CIT or VerifyCard).
2. The card brand returns the identifiers available for that transaction.
3. The merchant stores the returned identifiers.
4. The merchant links subsequent MITs to the original transaction using the received identifiers.
5. The issuer uses this information to identify the relationship between the transactions and apply its authorization rules.

Identifiers provided by card brands

IssuerTransactionId

The IssuerTransactionId is an identifier generated by the card brand or issuer during the authorization process.

This identifier represents the original transaction within the card brand ecosystem and must be used for traceability and correlation of operations related to the same transaction lifecycle.

⚠️ Warning: The value of IssuerTransactionId may change with each new authorization or card validation. Always store the identifier returned in the most recent transaction and use it in subsequent transactions.

Card brands: Visa, Mastercard, Elo, and American Express.

Available in responses from: credit and debit authorization, recurring payments, Zero Auth, and query by PaymentId.

Response example:

{
  "Payment": {
    "Type": "CreditCard",
    "IssuerTransactionId": "580027442382078"
  }
}

TransactionLinkId (TLID)

The TransactionLinkId (TLID) is an identifier returned by Mastercard to link client-initiated transactions (CIT) with subsequent merchant-initiated transactions (MIT). The TLID complements the use of IssuerTransactionId and does not replace it.

Card brand: Mastercard.

Available in responses from: credit and debit authorization, recurring payments, Zero Auth, and query by PaymentId.

Response example:

{
  "Payment": {
    "TransactionLinkId": "mK8vT2qA-9LpX7dWc3Rf_HsD1Z"
  }
}

TLID implementation phases

TLID implementation is carried out in two phases:

Phase 1 — current

The TransactionLinkId (TLID) is returned in Mastercard authorization responses, including Zero Auth transactions.

In addition to being returned during authorization, the TLID can also be retrieved through the Query API using the transaction's PaymentId.

Phase 2 — October 23, 2026

Starting on October 23, 2026, sending the TransactionLinkId will become mandatory for MIT transactions linked to an original CIT transaction.

The parameters for sending the TLID in MIT requests will be made available in the Cielo APIs before October 2026.

Identifier retrieval

If the merchant no longer has the IssuerTransactionId and/or the TransactionLinkId from the original CIT transaction, it is recommended to:

• Prioritize retrieving the identifiers through the query provided by Cielo, using the original transaction information when available;
• If retrieval is not possible, use the identifier from a previous transaction related to the same transaction lifecycle, provided that it appropriately represents the transaction's relationship with the cardholder.

Use in CIT and MIT scenarios

In stored credentials and recurring payment scenarios:

• CIT (Cardholder-Initiated Transaction): transaction initiated by the cardholder — generates the identifier.
• MIT (Merchant-Initiated Transaction): transaction initiated by the merchant — must reference the identifier from the original CIT or the previous MIT.

For more information, see Transaction initiator indicator (CIT and MIT).

See also

• Card On File
• Transaction Initiator Indicator (CIT and MIT)
• Create a credit card payment
• Validate a card with Zero Auth
• Query a transaction by PaymentId