> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.synctera.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# External Cards

# Overview

Synctera offers **Instant Payments** to/from non-Synctera issued cards or “External Cards” through partnership with TabaPay.
In these payment scenarios, you act as the merchant and can either initiate an *Instant Account Funding* (`PULL`) or an *Instant Push to Card* (`PUSH`).

## Instant Account Funding

* Also referred to as *Account Funding Transaction (AFT)*
* Is a `PULL` from an external card to fund an account on the Synctera platform
* Can be done through **card-on-file** or through **Apple Pay / Google Pay**
* Can be reversed

## Instant Push to Card

* Also referred to as *Original Credit Transaction (OCT)*
* Is a `PUSH` or a payout from an account on the Synctera platform to an external card
* Can be done through **card-on-file**
* Cannot be reversed, i.e. are irrevocable

## Supported card types and use cases

* Both `PULL` and `PUSH` are supported for:
  * Consumer and commercial cards
  * Me-to-me transfers only - an MSB (Money Services Business) licence is required for other scenarios, such as P2P and B2B
  * Domestic Visa and Mastercard Debit cards - Credit card support may be available upon request

## Added security through tokenization

Instant payments through **card-on-file** and through **Apple Pay / Google Pay** utilize tokenization for added security. Through this process, sensitive cardholder data is converted into a token to protect it from being accessed in the event of a data breach or unauthorized exposure. This process is similar to encryption, which obscures data to make it unreadable.

With **card-on-file**, the card is tokenized through an iFrame and then added as a card-on-file for the customer using the card token. The card token can then be used for initiating payments.

With **Apple Pay / Google Pay**, the customer adds the card to their Apple or Google Wallet, and a payment token is generated for each payment.

This guide will explain these tokenization processes and how to initiate a `PUSH`/`PULL` payment.
See [External Cards API](https://dev.synctera.com/v1/reference/listexternalcards) for more details.

<Info>
  **Onboarding**\
  To get setup for Instant Payments with External Cards, please reach out to your Synctera implementation representative.
</Info>