French checks for merchants

beta

Accepting payments with French checks is in private beta.

Merchants can accept payments using French checks if the debtor's bank is located in mainland France and the following territories: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthelemy. New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna aren't currently supported.

About French checks for merchants

While paper checks aren't the most convenient or secure payment method, they are still a valid way to exchange money. Some users prefer checks, and merchants can accept French checks if they activate this payment method for accepting payments.

Checks must be unique, with a different CMC7 code and RLMC key for each check. If a check is canceled or rejected, however, the same check can be resubmitted. Please note that checks aren't sent back to the account holder unless they're rejected.

Required API fields

When declaring checks with the API, there are five mandatory API fields:

1. amount: monetary amount of the check (can't exceed 10,000€).
2. currency: EUR (only euros are supported).
3. CMC7 (Caractères Magnétiques Codés à 7 bâtonnets): 31-digit code composed of 3 series of numbers.
   • Series 1: check number; 7 digits
   • Series 2: interbank codes; 12 digits
   • Series 3: account number; 12 digits
4. rlmcKey (Recomposition de la Ligne Magnétique du Chèque): 2-digit code calculated based on the CMC7.
5. merchantProfileId: your developers should enter the merchant's profile ID number.

On the back of the check, the merchant must write their Swan account number as well as provide their signature.

Merchant check payments

Merchant check payments include one or more transactions. For example, one payment might include a check credit transaction and a refund transaction, for a total of two transactions.

These transactions are grouped together in the merchant payment object. Swan recommends using the merchant payment object in your integration to help merchants match orders, invoices, and sales to the correct object. This provides better traceability and can help reconcile issues more efficiently. It also makes it easier for you to handle the status of payments when there are return transactions after a payment is captured.

Check transaction types

There are two transaction types for merchant check payments.

Transaction type	Explanation	Impacted account balance
CheckIn	Captured payment that first impacts the merchant's Upcoming balance, and then their Booked balance.	Upcoming Booked
CheckInReturn	Disputed payment that immediately impacts the merchant's Booked balance.	Booked

Balances

The impacted balances are Swan's standard account balances, which aren't related to the payment object balances explained later on this page.

Payment object statuses

The merchant payment object has distinct statuses to follow a payment's lifecycle.

Check payment object status	Explanation
Initiated	Merchant submitted the check information to Swan, but the check hasn't been processed yet.
Captured	Check was accepted and funds were made available in the merchant's account. This can be a final status if the customer doesn't dispute the payment.
Rejected	Check was rejected by Swan's check provider. Rejected checks are returned to the merchant by mail, using the account holder's address.
Canceled	Check was canceled by the merchant before reaching Swan's check provider. If received, the check is returned to the merchant by mail, using the account holder's address.
Disputed	The customer disputed the payment or the bank returned it after capture, for example due to insufficient funds. Disputed checks aren't returned to the merchant.

Payment object balances

The merchant payment object has distinct balances to follow a payment's lifecycle.

Check payment object balance	Explanation
totalAuthorized	Not used for checks; this balance is always zero.
availableToCancel	Use this balance to verify whether the payment can be canceled. Cancellations must occur before Swan's check provider receives the check.
totalCanceled	The total amount canceled for this merchant payment.
availableToCapture	Not used for checks; this balance is always zero.
totalCaptured	The amount captured by the merchant. This corresponds to the full payment amount after the check is successfully processed.
availableToRefund	Checks cannot be refunded; this balance is always zero.
totalRefunded	Checks cannot be refunded; this balance is always zero.
totalDisputed	The total amount of this merchant payment disputed by the customer or returned by their bank.

Rolling reserve

Rolling reserve is a policy Swan applies to merchant transactions to protect the merchant and Swan against various risk factors, primarily insufficient funds and attempted fraud. The reserved amount acts as a safety net to cover potential loss for both Swan and the merchant.

Rolling reserve is expressed as a percentage over a period of time (example: 10% of the payment amount over 30 business days), and applies to most payment methods used by merchants to accept payments with Swan.

For the indicated period of time, the amount isn't part of the merchant's available account balance, after which the funds are released to the merchant and can be used.

Payment method	Rolling reserve	Default amount
French checks	✓ Yes	100% over 10 business days

Payment amount limit

For security and risk management, Swan may apply a payment amount limit to single check payments. This limit defines the maximum amount a user can spend in one check transaction. If a payment exceeds this limit, the API returns a ForbiddenRejection error.

To query this limit, use the paymentAmountLimit field at the merchantPaymentMethod level in the API.

Settlement date and booked time

Checks are booked 2-3 business days after they arrive at the check processing center.

FNCI & verifying checks

The FNCI stands for Le fichier national des chèques irréguliers, meaning the National Irregular Check Register. It's a database of stolen and opposed checks made available to remitters by the Banque de France, helping you and your users reduce the risk of cashing fraudulent checks.

When your merchants accept check payments with Swan, Swan verifies the check's regularity with the Banque de France. You receive the result of a check's verification with the API, and your merchants see the result If you use Swan's Web Banking interface. If you're not using Web Banking, you must integrate the FNCI result into your product to meet compliance requirements.

tip

If you're using the full-API integration or the open-source Swan Banking Frontend, consider customizing the FNCI result message to better suit your clients. Keep the detailed information hidden within a dropdown for an improved user experience.

FNCI results

Results are provided through the API and on Swan's Web Banking interface. With the results, you receive the name of the bank that issued the check along with two key pieces of information: the color code and the Check Payment Control (CPT).

FNCI info		Explanation
Color code	Green	Positive, meaning the check isn't fraudulent.
	Orange White Red	Irregular, meaning there's something wrong with the check. For example, the account might be closed, the account holder might not be allowed to write checks, or the check might have been reported as lost or stolen. ⛔ Swan doesn't accept checks with the color code orange, white, or red.
Check Payment Control (CPT)	CPT1	Number of FNCI verifications performed on the current day for checks issued by the account holder.
	CPT2	Number of FNCI verifications conducted in the past few days for checks issued by the same account holder.
	CPT3	Number of FNCI verifications in recent days for checks issued by the same account holder, typically over a different or extended time period as compared to CPT2.
Holder establishment		The name of the bank that issued the check.

Confirm holder establishment

If the bank name is different from the holder establishment provided in the FNCI result, it may indicate fraud, even if the color code is green.

R-transactions

Rejected

Checks can be rejected by Swan's check provider and returned to the merchant by mail, mailed to the account holder's address. They'll receive helpful information about why the check has been rejected, and then they can fix and resend the rejected checks.

Before resending the rejected check, the merchant should create a new checkIn transaction. If they send the check without creating the new checkIn transaction, the check remains rejected and will be returned to the merchant again.

Additionally, all checks not received by Swan's check provider within 30 days of being declared will be automatically Rejected.

A check transaction can be rejected for the following reasons:

Rejection reason	Explanation
AmountMismatch	Amount on the check and amount declared through the API don't match.
BeneficiaryMismatch	Beneficiary name on the check and the name declared through the API don't match.
BeneficiaryMissingOrIncorrect	Merchant's name is missing or incorrect.
CheckNotReceived	Check wasn't received by Swan's check provider. This reason doesn't appear until 30 days after the check was declared.
CheckReceivedLate	Check was received by Swan's check provider more than 30 days after the check was declared, or if Swan's check provider received a canceled check.
DateMissing	There's no date on the check.
DateInvalid	Date on the check is in the future or isn't valid.
DebtorNameMissing	Debtor's name (your merchant's customer) must appear on the check.
InvalidOrMissingAmount	No amount is written on the check, the format shows an invalid amount, or the amount is shared in the wrong format (numbers instead of letters).
SignatureMissing	Debtor's signature is missing, or there was a problem with the signature.

Returned

Checks can be returned up to 10 business days after the transaction is Booked, and this window can be extended to 90 calendar days based on the reason for return. Note that checks aren't mailed back to the merchant.

A check transaction might be returned for the following reasons (this list is not exhaustive):

• Insufficient funds
• Account closed
• Loss or theft

By the time a check is returned, the merchant's account has already been credited. Therefore, when Swan is notified that a Booked check has gone unpaid, a checkInReturn transaction is created automatically.

Canceled

Creditors can cancel a received check with the Upcoming status unless the check processing center has already received the check. In this case of a canceled check, the status switches automatically to Canceled. This transaction won't impact the account's available balance.

Guides

• Accept payments with French checks (step-by-step)
• Request French checks payment method
• Initiate a French check transaction
• Sandbox