AI resources

Create recurring charges (legacy)

With Automatic Payments, you can process payments with stored cards (Card on File) without requesting the CVV on each transaction.

To do this, you need to obtain the customer's and card's data, including the security code (CVV), either by processing a payment or just storing them securely. Then, you will need to associate the customer and card in your system.

Get card data

Follow the steps below to learn how to perform this process in both flows: processing a first payment or just making a validation payment to store the data and use it for a subsequent first charge.

If the registration includes the payment of the first installment, this first payment is processed with Checkout API or Checkout Bricks following the payment processes to Mercado Pago. For this, your backend must be able to receive the form information with the generated token and the provided data.

For more information, follow the steps for our card payment integration through Checkout API or using Checkout Bricks.

The minimum required fields to send are: token, transaction_amount, installments, payment_method_id and payer.email. Remember that the more additional information you send, the higher the probability that the payment will be approved, as the risk assessment will have more data to analyze.

curl
curl -X POST \
   -H 'accept: application/json' \
   -H 'content-type: application/json' \
   -H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
   -H 'X-Idempotency-Key: SOME_UNIQUE_VALUE' \
   'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/payments' \
   -d '{
      "transaction_amount": 100,
      "token": "4cbbee6da93f85e98f51647241b0e51e",
      "description": "Firstpayment",
      "installments": 1,
      "payment_method_id": "master",
      "payer": {
        "email": "test_payer@example.com"
      },
      "statement_descriptor": "First payment",
      "external_reference": "9ce0e6cb-205b-4a7b-b156-847eab8cc137",
      "point_of_interaction": {
        "type": "SUBSCRIPTIONS",
        "transaction_data": {
          "first_time_use": true,
          "subscription_id": "subscription-gym-1",
          "subscription_sequence": {
            "number": 1,
            "total": 12
          },
          "invoice_period": {
            "period": 1,
            "type": "monthly"
          },
          "billing_date": "2025-11-26",
          "user_present": true
        }
      },
      "additional_info": {
        "items": [
          {
            "description": "First payment",
            "quantity": 1,
            "title": "title",
            "unit_price": 100
          }
        ]
      }
    }

For more information on how to send recurring payment information to the v1/payments endpoint with the aim of increasing the approval rate for this type of payments, visit the Automatic Payments Messaging documentation.

Associate card with the customer

After processing the first payment and ensuring that the card is valid, create a customer and associate it with the card used in the first payment.

To create a customer and associate it with your card, you need to send the customer_id and card_token. Each customer will be stored with the value customer, and each card with the value card.

Additionally, we recommend storing the card data whenever a payment is successfully completed. This allows the correct data to be stored for future purchases and optimizes the payment process for the buyer.

To create a customer and card, use one of the SDKs below.

<?php
  MercadoPagoConfig::setAccessToken("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN");
  
  $client_customer = new CustomerClient();
  $customer = $client_customer->create(["email" => "test_payer@example.com"]);
  $client = new CustomerCardClient();
  $customer_card = $client->create($customer->id, ["token" => "your_card_token"]);
?>

const client = new MercadoPagoConfig({ accessToken: 'YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' });
const customer = new Customer(client);

const body = {
  email: "test_payer@example.com"
};

customer.create({ body: body }).then((result) => {
  const customerCard = new CustomerCard(client);

  const body = {
    token : result.token,
  };

  customerCard.create({ customerId: 'customer_id', body })
     .then((result) => console.log(result));
})

MercadoPagoConfig.setAccessToken("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN");

CustomerClient customerClient = new CustomerClient();
CustomerCardClient customerCardClient = new CustomerCardClient();

CustomerRequest customerRequest = CustomerRequest.builder()
   .email("test_payer@example.com")
   .build();
Customer customer = customerClient.create(customerRequest);

CustomerCardIssuer issuer = CustomerCardIssuer.builder()
   .id("3245612")
   .build();

CustomerCardCreateRequest cardCreateRequest = CustomerCardCreateRequest.builder()
   .token("9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda")
   .issuer(issuer)
   .paymentMethodId("debit_card")
   .build();

customerCardClient.create(customer.getId(), cardCreateRequest);

require 'mercadopago'

sdk = Mercadopago::SDK.new('ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN')

customer_request = {
  email: 'john@yourdomain.com'
}
customer_response = sdk.customer.create(customer_request)
customer = customer_response[:response]

card_request = {
  token: '9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda',
  issuer_id: '3245612',
  payment_method_id: 'visa'
}
card_response = sdk.card.create(customer['id'], card_request)
card = card_response[:response]

MercadoPagoConfig.AccessToken = "ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN";

var customerRequest = new CustomerRequest
{
    Email = "test_payer@testuser.com",
};
var customerClient = new CustomerClient();
Customer customer = await customerClient.CreateAsync(customerRequest);

var cardRequest = new CustomerCardCreateRequest
{
    Token = "9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda"
};
CustomerCard card = await customerClient.CreateCardAsync(customer.Id, cardRequest);

import mercadopago
sdk = mercadopago.SDK("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN")

customer_data = {
  "email": "test_payer@testuser.com"
}
customer_response = sdk.customer().create(customer_data)
customer = customer_response["response"]

card_data = {
  "token": "9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda",
  "issuer_id": "3245612",
  "payment_method_id": "visa"
}
card_response = sdk.card().create(customer["id"], card_data)
card = card_response["response"]

curl -X POST \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/customers/CUSTOMER_ID/cards' \
  -d '{"token": "9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda", "issuer_id": "3245612", "payment_method_id": "visa"}'

For more information, check the section Cards and customers management in Checkout API.

Get customer data

To obtain customer data such as ID, address or registration date, you can retrieve them through our customer API. To do this, send a GET with the customer's email to the endpoint /v1/customers/search and execute the request, or if you prefer, use one of the SDKs below.

<?php
  MercadoPagoConfig::setAccessToken("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN");
  
  $client = new CustomerClient();

  $customer = $client->search(1, 0, ["email" => "test_payer@example.com"]);
?>

import { Customer, MercadoPagoConfig } from '@src/index';

const client = new MercadoPagoConfig({ accessToken: '<ACCESS_TOKEN>' });
const customer = new Customer(client);

customer.search({ options: { email: '<EMAIL>' } }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

CustomerClient client = new CustomerClient();

Map<String, Object> filters = new HashMap<>();
filters.put("email", "test_payer@testuser.com");

MPSearchRequest searchRequest =
   MPSearchRequest.builder().offset(0).limit(0).filters(filters).build();

client.search(searchRequest);

customers_response = sdk.customer.search(filters: { email: 'test_payer@testuser.com' })
customers = customers_response[:response]

var searchRequest = new SearchRequest
{
    Filters = new Dictionary<string, object>
    {
        ["email"] = "test_payer@testuser.com",
    },
};
ResultsResourcesPage<Customer> results = await customerClient.SearchAsync(searchRequest);
IList<Customer> customers = results.Results;

filters = {
    "email": "test_payer@testuser.com"
}

customers_response = sdk.customer().search(filters=filters)
customers = customers_response["response"]

curl -X GET \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/customers/search' \
  -d '{
    "email": "test_payer@example.com"
}'

For more information, check the section Cards and customers management in Checkout API. or the section Default rendering in Card Payment Brick.

Get the card associated with the customer

Having obtained the customer ID, use it to locate the associated card.

<?php
  $customer_client = new CustomerClient();
  $cards = $client->list("customer_id");
  echo implode ($cards);
?>

const client = new MercadoPagoConfig({ accessToken: 'access_token' });
const customerCard = new CustomerCard(client);

customerCard.list({ customerId: '<CUSTOMER_UD>' }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

MercadoPagoConfig.setAccessToken("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN");

CustomerCardClient customerCardClient = new CustomerCardClient();

MPResourceList<CustomerCard> list = customerCardClient.listAll("000000000-abcdEfghiJklM");
List<CustomerCard> customerCards = list.getResults();

cards_response = sdk.card.list(customer_id)
cards = cards_response[:response]

var customerClient = new CustomerClient();
ResourcesList<CustomerCard> customerCards = await customerClient.ListCardsAsync("CUSTOMER_ID");

cards_response = sdk.card().list_all(customer_id)
cards = cards_response["response"]

curl -X GET \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/customers/CUSTOMER_ID/cards' \

For more information, check the section Cards and customers management in Checkout API.

Generate a card token

After locating the data of the card associated with the customer, use the snippets below to tokenize the card using its ID (card_id). Tokenization provides a more secure digital payment experience by replacing the credit card number with an alternative number, the token.

<?php

use MercadoPago\Client\CardToken\CardTokenClient;
use MercadoPago\Exceptions\MPApiException;
use MercadoPago\MercadoPagoConfig;

require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';

MercadoPagoConfig::setAccessToken("<ACCESS_TOKEN>");

$client = new CardTokenClient();

try {
    $request = [
        "card_id" => "cardId"
    ];

    $card_token = $client->create($request);
    var_dump($card_token);
} catch (MPApiException $e) {
    echo "Status code: " . $e->getApiResponse()->getStatusCode() . "\n";
    echo "Content: ";
    var_dump($e->getApiResponse()->getContent());
    echo "\n";
} catch (\Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
}

import { MercadoPagoConfig, CardToken } from 'mercadopago';

const client = new MercadoPagoConfig({ accessToken: '<ACCESS_TOKEN>' });
const cardToken = new CardToken(client);

const body = {
	card_id : '<CARD_ID>'
};

cardToken.create({ body }).then(console.log).catch(console.log);

import com.mercadopago.client.cardtoken.CardTokenClient;
import com.mercadopago.client.cardtoken.CardTokenRequest;
import com.mercadopago.exceptions.MPApiException;
import com.mercadopago.exceptions.MPException;
import com.mercadopago.resources.CardToken;

public class App {
    public static void main(String[] args){
        MercadoPagoConfig.setAccessToken("<ACCESS_TOKEN>");
        
        CardTokenRequest request = CardTokenRequest.builder().cardId("<CARD_ID>").build();
        CardTokenClient client = new CardTokenClient();

        try {
            CardToken cardToken = client.create(request);
            System.out.println(cardToken);
        } catch (MPApiException ex) {
            System.out.printf(
                    "MercadoPago Error. Status: %s, Content: %s%n",
                    ex.getApiResponse().getStatusCode(), ex.getApiResponse().getContent());
        } catch (MPException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

using System;
using MercadoPago.Config;
using MercadoPago.Client.CardToken;
using MercadoPago.Resource.CardToken;

MercadoPagoConfig.AccessToken = "<ACCESS_TOKEN>";

var request = new CardTokenRequest
{
    CardId = "<CARD_ID>"
};

var client = new CardTokenClient();
CardToken cardToken = await client.CreateAsync(request);

Console.WriteLine(Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.SerializeObject(cardToken));

require_relative '../lib/mercadopago.rb'

sdk = Mercadopago::SDK.new('<ACCESS_TOKEN>')

card_token_request = {
  card_id: '<CARD_ID>'
}

card_token_response = sdk.card_token.create(card_token_request)
card_token = card_token_response[:response]
puts card_token

import mercadopago

sdk = mercadopago.SDK("<ACCESS_TOKEN>")

card_token_data = {
    "card_id": "<CARD_ID>"
}

result = sdk.card_token().create(card_token_data)
card_token = result["response"]

print(card_token)

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/card_tokens' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer {{access_token}}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
 "card_id": {{card_id}}
}'

Follow the step-by-step guide and prevent fraudulent payments with our recommendations to improve the approval of your payments.

For more information, check the section Cards and customers management in Checkout API.

Create charges

Use the previously generated token to register the payment, indicating the customer ID associated with the card.

<?php
  use MercadoPago\Client\Payment\PaymentClient;


  MercadoPagoConfig::setAccessToken("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN");

  $customer_client = new CustomerClient();
  $cards = $client->list("customer_id");
  
  $client = new PaymentClient();
  $request_options = new RequestOptions();
  $request_options->setCustomHeaders(["X-Idempotency-Key: <SOME_UNIQUE_VALUE>"]);

  $payment = $client->create([
    "transaction_amount" => 100.0,
    "token" => $cards[0]-> token,
    "description" => "My product",
    "installments" => 1,
    "payment_method_id" => "visa",
    "issuer_id" => "123",
    "payer" => [
      "type" => "customer",
      "id" => "1234"
    ]
  ], $request_options);
  echo implode($payment);
?>

const client = new MercadoPagoConfig({ accessToken: 'access_token' });
const customerClient = new Customer(client);

customerClient.listCards({ customerId: '<CUSTOMER_ID>' })
	.then((result) => {

  const payment = new Payment(client);

  const body = {
    transaction_amount: 100,
    token: result[0].token,
    description: 'My product',
    installments: 1,
    payment_method_id: 'visa',
    issuer_id: 123,
    payer: {
      type: 'customer',
      id: '123'
  }
};

  payment.create({ body: body }).then((result) => console.log(result));
});

MercadoPagoConfig.setAccessToken("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN");

PaymentClient client = new PaymentClient();

PaymentCreateRequest request = PaymentCreateRequest.builder()
   .transactionAmount(new BigDecimal("100"))
   .installments(1)
   .token("ff8080814c11e237014c1ff593b57b4d")
   .payer(PaymentPayerRequest.builder()
       .type("customer")
       .id("247711297-jxOV430go9fx2e")
       .build())
   .build();

client.create(request);

require 'mercadopago'

sdk = Mercadopago::SDK.new('ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN')

payment_request = {
  token: 'ff8080814c11e237014c1ff593b57b4d',
  installments: 1,
  transaction_amount: 100,
  payer: {
    type: 'customer',
    id: '123456789-jxOV430go9fx2e'
  }
}
payment_response = sdk.payment.create(payment_request)
payment = payment_response[:response]

using MercadoPago.Config;
using MercadoPago.Client.Payment;
using MercadoPago.Resource.Payment;

MercadoPagoConfig.AccessToken = "ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN";

var request = new PaymentCreateRequest
{
    TransactionAmount = 100,
    Token = "ff8080814c11e237014c1ff593b57b4d",
    Installments = 1,
    Payer = new PaymentPayerRequest
    {
        Type = "customer",
        Email = "test_payer@testuser.com",
    },
};

var client = new PaymentClient();
Payment payment = await client.CreateAsync(request);

import mercadopago
sdk = mercadopago.SDK("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN")

payment_data = {
    "transaction_amount": 100,
    "token": 'ff8080814c11e237014c1ff593b57b4d',
    "installments": 1,
    "payer": {
        "type": "customer",
        "id": "123456789-jxOV430go9fx2e"
    }
}

payment_response = sdk.payment().create(payment_data)
payment = payment_response["response"]

curl --location 'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/payments' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
--data '
{
  "transaction_amount": 100,
  "token": "ff8080814c11e237014c1ff593b57b4d",
  "installments": 1,
  "payer": {
      "type": "customer",
    "id": "123456789-jxOV430go9fx2e"  
  },
  "description": "subscription payment",
    "notification_url": "https://tu-webhoock.com",
    "statement_descriptor": "Your store",
    "external_reference": "49646973",
    "additional_info": {
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "FT9200101024",
                "title": "your product",
                "quantity": 1,
                "unit_price": 100
            }
        ],
        "payer": {
            "phone": {
                "area_code": "54",
                "number": "1234567"
            },
            "first_name": "MARTINEZ",
            "last_name": "GODOY",
            "address": {
                "zip_code": "2804",
                "street_name": "Mendoza",
                "street_number": "125"
            },
            "registration_date": null
        }
    },
    "point_of_interaction": {
        "type": "SUBSCRIPTIONS",
        "transaction_data": {
            
            "subscription_id": "Tu Comercio_4b4ef2f2-c5d6-4c1d-a492-070630bed20a",
            "subscription_sequence": {
                "number": 2,
                "total":10
            },
            "invoice_period": {
                "period": 1,
                "type": "monthly"
            },
            
         "billing_date": "2025-09-16"
          
          
        }
    }
}'

For more information, check the section Cards and customers management in Checkout API. or the section Default rendering in Card Payment Brick.

Update cards

If necessary, it is possible to add new cards to a specific customer. To do this, locate the customer and define the new card details using one of the available codes below.

If it is necessary to delete a card before adding new cards to a customer, send a DELETE to the endpoint /v1/customers/{customer_id}/cards/{id} providing the customer_id and id of the card you want to delete. After the successful execution of the request, you can add the new card.

<?php
  MercadoPagoConfig::setAccessToken("YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN");
  
  $customer_client = new CustomerClient();
  $customer = $customer_client->get("1234");

  $card_client = new CustomerCardClient();
  
  $customer_card = $client->create($customer->id, [
    "token" => "your_card_token",
    "issuer_id" => "2345",
    "payment_method_id" => "debit_card"
  ]);

  echo implode($customer_card);
?>

const client = new MercadoPagoConfig({ accessToken: 'access_token' });
const customerClient = new Customer(client);

const customer = customerClient.get({ customerId: '<CUSTOMER_ID>' })
	.then((result) => {

  const cardClient = new CustomerCard(client);

  const body = {
       token : result.token,
       issuer_id: '2345',
       payment_method: 'debit_card' 
  };

cardClient.create({ customerId: customer, body: body })
.then(console.log).catch(console.log);
});

MercadoPagoConfig.setAccessToken("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN");

CustomerClient customerClient = new CustomerClient();
CustomerCardClient customerCardClient = new CustomerCardClient();

Customer customer = customerClient.get("247711297-jxOV430go9fx2e");

CustomerCardIssuer issuer = CustomerCardIssuer.builder()
   .id("3245612")
   .build();

CustomerCardCreateRequest cardCreateRequest = CustomerCardCreateRequest.builder()
   .token("9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda")
   .issuer(issuer)
   .paymentMethodId("debit_card")
   .build();

customerCardClient.create(customer.getId(), cardCreateRequest);

require 'mercadopago'

sdk = Mercadopago::SDK.new('ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN')

customer_response = sdk.customer.get('247711297-jxOV430go9fx2e')
customer = customer_response[:response]

card_request = {
  token: '9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda',
  issuer_id: '3245612',
  payment_method_id: 'debit_card'
}
card_response = sdk.card.create(customer['id'], card_request)
card = card_response[:response]

puts card

MercadoPagoConfig.AccessToken = "ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN";

var customerClient = new CustomerClient();
Customer customer = await customerClient.GetAsync("247711297-jxOV430go9fx2e");

var cardRequest = new CustomerCardCreateRequest
{
    Token = "9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda",
};
CustomerCard card = await customerClient.CreateCardAsync(customer.Id, cardRequest);

Console.WriteLine(card.Id);

import mercadopago
sdk = mercadopago.SDK("ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN")

customer_response = sdk.customer().get("247711297-jxOV430go9fx2e")
customer = customer_response["response"]

card_data = {
  "token": "9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda",
  "issuer_id": "3245612",
  "payment_method_id": "debit_card"
}
card_response = sdk.card().create(customer["id"], card_data)
card = card_response["response"]

print(card)

curl -X GET \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
  'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/customers/CUSTOMER_ID/cards' \

curl -X POST \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -H 'Authorization: Bearer ENV_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
    'https://api.mercadopago.com/v1/customers/CUSTOMER_ID/cards' \
    -d '{"token": "9b2d63e00d66a8c721607214cedaecda", "issuer": {"id": "3245612"}, "payment_method_id":"debit_card"}'

For more information, check the section Cards and customers management in Checkout API.

Configurar notificações de Card Updater

Configure os alertas para manter sincronizados os dados de cartões salvos, garantindo a continuidade das cobranças.

Recuperar pagamentos recorrentes

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