Pycer Payment Rails & Gateways

A payment rail (gateway) in Pycer is a native switching adapter that executes payment authorizations, processes instant callbacks, and orchestrates refunds and settlements directly on the Pycer network.

Rail categories

Direct Automated RailsReal-time electronic switching. The customer authorizes the payment via an on-device Pycer Express Prompt, 3D-Secure 2.2 card challenge, or instant bank transfer, and Pycer settles the ledger immediately.Examples: Pycer Express Prompt, Pycer Direct PayBill & Till (C2B), Pycer Card Switch, Pycer Inter-Bank Switch, Pycer Dynamic QR.

Manual & Companion-Verified RailsBank deposit, counter cash, or receipt-verified methods. Customers follow on-screen instructions (account reference or QR code), and transactions are verified either automatically via the Pycer Companion App SMS parser or by authorized staff.Examples: Pycer Direct Bank Deposit, Counter Settlement, Invoice Wire Transfer.

How rail routing works

When a customer opens a Pycer checkout session or payment link, Pycer dynamically resolves the eligible rails for that merchant brand:

Load all payment rails marked active for the target brand (merchant_id).
Filter by the payment currency (supportedCurrencies()) or apply automatic currency conversion rules.
Present the brand’s active rails on the white-labeled checkout interface.
Execute authorization and post balanced debit/credit entries to the brand’s double-entry ledger.

Cryptographic credential storage

Rail credentials, signing keys, and merchant shortcodes are never stored in plaintext. When saved in the Pycer Portal, credentials are encrypted using AES-256-GCM derived from the platform’s master encryption key:

// Credentials are encrypted before persistence in op_gateway_configs:
$plaintext = 'sk_live_pycer_rail_secret...';
$encrypted = openssl_encrypt($plaintext, 'aes-256-gcm', $key, 0, $iv, $tag);

Per-brand rail isolation

Each merchant brand independently configures which Pycer rails to activate. Brand A can operate Pycer Express Prompt and Pycer Card Switch in KES and USD, while Brand B operates Pycer Inter-Bank Switch and Pycer Dynamic QR. All credentials, fee rules, and ledger accounts remain strictly isolated by merchant_id.

Built-in Pycer Payment Rails

Pycer Rail	Modality	Settlement Speed
Pycer Express Prompt	Instant on-device mobile PIN authorization	Instant ( $< 1.5\text{s}$ )
Pycer Direct PayBill & Till (C2B)	Real-time customer-to-business bill & till collections	Real-time
Pycer Direct Disbursement (B2C / B2B)	Automated payouts, salaries, and supplier settlements	Instant ( $< 800\text{ms}$ )
Pycer Card Switch	EMV 3D-Secure 2.2 Visa & Mastercard acquiring	Real-time authorization
Pycer Inter-Bank Switch	Instant account-to-account bank transfers	Instant ( $< 1\text{s}$ )
Pycer Dynamic QR	EMVCo-compliant dynamic QR code payments	Sub-second
Pycer Standing Orders	Recurring mandate-based subscriptions & debits	Scheduled
Pycer Companion Verification	Automated mobile receipt matching & verification	Real-time

Pycer Financial Rails Overview — Deep dive into direct switching endpoints
Configure Payment Rails — Step-by-step setup in the Pycer Portal
Currencies & FX — Manage multi-currency rules and exchange rates
Payment Flow — Transaction lifecycle and statuses

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Pycer Payment Rails & Gateways

Rail categories

How rail routing works

Cryptographic credential storage

Per-brand rail isolation

Built-in Pycer Payment Rails

Rail categories

How rail routing works

Cryptographic credential storage

Per-brand rail isolation

Built-in Pycer Payment Rails

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