Two Engagement Models

Every cross-border transaction is ultimately paid out through the Mastercard network, which settles against a pre-funded settlement account. What differs between the two models is who is in the flow of funds and who maintains that settlement account:

Both models use the same integration surface — the embedded experience, the Global Cash Management APIs, and the admin dashboard described in the companion guides. The difference is purely in how funds are sourced and settled.

Model 1: VoPay as Technical Integrator

In this model, you are typically a financial institution or fintech with your own ledger — a credit union, a neo-bank, or a platform whose senders already hold accounts and balances with you. VoPay supplies the cross-border capability via API or the embedded iframe, but never touches the money.

Where the Money Moves

flowchart LR
    S["Sender<br/>(account holder on<br/>your platform)"] --> P["Your platform<br/>(debits the sender's account<br/>on your ledger)"]
    P --> M["Your Mastercard<br/>settlement account<br/>(pre-funded by you)"]
    M --> R["Recipient<br/>(paid out via local rails —<br/>bank, wallet, or cash pickup)"]

VoPay orchestrates the transaction and carries payment instructions to Mastercard, but sits outside this chain entirely.

Transaction Lifecycle

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant S as Sender
    participant P as Your platform
    participant V as VoPay
    participant M as Mastercard
    participant R as Recipient

    S->>P: Initiates a cross-border transfer<br/>(embedded iframe or your app)
    P->>V: Transaction request (API / iframe)
    V->>P: Live balance check against your endpoint
    P-->>V: Available balance confirmed
    opt Manual review enabled
        V-->>P: Webhook — transaction pending confirmation
        P->>V: Confirm (or cancel)
    end
    V->>M: Payment instruction
    M->>M: Debits your pre-funded settlement account
    M->>R: Pays out via local rails
    V-->>P: Status webhooks until completion

1. The sender initiates a transfer through the embedded iframe or your own application. Because the sender's funds live in their account on your platform, the transaction is funded from your side, not from a VoPay balance.
2. VoPay checks the sender's balance against the live balance endpoint you host (see the Integration Guide) before allowing the transaction to proceed — this is precisely why the balance endpoint exists in this model.
3. You optionally review the transaction. With Manual Review enabled, VoPay holds the transaction and notifies you by webhook; you run your own checks and confirm or cancel.
4. VoPay sends the payment instruction to Mastercard once the transaction is submitted and confirmed.
5. Mastercard debits your pre-funded settlement account — a bank account established on your behalf under your agreement with Mastercard — and pays the recipient through local rails.

Your Responsibilities

• Mastercard agreement. This model requires a direct agreement between you and Mastercard, under which the pre-funded settlement account is established on your behalf.
• Settlement account funding. You must ensure the Mastercard settlement account always holds sufficient funds — payouts are debited from it as transactions process.
• Sender funds management. Debiting the sender's account and managing your internal ledger is entirely on your side; VoPay only verifies available balance via your endpoint.

Model 2: VoPay as Reseller

In this model, VoPay is in the flow of funds and maintains the pre-funded Mastercard settlement account itself — no direct Mastercard agreement is needed on your side. Transactions are funded from a VoPay account balance. You can use this model directly (sending funds for your own business purposes) or resell the capability to your end users.

Where the Money Moves

flowchart LR
    S["Sender funds<br/>(VoPay balance, or funded<br/>per transaction — EFT,<br/>Interac, card…)"] --> V["VoPay account<br/>(holds the balance;<br/>debited per transaction)"]
    V --> M["Mastercard<br/>settlement account<br/>(pre-funded by VoPay)"]
    M --> R["Recipient<br/>(paid out via local rails —<br/>bank, wallet, or cash pickup)"]

VoPay holds the funds and settles with Mastercard on your behalf.

Two Ways to Fund a Transaction

Transaction Lifecycle

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    participant S as Sender<br/>(you or your end user)
    participant V as VoPay
    participant M as Mastercard
    participant R as Recipient

    S->>V: Requests a quote — FX rate held for a limited window
    alt Funded from VoPay balance
        V->>V: Debits your VoPay account
    else Fund on demand
        V->>S: Initiates funding (EFT / Interac / credit card)
        S-->>V: Funds settle into your VoPay account
        note over V: If the rate window lapses before settlement,<br/>a fresh FX quote is fetched at commit
    end
    V->>M: Payment instruction — VoPay settles with Mastercard
    M->>M: Debits VoPay's pre-funded settlement account
    M->>R: Pays out via local rails
    V-->>S: Status webhooks until completion

FX Rates and Funding Timing

A quote locks an FX rate for a limited window. How funding interacts with that window matters:

• Balance-funded transactions commit immediately, so the quoted rate is the rate applied.
• Funded-on-demand transactions depend on settlement speed. Fast rails (e.g. Interac, card) typically settle within the rate window; slower rails (e.g. standard EFT) may not. If funds settle after the rate window has lapsed, a fresh FX quote is fetched before the transaction is committed — the final rate may differ from the original quote.

📘

Rate certainty

If rate certainty matters to your use case, pre-fund your VoPay balance or fund via a fast-settling method so the transaction commits within the quoted window.

Direct Use vs. Reselling

• Direct use — you send funds for your own purposes: paying international suppliers, payroll, or moving your own money across borders.
• Reselling — you offer cross-border payments to your own end users, funding transactions through your VoPay account while VoPay handles FX, settlement, and payout behind the scenes.

Choosing a Model

Your VoPay integration contact can help determine which model fits your business, and walk through the commercial and onboarding requirements for each.