No-PIN payment

Background

For physical cards, requiring PIN input for every transaction ensures strong security, but it can also degrade user experience—especially for frequent small-value transactions. Conversely, completely bypassing PIN verification increases the risk of unauthorized use. To balance security and convenience, UQPAY allows cardholders to define a threshold amount under which transactions can be processed without requiring PIN verification.

This functionality is particularly relevant in contactless payment scenarios, where users expect fast and seamless payments. By default, transactions under 200 SGD are allowed without checking the user’s custom PIN-free setting, ensuring out-of-box usability while still allowing further customization.

Purpose

The no_pin_payment_amount parameter provides issuers and cardholders with the ability to configure a PIN-free transaction limit for physical cards. It improves the in-store user experience by enabling password free payments for small purchases, while also ensuring higher-value transactions are securely verified with a PIN.

When set to zero (0), the cardholder effectively disables all PIN-free transactions, enforcing credential verification for every payment regardless of the amount.

Applicable only to cards with the following BINs:
- Production: 49372410
- Sandbox: 40963608

Usage

Required: Optional
Type: Integer, representing the allowable amount for card transactions without PIN verification in the card's currency
Behavior:
- If omitted during activation, the system defaults to 200 SGD
- If set to 0, all transactions will require PIN verification
- If set, the value must be within the supported range per currency
Supported ranges:
- USD: 0 – 2000
- SGD: 0 – 2600
Applicable only to cards with the following BINs:
- Production: 49372410
- Sandbox: 40963608

Example

Update Card
POST /api/v1/issuing/cards/{id}

{
  "no_pin_payment_amount": 1000
}

Tips

This setting only applies to supported physical cards.
For transactions ≤ 200 SGD with no custom setting provided, the system automatically approves them without requiring PIN input.
For transactions > 200 SGD, the system will compare the transaction amount with the no_pin_payment_amount limit to decide whether PIN verification is needed.
If a card has no PIN set and no PIN-free limit configured, high-value transactions may fail due to missing authentication credentials.
Setting a PIN is mandatory during card activation.

No-PIN Transaction Logic

UQPAY supports configurable no-PIN transaction limits for physical cards, allowing certain low-value purchases to proceed without requiring the cardholder to enter a PIN. This behavior depends on several key factors:

Whether the card has a PIN configured
Whether a custom NO-PIN limit (no_pin_payment_amount) has been set
The transaction amount

The following table summarizes the expected outcomes under various conditions.

Default NO-PIN limit is 200 SGD if not configured.

Has PIN	No-PIN Limit Configured	Transaction Amount	Authorization Result	Remarks
✅ Yes	❌ No	≤ 200 SGD	✅ Approved without PIN or with correct PIN	Incorrect PIN ➜ ❌ Declined
✅ Yes	❌ No	`>`200 SGD	PIN required. Only correct PIN will succeed	Missing or incorrect PIN ➜ ❌ Declined
✅ Yes	✅ Yes (e.g. 500 SGD)	≤ Custom Limit	✅ Approved without PIN or with correct PIN	Incorrect PIN ➜ ❌ Declined
✅ Yes	✅ Yes (e.g. 500 SGD)	`>`Custom Limit	PIN required. Only correct PIN will succeed	Missing or incorrect PIN ➜ ❌ Declined