# Use Cases
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/index.md

Commercial Event Notifications empowers businesses with real-time insights into virtual card (VCN) activity. By subscribing to notifications, you can gain valuable information whenever a VCN issued through your Mastercard program is presented for payment. This translates into several key benefits:

* **Enhanced Security:** Receive immediate alerts for suspicious VCN activity, allowing for prompt intervention and potential fraud prevention.
* **Improved Visibility:** Gain a clear picture of VCN usage patterns, enabling better program management and spend optimization.
* **Streamlined Reconciliation:** Simplify reconciliation processes by having real-time transaction data readily available.
* **Automated Workflows:** Trigger automated actions based on specific VCN events, streamlining workflows, and reducing manual tasks.
* **Eliminate Polling:** Say goodbye to the need for repeated polling of the ICCP reporting APIs by subscribing to Event Notifications for real-time updates resulting in saving time, boosting efficiency, and reducing infrastructure costs.

## Customer use cases {#customer-use-cases}

The Commercial Event Notifications API supports the following use cases:

### Create and manage your event subscriptions on your VCNs: {#create-and-manage-your-event-subscriptions-on-your-vcns}

[Determine filter criteria](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/determine_fields/index.md) to retrieve the set of fields on which subscription can be created.

[Create Subscription](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/create_subscription/index.md) to customize the types of notifications you receive from Commercial Event Notifications.

[Get Subscription Details](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/get_details/index.md) to retrieve details of all your subscriptions or of an individual subscription.

[Update Subscription](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/update_subscription/index.md) to change your existing subscription to add or remove event types as needed.

[Cancel Subscription](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/cancel_subscription/index.md) to delete unwanted subscriptions to streamline your notification flow.

### Request notifications for a specific time range: {#request-notifications-for-a-specific-time-range}

[Request Notifications](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/request_notifications/index.md) to tailor your notifications to your specific needs. This use case allows you to request notifications for transactions that occurred within a defined time frame. This is useful for:

* Reconciling specific periods: Focus on transactions for a particular accounting period.
* Investigating a specific timeframe: Drill down into virtual card activity for a defined window.

### Receive authorization notifications on your VCNs: {#receive-authorization-notifications-on-your-vcns}

[Receive Notifications](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/receive_notifications/index.md) to stay informed about virtual card activity with near-real time notifications. You will receive an alert whenever your virtual card receives an authorization for a transaction. This allows you to:

* Monitor spending: Track virtual card usage as it happens.
* Reconcile transactions: Simplify reconciliation by having a real-time record of authorized transactions.

### Receive clearing notifications on your VCNs: {#receive-clearing-notifications-on-your-vcns}

[Receive Notifications](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/receive_notifications/index.md) to gain further insight into virtual card transactions with near-real time clearing notifications. You will be notified when a transaction on a virtual card is cleared. This allows you to:

* Track completed transactions: Confirm when a virtual card purchase has been cleared.
* Update accounting records: Accurately reflect cleared transactions in your accounting system.
* Improve cash flow management: Track refunds and reversals and so on

### Receive notifications for token events on your VCNs: {#receive-notifications-for-token-events-on-your-vcns}

[Receive Notifications](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/use_cases/receive_notifications/index.md) to receive near-real time notifications when a token is created, updated, and deleted for your tokenized virtual cards.

* Track token information at different stages during the token provisioning flow.
* Track token information at different stages during the token lifecycle flow.

## Commercial event notifications API user journey {#commercial-event-notifications-api-user-journey}

A Commercial Event Notifications user can define what virtual card transactions you care about. You request supported filter categories (fieldmappings), create a subscription specifying those categories and desired conditions, and receive real-time notifications only for matching transactions.

Please refer to the sequence flow representing the API user journey outlined in the [Overview](https://developer.mastercard.com/commercial-event-notifications/documentation/index.md) section.