# Mastercard Community Pass Payment APIs
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/index.md

## Overview {#overview}

The **Mastercard Community Pass Payment (MCPP) APIs** provide a seamless and safe way for external financial institutions to validate customer details before accepting a payment and to update Mastercard Community Pass applications on the payment status. MCPP APIs are comprised of 3 APIs; Validation, Notification, and Callback APIs.

### Who are the MCPP APIs designed for? {#who-are-the-mcpp-apis-designed-for}

MCPP APIs are built for developers and designed with consumer experience in mind. They serve businesses aiming to enhance payment experiences, as well as prepaid ecosystem providers looking to expand to new verticals and geographies:

* **Businesses:** Enables businesses without expertise in payments to build a seamless payments experience for their customers
* **Ecosystem Partners:** Enables program managers and processors to easily expand to new markets and verticals, while simultaneously providing an exceptional developer experience

## How It Works {#how-it-works}

The diagram below illustrates a representative transaction using the MCPP APIs.

![How It Works](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/community-pass-payment-apis/uploads/how-it-works3.png "How It Works")

### MCPP APIs Workflow: {#mcpp-apis-workflow}

1. An end-user initiates a payment with the financial institution. For example, a parent initiates a school fee payment.
2. The financial institution, prior to accepting the payment, validates the customer information from Mastercard Community Pass Applications, using the Validations API of MCPP APIs.
3. After customer information is validated, the financial institution accepts the payment and calls the Notifications API of MCPP APIs to inform Mastercard about the customer's payment.
4. The payment information pertaining to the transaction is updated in the relevant Mastercard application (e.g. MFN/Kupaa). The Mastercard application initiates a payment request to be processed by the payment provider.
5. The payment provider processes the payment and calls the Callbacks API of MCPP APIs to inform Mastercard about the payment status. MCPP API sends a response back to the Payment Provider and calls the relevant Mastercard application (e.g MFN/Kupaa).

## Good To Know {#good-to-know}

* See [Use Cases](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/use-cases/index.md) section to understand how each API works.
* When you are ready to use the APIs, refer to the [API Basics](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/api-basics/index.md) page for API authentication, encryption and environment details.
* Use the [API Reference](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/api-reference/index.md) section for details on environmental domains for each APIs.
* Try out our [Tutorials and Guides](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/api-tutorials/index.md) to understand how to get Sandbox credentials, build an end-to-end application and access to the Production environment.
* We have created a [Reference Application](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/reference_app/index.md) to get you started.
* For error code values and description, HTTP response codes and Business Rule errors per API, see [Codes and Formats](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/code-and-formats/index.md) page.
* For FAQs, visit [Support](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/support/index.md) page.

## Next Steps {#next-steps}

To learn more about the MCPP APIs, refer to [Getting Started](https://developer.mastercard.com/community-pass-payment-apis/documentation/getting-started/index.md) section.