# Use Cases
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/use-cases/index.md

The Ethoca Alerts for Merchants API consists of two services: the **Push API** and the **Outcome API**.

The [Push API](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/use-cases/index.md#push-api) is an outbound service in which you expose a RESTful web service that can receive an HTTPS POST request. You also register your webhook endpoint when you onboard to the Alerts platform. This lets us pass on to you an alert that we receive from an issuer.

Our [Outcome API](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/use-cases/index.md#outcome-api) is a traditional API (inbound calls) that lets you send the outcome of an alert to us, which we then pass on to the issuer to help avoid a chargeback.

Here is the overall flow for Ethoca Alerts for Merchants:

* You, the merchant or merchant partner, expose a RESTful web service that can receive an HTTPS post. You onboard to the Alerts platform and register your webhook endpoint.
* An issuer sends an alert about a problem transaction to the Alerts platform.
* We process and match the alert, and then push it to your registered endpoint.
* You send an acknowledgement response to us with the status of "success" and we pass that on to the issuer.
* You then send the outcome of the alert through the Alerts for Merchants Outcome API, which we send to the issuer.
* We also send an acknowledgement back to you that the outcome was received and that the alert was successfully updated with the outcome.

Diagram how-it-works

The following sections show the specific flow for each individual service.

### Push API {#push-api}

* An issuer sends an alert about a problem transaction to the Alerts platform.
* We process and match the alert, and then push it to your registered endpoint.
* You send an acknowledgement response to us with the status of "success" and we pass that information on to the issuer.

Diagram how-it-works-push

Check out these other articles for guidance on interacting with the Alerts for Merchants Push API:

* [Push API Reference](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/api-reference/push-api-ref/index.md) provides details about the fields and values that correspond to the Alerts for Merchants Push API.
* [Code and Formats](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/code-and-formats/index.md) shows you how specific errors are handled for the Push API.

### Outcome API {#outcome-api}

* For every successfully matched alert you receive through your Push API, you send the outcome of the alert to us through the Alerts for Merchants Outcome API.
* We send an acknowledgement response back to you that the outcome was received and that the alert was successfully updated with the outcome.
* We then pass the outcome on to the issuer to help avoid a chargeback.

Diagram how-it-works-outcome

The following articles provide guidance for interacting with the Alerts for Merchants Outcome API:

* [Outcome API Reference](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/api-reference/outcome-api-ref/index.md) gives you details about the fields and values relevant to the Alerts for Merchants Outcome API.
* [Code and Formats](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/code-and-formats/index.md) provides detailed information about error response handling for the Outcome API.

## Next Steps {#next-steps}

* Look over our [Tutorials and Guides](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/tutorials-and-guides/index.md) for assistance in setting up your project and running tests in a sandbox environment.
* [Testing](https://developer.mastercard.com/ethoca-alerts-for-merchants/documentation/testing/index.md) provides test case data that shows the responses you can expect to receive from some example requests sent to the Alerts for Merchants API.