eFaktura

eFaktura is a Norwegian eInvoicing solution providing consumers with an electronic invoice directly within their online banking system. It is provided by Master Card Payment Services.

Unlike many of the other recurring payment systems, there is no automatic payment, the consumer still has to accept the Invoice, but doing so is almost trivial.

Consignment or Mandate Registration

The terminology has historically been a bit confusing, but similar to AvtaleGiro an organization needs a consignment or agreement or mandate from the Subscriber to send him/her an efaktura Invoice. eFaktura registration is an “out-of-band” process where the subscriber accepts eFaktura in general (not for the specific organization). Then it is up to the Organization to determine if the subscriber should have eFaktura or not.

INFO-Subscription implements eFaktura with the following process

  1. The subscriber registers for eFaktura 2.0 in their online bank (or a similar location).

  2. An eFaktura Search is done on a regular basis by INFO-Subscription.

  3. New agreements are created (if not blocked).

  4. Cancelled/Blocked agreements are removed.

  5. Running subscriptions are automatically switched to new eFaktura agreements.

  6. Recurring payments are invoiced using the new agreements.

Since all of this is “out-of-band”, there is little developer integration here.

The requirements is that an account is setup for eFaktura, INFO-Subscription automatically takes care of the rest.

The following sequence diagram illustrates the mandate registration and first invoice generation process:

        %%{init: { 'sequence': { 'mirrorActors': false } } }%%
sequenceDiagram
   actor Subscriber
   participant OnlineBank
   participant INFO-Subscription
   participant MastercardPaymentServices

   Note over Subscriber,OnlineBank: Registration Phase
   Subscriber->>OnlineBank: Register for eFaktura 2.0
   activate OnlineBank
   OnlineBank->>MastercardPaymentServices: Register eFaktura consent
   MastercardPaymentServices-->>OnlineBank: Consent registered
   OnlineBank-->>Subscriber: eFaktura 2.0 activated
   deactivate OnlineBank

   Note over INFO-Subscription,MastercardPaymentServices: Agreement Discovery
   loop Periodic Search
       INFO-Subscription->>MastercardPaymentServices: Search for eFaktura agreements
       activate MastercardPaymentServices
       MastercardPaymentServices-->>INFO-Subscription: Return available agreements
       deactivate MastercardPaymentServices
       INFO-Subscription->>INFO-Subscription: Create new agreements (if not blocked)
       INFO-Subscription->>INFO-Subscription: Switch running subscriptions to eFaktura
   end

   Note over INFO-Subscription,Subscriber: Invoice Generation
   INFO-Subscription->>INFO-Subscription: Generate invoice for subscription
   INFO-Subscription->>MastercardPaymentServices: Submit eFaktura invoice
   activate MastercardPaymentServices
   MastercardPaymentServices->>OnlineBank: Deliver eFaktura invoice
   deactivate MastercardPaymentServices
   OnlineBank->>Subscriber: eFaktura invoice available
   Subscriber->>OnlineBank: Review and accept invoice
   OnlineBank->>Subscriber: Payment confirmed

Combining with AvtaleGiro

Technically it is possible to combine eFaktura and AvtaleGiro into a common request, one that provides a visual representation of the Invoice (eFaktura), and one that takes care of the automated payment (AvtaleGiro). At the current time of writing this is not provided by INFO-Subscription.

Cancelling Agreements

At any point in time, the consumer may block the issuer thus cancelling the agreement, in which case an alternate means should be used to get the payment.

INFO-Subscription manages this scenario by:

  • Disabling the agreement once a cancellation is discovered (regular scanning)

  • Disabling the payment agreement and reverting to the default agreement (Invoice).

  • Generating reminders on Invoice since no payment are going to be received with eFaktura.