PayPal initial payment fails but profile created anyway - paypal

This is driving me nuts, We're using PayPal Pro, REST API for billing agreements and we charge our users a fee per month in our Laravel app.
We have set: "initial_fail_amount_action": "CANCEL" but when the payment fails it still creates the profile and as a result my users are sent an invoice.
Practically any card number with the wrong details seems to be enough to activate the profiles.
This is in Live mode, I can search the web for a dummy credit card number, use any name and location and that is enough to trigger the "sale".
I've searched everywhere for a straight answer but can't get one. I hope someone can help

Related

Unable to add a credit/debit card for billing account on Firebase

Sorry if this is not the correct place to put up this question, but I'm unable to find an answer anywhere else.
Here's the problem.
I need to upgrade a client's account on Firebase from Spark plan to Blaze plan (pay as you go plan).
To do that I need to add a credit/debit card as a payment method to their account (billing account).
We have tried 3-4 different credit/debit cards but have failed.
I tried getting help from the help center but was not able to find it there.
At this link - https://console.cloud.google.com/support/chat - I tried to chat with someone to get help but here's what I got -
I am not the administrator on any billing account - Because I am unable to add a credit/debit card to create a billing account, hence I am not eligible for any help
I cannot get help on Phone because "You do not currently have access to technical phone support"
I am really frustrated by this, I have tried multiple cards, even borrowing other people's credit cards.
I am unable to find help from Google! Community support is the last option left! I just want to know what the issue is with my credit card? Why am I not able to add it as a payment method?
It was not registered for international payments initially, but I got that changed. I do not have any other ideas.
I really hope you guys can help me out.
UPDATE 1:
You must create a billing account first before you can add a card/payment options. Information about it can be found here: https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/manage-billing-account
I followed this link, this is something I've tried and this is the step where I am stuck.
Step 1: Identity verification - I am able to successfully complete this step by verifying mobile number and continuing.
Step 2: Verify payment method - this is the step I am stuck at. I have tried adding different cards, as mentioned above, and have faced different issues with different cards. One card did not have international payments enabled, I got that enabled but even then it doesn't work. It does not show any error. It proceeds to the bank's website for two step verification process, I enter the 'One Time Password" for the payment, the payment goes through and it comes back to the same "Payment Information Verification" page.
Screenshots attached below for more info
You must create a billing account first before you can add a card/payment options.
Information about it can be found here: https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/manage-billing-account
Instructions for creating a payment profile is here: https://support.google.com/paymentscenter/answer/9028746?ref_topic=9017383
It is important to set yourself up as the appropriate individual or business type.
Once that is done, you can link it to your account and your client's project if you have the permissions to do so.
Update
Google Support
It is advised to create a new Google Cloud Account through this link provided https://cloud.google.com/
Additional
Failing this, you can use the troubleshooter to find the appropriate contact support HERE
Inputting your issues has lead to a possible suspension on your account which suggests filing a ticket, available here: https://support.google.com/cloud/contact/cloud_platform_suspensions
SOLVED!!
Problem -> Since recurring payments are blocked, we cannot add cards and create billing account. And since I didn't have any billing account, I was not allowed the chat support. When I mailed regarding the same, received reply after 2-3 days stating that we look for some other payment methods(which do not exist as of now if you are in INDIA).
Solution -> Connect with some friend outside India where recurring payments are enabled(for eg. USA, singapore).
Ask them to login firebase from their laptop(do not use their card in India), add billing account and then google will put account on hold for 24-48hrs. go to cards -> add a backup card (India card) -> make it primary card and BOOOOM!!. In probably 24 hrs you can make payments from Indian credit/Debit card. Thank me Later!!

How to test a production Paypal button?

I have a simple Paypal payment button:
on production of my e-commerce website. It works. Many customers have already bought items with it.
But now I'd like to see exactly the payment workflow from a buyer's point of view, from the start, until payment successful + IPN mail + auto-redirect to payment-success page, etc.
Paypal sandboxing seems incredibly complex, one has to create a Developer account, then 2 sandbox accounts, a facilitator (?), a buyer one, etc.
It also seems that Paypal duplicates the real content, into a virtual sandbox button, etc. This is really complex.
All I want is to try my already-working production PayPal-button with a single sandbox buyer account. How to do that?
Is there a way to test a production Paypal button with a sandbox account (with, say, 10000€), and to proceed to the payment like would do a real customer?
... instead of having to create 3 accounts (Developer + Buyer SandBox account + Seller SandBox account)
PS: I've read many docs about sandboxing in Paypal docs, but they have very old docs (deprecated), some old docs, some new docs, some very new docs, + some of them in French with different content to English version, etc. I'm totally lost!
Actually you can test payment buttons I'm testing one of those right now.
At first it seems more complex that it needs to be, but all you need to know is that the sandbox system is a different enviroment, so the only way to test a sandbox payment button is a sanbox account.
Go to your developer dashboard, create 2 accounts, 1 for the seller (pick merchant account when creating this one), 1 for the buyer.
Log in to sandbox.paypal.com with the seller, create the button as you already did, set the ipn and all you need. Place the button in your site, now test your new button and when paying log in with the buyer (sandbox account) you previously created.
There's no way to test environment for paypal buttons. I sent a few messages to them asking the same thing. The only way to test that is get int touch with them through your account and tell your test user, then they won't charge you.
Here's a translation I received a few weeks ago:
In this case, the Sandbox environment does not allow payment on PayPal
buttons because there is no sandbox system for buttons, only for email
integration or PayPal account API.
In this case we recommend that we send a URL of the buttons or even
your site already with the buttons registered.
That way any analyst can do the actual payment test for you.
Our test balance is only R $ 50,00 reais, so the buttons can not
exceed this value with product price and freight.

Charge Paypal users without letting them enter their password again

We want to offer payments using paypal within our web-app concept. A few days ago i took my first ride using uber in Germany. They provide to add paypal as payment method and after every ride i just can pay using paypal without entering my credentials again.
How to implement a payment process like this?
We want our users to add paypal as payment method and then - X days aftersignup (eg. when we found the right product for him) we want to start the subscription.
The thing is that these X days varies from user to user so we cant use a billing agreement with a fixed start date and due to the fact its a subscription model we cant use just a single payment authorization.
I found the solution: Paypal calls this feature "Adaptive Payments". You can read it here: Adaptive Payments API Reference

Paypal keeps on asking to create new account when paying using credit card

Is this the real behavior of Paypal. I am using the Paypal REST api (payment api's), and it is working fine and customers can use it. The only problem is when a new customer (one that has not visited paypal.com once) tries to buy our product, paypal seems to require him to create an account.
Here's the procedure:
First time to visit paypal.com (meaning no cookies / not cached or anything).
Customer Buy Product (Our website creates the payment transaction then redirects him to paypal.com)
Customer click Pay with my credit or debit card (He does not want to create a paypal account).
The country set is Philippines (I think paypal detects this so it is initially set to where I am) and I can proceed paying with my credit card
I tried changing the country to somewhere else
Here's comes the problem, on some countries, I am shown a different form, a form for creating a new account in Paypal.
Hope you understand what I am saying. Thanks.
It’s important to remember that guest checkout is not guaranteed for every transaction. PayPal runs a risk check to determine eligibility for guest checkout. There will be times when guest checkout is not available. This is intended. Here are a few things to make sure guest checkout is offered as often as possible.
-Verified PayPal account
-Confirmed email address
-Guest Checkout enabled - To see this, log in, go to Profile and click 'My selling preferences', click on Update next to Website preferences - scroll down the screen and find "PayPal Account Optional" section - you can enable/disable PayPal Account optional here.
-With Express Checkout their cart must pass “SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole”
Unfortunately, there are few parameters which are still incompatible with REST API including SOLUTIONTYPE which works only in Classic API.
If all of these are met and it’s not available then our system has decided to disable the guest checkout option for risk reasons. This is not a permanent decision and it will be available in the future.

PayPal Web Payment Standard: forcing PayPal account creation now?

Had a nice little custom button with a few parameters I was POSTing to PayPal (and getting POSTed back via IPN) a few years ago working fine. Payments were disabled for several years, but now my client wants to resume subscriptions with their new campaign.
I switched back to the sandbox hostname/merchant accounts, did a sandbox transaction with a test Visa card, and all was well.
Switched it to the live hostname/merchant account, went to do another test with a real Visa, but noticed that not only has the real PayPal site been completely rebranded/redesigned, they now seem to be forcing you to create a PayPal account: on the sandbox, there's a blurb with a link that says "continue" which takes you right to the credit card/billing information (this is identical to what the live PayPal site used to look like a few years ago).
NOTE: The merchant account has changed; I'm not sure if that matters or not and/or if there's any settings in there I need to change.
Question: is this the way it is now with PayPal? I can't seem to find any official information that says yes/no. Besides the Express, is there any other IPN method that'll work here or is this a policy thing at PayPal? I'd hate to rewrite my working/tested code, but this isn't going to fly with my client.
Yahel's answer is incorrect: I called PayPal, and they explained that the following conditions must be met in order to accept non-PayPal payments:
The business email address must be confirmed. You can check by going to Profile > Email.
PayPal Account Optional must be checked:
Go to www.paypal.com.au and log in to your Business account.
Click 'Profile icon' near the top right of the page (next to "Log out" button)
Click "Profile & settings"
Click ‘My selling tools.’
Click ‘Update' beside 'Website preferences.’
Select 'On' under 'PayPal Account Optional' near the bottom of the page.
Click 'Save.'
Yes paypal has been forcing users to create an account for a long time now. Before that you could use a credit card up to 10 times and then it would force you to create an account anyway.
The reason you are seeing the old branding in your sandbox is probably because it is you old sandbox on an old paypal server.
Last I tried there was no way around this new policy.
But djechelon is right, they have an excellent customer service, give them a call.
PayPal does force people to create accounts, even when they want to just make a single payment. I was puzzled by this situation too: I was choosing the option to pay without a PayPal account, but still was forced to provide all the private details enough for PayPal to create an account for me against my wishes. Very sneaky of PayPal! Then I found this page and that explained a lot.
This is the message I received in my PayPal Account:
PayPal Account Optional
When this feature is turned on, your customers will go through an optimized checkout experience. This feature is available for Buy Now, Donations, and Shopping Cart buttons, but not for Subscription buttons.
So you cannot provide a regular "Subscribe" experience to non-PayPal customers. I believe you must pay the $19.99 a month "Enhanced Subscription" for this.
PayPal Has a Purchasing Limit of $3,000 for "Guests".
I ran into this issue as well and #gravyface was bang on with setting your account preferences. However, my customers were still having issues paying without a PayPal account.
I called PayPal and it turns out they have a $3,000 (cumulative) purchasing limit for "guests". My customer's invoice was for $7,000 so even though my preferences were set to make the PayPal account optional, it still would not go through.
Hope that helps others.
JP