I currently have a system in place utilizing the Express Checkout SOAP API to complete a customer's e-commerce checkout. Imagine a subscription service. I provide the option of a one-time purchase via DoExpressCheckoutPayment as well as the option to conduct application-triggered monthly payments via DoReferenceTransactionRequest (I wanted more control which is why I did not go the route of CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile). Now I would like to allow guest checkout, while also maintaining the ability to perform monthly payments.
In testing I:
Verified that guest checkout was allowed in the PayPal account UI
Set SolutionType = Sole
Set LandingPage = Billing
But I was unsuccessful in getting the guest checkout option.
HOWEVER, I noticed that by changing BillingCodeType from MERCHANTINITIATEDBILLING to NONE solved my issue. But if I changed the billing code type to none and checked out as a guest, the future monthly payments would fail due to not having a billing agreement.
I haven't found an obvious answer to my exact question but based on bits of documentation that I've found it's seeming like the billing agreement is required. Is that correct?
Related
We are using the adaptive payment API to setup a payment between 2 of our users. The receiver user has a paypal account, the source (the one who pays) doesn't. We don't use any chained or parallel payments just simple tranffer from A to B.
We'd like to allow the source to pay with credit/debit card. The problem is that in some cases its allowed, and in some it isn't.
We found this document about the subject but it looks outdated, since in the limitations section it says:
Cannot be made to a personal or un-registered PayPal account
I have a personal account and it works with that but with my colleague's personal account (different country) it doesn't.
Not available if the API caller passes an email address in the request
envelope.
This is very vague. Pass where? We use the email address in the pay request but it works in some cases.
Could anyone give some up-to-date info about this subject?
Guest payments are only made available to certain countries no matter which PayPal product you are using (PayPal Payments Standard, PayPal Express Checkout, Adaptive Payments). So if a buyer is in a country that requires a PayPal account, then they will only see the option to "Login to PayPal" or "Create Account" when they land of the PayPal checkout page. Unfortunately there is not a list of countires in our documentation to show which countries allow guest payments and which don't.
Here are my findings together with PP_MSI_Colin's answer:
Documentations
Guest payment - integration guide (UI is different now)
Guest payment - adaptive payment
Account optional settings
Requirements
Upgrade to business or premium account.
Make sure the email address is verified.
Make sure that on this settings page the Paypal account optional setting is ON.
Limitations, exceptions
In EU, this option is limited to 10 payments/card
In some countries (tested in Hungary) a personal account can also receive guest payments.
In some countries it is always disabled. No official list found.
Logic
Even if it is enabled for a user, it is up to Paypal if they show it or not. Where its enabled it also depends on the paying user. If Paypal finds (from cookies, etc) that the user has a paypal account they don't show credit card option. To test it try to pay in an incognito window. PayPal’s fraud prevention measures can also cause the guest checkout to not be displayed in certain scenarios
Limitations for making guest payments via PayPal adaptive payments are documented here:
Guest payments cannot be made to a personal or un-registered PayPal account
I've had an NVP integration running for a year, and it's been great.
However, PayPal have now changed the page my customers see and the new style forces a user to create an account.
My customers are older people and don't want to sign up for an account. Previously they didn't have to
Is there anything I can do to make this optional again?
Thanks
It's important to remember that Guest Checkout feature for Website Payment Standard and Express Checkout is not guaranteed for every transaction.
To control the risk for merchant, PayPal may close the guest checkout function for some special countries or districts buyers and the buyer will be asked to create a PayPal account.
If possible, please consider using the PayPal Payment PRO product line, where merchants can accept Credit Card directly within their own website.
I'm using the PayPal express checkout in a mobile website. When a user uses the credit card payment and has entered the credit card information, the billing info page is opened. On this page there is a form: "Create a Personal Account (required)". Why is the PayPal signup required with a credit card payment?
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
With Express Checkout your cart must pass "SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole"
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.
Express Checkout was never intended to function as a sole solution for merchants. It was meant specifically to process PayPal payments.
We are a UK-based marketplace site that wants to never force buyers to sign up for paypal. We allow users to set up customized stores through our site, and our second requirement is that these users be able to become sellers with only a basic paypal account. When a buyer makes a purchase, we are the primary receiver, taking 15% and passing on the entire paypal fees to the secondary receiver (user), as well as all the remainder of the transaction. My question is: What's the best solution paypal offers for this? It seems that chained payments would be, but if I understand correctly the Website Payments Pro system is the only one that guarantees that buyers outside the UK wouldn't need a paypal account. Is there a way to take the money in ourselves with Website Payments Pro and use the API so it transfers the 85% (minus the fees) to the user's paypal account?
It depends on what approach you want to take.
I would prefer Chained Payments as it allows guest checkout (credit card payments outside a PayPal account) with certain restrictions and will easily allow the user to receive the funds and automatically forwards the 15% cut to your account. This removes the need to collect funds outside of the payment flow. This means no invoicing or no lost dues!
Website Payments Pro only offers credit card payments however you would also need to offer Express Checkout for PayPal payments as well. You also have the flexibility of hosting the order form so you control what the users see. The downside is you'd have to collect funds from the user outside the payments. Such as monthly invoicing, billing agreements or manual processing.
Here is the criteria we use to allow guest checkout. Please keep in mind these are due to rules and regulations, not PayPal's choosing.
The credit card has a lifetime limit of 10 purchases outside a PayPal account
The user's email address must not be attached to an existing PayPal account
I don't have a direct answer for you but hopefully this helps make your decision.
I am looking to set up a recurring payment option for my website. I was thinking of going with PayFlow since it does not require expensive SSL. But I am not sure how to set up a recurrence payment where if the user decides to change the account type, we can automatically set up recurring payment for them to get charged next month. Not sure if this is possible?
A few problems, they charge almost $60/month and they require to have a Merchant Account (any suggestions)?
Can some one help with what type of service should I use? I am looking to not have credit card acceptance on my webpage because SSL is really expensive.
The webpage is in php.
PayPal Express Checkout does this, and more. While Payflow Link is generally a good and robust solution, Express Checkout has a bit more to offers in terms of features. It also redirects your buyers to a PayPal landing page for entering their card details.
I assume you can simply delete / disable a recurring payments profile and set up a new one whenever someone switches plans, right? In that case you'll want to look at the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile API.
Have a look at https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/e_howto_api_ECRecurringPayments and https://www.x.com/docs/DOC-1168
Do keep in mind however, that recurring payments on Express Checkout only works with existing PayPal accounts. Someone who doesn't have a PayPal account yet, will have to create one during checkout.
Paypal is usually a great solution. There is no problem with billing recurring payments (subscriptions).
You can read all about it here:
https://www.paypal.com/pdn-recurring