1. Computop Paygate GmbH
  2. Getting Started
  3. Payment Methods and Services

Setup PayPal

What we require

In order to process PayPal payments for you, we ask you to provide us with the following configuration data:

  • Email address of your PayPal merchant account

Please send us the necessary information by email to helpdesk@computop.com.

We will inform you once the setup has been completed.

 

What you require

In order to process PayPal for you, it is necessary that you observe a few important points.

To allow Computop to process PayPal payments for you, you must have a PayPal merchant account and have configured it accordingly.
You will find instructions for this in the Computop Paygate documentation.

Note: Goods must always be sent to the delivery address, which you will receive back from PayPal for each transaction. Otherwise there is no seller protection. You can get more detailed information about this directly from PayPal.

In connection with PayPal there are a number of options you can use. We list the most important ones below:

Capture on Demand

There are the following 2 possibilities to transfer the parameter capture for a delayed booking (e.g. to charge the customer only at the time of delivery). If the payments are to be captured immediately, please transfer the parameter capture=auto.

  1. Process Order (Parameter capture=manual + txtype=order)
    The payment is saved as an order without creating an authorization (Without PayPal creditworthiness check, therefore, a later authorization is not guaranteed!). In this case the customer’s PayPal account is "frozen,” therefore it cannot be closed by the customer. By capturing the payment, an authorization as well as capture is automatically created.
    Please keep in mind that orders are valid for 29 days.
     
    Note: Usually, it is not possible to process multiple captures for this option. If you want to execute multiple captures using txtype=order, please contact us at helpdesk@computop.com.

  2. Process Authorization (Parameter capture=manual + txtype=auth)
    The payment is automatically authorized. The capture should be done within 3 days. Capture attempts after the time period also underlie the PayPal seller protection, but are more likely to fail due to PayPal risk management.

Settlement Files

PayPal offers a number of settlement files that contain different data sets. Computop can pick up the following PayPal files regarding settlement for you (Example files can be found at the end of the article):

  • DR    = Dispute Report – Customer complaint file with the current status
  • STL    = Settlement file including settled payments (incl. CT PayID as well as RefNr)
  • TRR    = Settlement File including settled as well as outstanding payments

Computop picks up PayPal settlement files on a daily basis at 12:00 p.m. CET. They are provided to you at approx. 01:00 p.m. CET.
 
Note: In order for us to pick up the settlement files for you, we need the PayPal SFTP account data. Please contact your PayPal Account Manager to activate this feature. The account will then offer to create a secured SFTP server in the section account information. After you have successfully created the SFTP server, please send us the access data (user name and password). We will then complete the setup process for you. Please find the attached guide to create the SFTP account.

For additional information regarding PayPal and SFTP accounts, please refer to the attached pdf below. If you have any further questions, please contact helpdesk@computop.com.
 

Sandbox Testing

PayPal offers a sandbox environment, in which you can test during the implementation. In order to set up the sandbox, please create a sandbox account and forward the email address to us.

  • Activation/API permission PayPal sandbox
    1. Please only use Firefox
    2. Please open and login to the following PayPal site: https://developer.paypal.com
      Please use the login date from your live account.
    3. Additionally, open and login to the following PayPal configuration site within a separate tab: http://www.sandbox.paypal.com
      Please login with the email address of your sandbox business account (maybe additional users exist).
    4. Please set up the following API key: test_paypal_api_api1.computop.com and check the following API access level boxes:
      • Use PayPal Express Checkout to process payments
      • Issue a refund for a specific transaction
      • Authorise and capture your PayPal transactions
      • Obtain information about a single transaction
      • Search your transactions for items that match specific criteria and display the results
         

PayPal Shortcut

If you wish to redirect a customer back to the shop (to finish the order) after completing the PayPal payment, please note following procedure.

  • PayPal Shortcut

    1. Request:
    Shop >> Paygate (PayPal.aspx incl. parameter PayPalMethod=shortcut) >> PayPal

        1a. Response:
        PayPal >> Paygate >> URLNotify/URLSuccess/URLFailure

    2. Request: Dieser führt erst zur abschließenden Zahlungsbestätigung (ohne Endkunde)
    Shop >> Paygate (PayPalcomplete.aspx) >> PayPal

        2a. Response:
        PayPal >> Paygate >> Server-to-server response to the shop, which informs customer
        about payment status
     
    If the shop is not aware of the delivery address yet, the customer will choose a respective address within the PayPal account, which will then be returned in the payment response.
     
    If the shop is already aware of the address and it is included in the payment request to Paygate it will be prefilled within the PayPal account and cannot be changed by the customer.
     
    Note: Only PayPal´s shortcut allows you to change the amount after the customer has paid (within the second request). PayPal´s standard procedure bills the customer immediately after receipt of the first success response.
     
    A change of PayPal´s delivery address is not possible through the second request.

  • PayPal – Standard (for comparison)

    1. Request:
    Shop >> Paygate (PayPal.aspx) >> PayPal

        1a. Response:
         PayPal >> Paygate >> URLNotify/URLSuccess/URLFailure

    The payment response (1a) is the final payment confirmation.

    If the shop is not aware of the delivery address yet, the customer will choose a respective address within the PayPal account, which will then be returned in the payment response.

    If the shop initially sends an address to Paygate|PayPal, it automatically becomes the delivery address and cannot be changed by the customer in the PayPal account.
    The unique response received here is already the corresponding payment confirmation.

PayPal Reference Transaction (Subscription)

PayPal offers the option of subscriptions so you can make regular payments without customer interaction.

  • Requirement
    • The option „reference transaction“ has to be activated in your PayPal account. Please request the activation at PayPal directly.
    • In addtion, please configure the following permission in your mechant PayPal account
      - Charge an existing customer based on a prior transaction
      - Obtain authorisation for pre-approved payments and initiate pre-approved transctions
    • The option "Reference Transaction" must be set up at Computop. If not yet active, please inform us by email at computop@computop.com.

  • Process
    1. In order to process the initial recurring payment use paypal.aspx and add the parameter “RTF=I”. The additional parameter triggers a recurring flag to be recognized by PayPal.
      If you only want to get the "BillingAgreementID" in the first request without showing the customer an amount, please send the parameter "txtype=BAID" to the paygate. If the txtype=BAID is sent, the amount submitted is automatically set to 0.00 by Paygate.
      Note: Please make sure that you do not send the amount 0.00€, as this cannot be processed by Paygate. Therefore, please send an amount X >0.00 and Computop sets it to 0.00 in the direction of PayPal.
    2. You will receive PayPal`s standard parameters as well as the additional parameter “BillingAgreementID” in Computop´s response. Please add and save this parameter in your system.
    3. In order to process the second/recurring payment, please use https://www.computop-paygate.com/paypalAbo.aspx. In this server-to-server based request, please use the regular parameters as well as the parameter “BillingAgreementID”. The additional parameter triggers the second/recurring payment with reference to the initial recurring payment. This way amount withdrawals are available without the need of a customer login into PayPal.

  • Automatic customer information
    The following addition is displayed during the payment process in the customer's PayPal account (example):
    • "This is to authorize - merchant name - to debit future payments directly from your PayPal account without your intervention. You can revoke this authorization for the future at any time in your profile.

      The customer can find out about this function in his PayPal account.

  • Capture on demand (Capture=manual + txtype=order/Auth)
    If you are initiating payments including txtype=order/auth Computop returns the "BillingAgreementID" for this action within the notification. The "BillingAgreementID" is not necessary for the subsequent action capture. Only if a new payment is initiated it is necessary as a referral.

  • Deleting BillingAgreementID
    The customer can revoke the “BillingAgreementID” in his PayPal account.

    The merchant will only be informed about the cancellation if the additional option IPN “instant payment notification” is activated for his account. The activation has to be done in the Computop as well as PayPal account. Please keep in mind that by activating IPN the merchant receives a notification for each status change of a PayPal payment.

    If a customer revokes the “BillingAgreementID” no further recurring payments are possible. It is also not possible to reactivate a “BillingAgreementID”.

 

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