Authorize.Net

Overview

If you have an Authorize.Net merchant account, you can configure ShopSite to process credit card orders in real time. Your customers can enter their credit card information (including billing address) on the shipping screen and ShopSite will forward that information to Authorize.Net for verification. If the information is correct and there are funds available to cover the cost of the order, Authorize.Net will tell ShopSite that the order is authorized and ShopSite will display a receipt to the customer.

After you ship an order, you can go to the Orders screen in the back office and select the order and click Bill Orders to start the process to receive payment. ShopSite will send a request to Authorize.Net to capture the funds for that order, and the funds will be transferred to your merchant bank account, usually within a couple of business days.

ShopSite uses Authorize.Net’s Advanced Integration Method (AIM) to communicate with the Authorize.Net servers.

Getting Started

Follow the steps below to get started with Authorize.Net.

If you do not already have an Authorize.Net account contact e-onlinedata to obtain a merchant bank account and/or a credit card processing account with Authorize.Net. e-onlinedata is an Authorize.Net reseller and has a program in place just for ShopSite merchants.

Use the account information for your new accounts to fill in the fields in the ShopSite Authorize.Net Settings screen, as explained below.

If you are using a Wells Fargo SecureSource account, go to Commerce Setup > States and Countries and select the option to use both state and country pull-down lists instead of text fields. This is required for SecureSource processing so that ShopSite sends the correct state and country information to the SecureSource server.

Begin processing transactions.

Setup

From the Commerce Setup screen, select Payment, then scroll down and click the Authorize.Net radio button, then click Configure Processor. You will see a screen with the following fields:

Host

(read only) The name of the Authorize.Net server that will process your transactions.

Port

(read only) The port on the Authorize.Net server to send transaction information to.

Authorize Script

(read only) The path and filename of the script that authorizes transactions.

Order Transaction Type

Specify the type of transaction that you want ShopSite to process when a customer places an order. For most situations, you should leave this set to AUTH_ONLY. If your store sells digital download products, you may want to set this to AUTH_CAPTURE to ensure that the funds are actually captured before customers are given access to the online products.

AUTH_ONLY: AUTH_ONLY stands for "Authorization Only" and it is the normal transaction method for ShopSite. When a customer clicks "Submit This Order," ShopSite sends the transaction to Authorize. Net for authorization, the transaction is authorized, and ShopSite is notified of the authorization. A "hold" for the amount of the purchase is placed on the customer's credit card, but the funds are not "captured" until the merchant goes to the Orders screen in ShopSite and clicks Bill Orders.
AUTH_CAPTURE: AUTH_CAPTURE authorizes a transaction and captures funds all at once. ShopSite sends a transaction to Authorize. Net for approval, the transaction is approved, ShopSite is notified of the approval, and the transaction automatically settles at the end of the business day without any further action by the merchant. If you select this transaction type, you will not be able to use the Bill Order button on the Orders screen to capture funds because they are captured at the time of the order.

Billing Transaction Type

Specify the type of transaction that you want ShopSite to process when you click the Bill Orders button. For most situations, you should leave this set to PRIOR_AUTH_CAPTURE.

Timeout

The number of seconds that ShopSite should wait for a response from the Authorize.Net server.

Enter the Authorize.Net User ID that was given to you by your reseller.

Password

Enter the Authorize.Net password that was given to you by your reseller. New Authorize.Net accounts may have a transaction key instead of a password; in that case, leave this field blank.

Note:

Each time you change the password on your Authorize.Net account, you must change the password here also, otherwise Authorize.Net will reject your ShopSite transactions.

Transaction Key

Enter the Authorize.Net merchant transaction key that was given to you by your reseller. Older Authorize.Net accounts may not have a merchant transaction key. If you do not have a transaction key, leave this field blank.

Wells Fargo SecureSource
Account

Check this box if you are using a Wells Fargo SecureSource account.

Note:

You must set ShopSite to use state and country pull-down lists when you use a Wells Fargo SecureSource account.

Display CVV2
Entry Box

Check this box to have ShopSite include a text box on the order form for customers to enter the CVV2 value from their credit cards. See the Payment Setup help for an explanation of CVV2.

Require CVV2
Entry

Check this box to make the CVV2 field a required field on the order form.

Send Tax
Amount

Check this box to send tax information to Authorize.Net with each order. Ask the bank that has your merchant account if they require this information.

Display Error
Details

Check this box only when setting up a new Authorize.Net account and making test purchases. If there are any problems with the transactions, the customer will see details about the error. Hopefully that customer is you just making test purchases. Turn this option off when you are ready to accept real transactions.

Reject on
AVS Failure

Click Configure to open a new browser window where you can log into your Authorize.Net account. From there you can enable the Authorize.Net Address Verification Service for transactions in your account. If the billing address entered by the customer does not match what the Authorize.Net system thinks it should be, the transaction will not be authorized. This is optional; you do not have to enable AVS.

Note:

When an AVS check fails, the gateway notifies ShopSite of the failure, but still authorizes the transaction. If you have configured ShopSite to reject on AVS faiure, the order will not go through and no funds will be transferred from the customer’s account to the merchant account. However, the gateway still places a "hold" on the customer’s account for the amount of the order. The authorization will eventually time out and the hold will be released, but you may see the authorization when you view transactions in your gateway account.

Fill in the proper values, click Save Changes, and you're all set.

ShopSite Help and Resource Center
Last updated: November 23, 2004
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