If you are new to online credit card donations - the following will give you some valuable insight on what to expect and what is expected from you.

• Internet Merchant Account
• Donation Process
• Getting Started

Internet Merchant Account
You will need an Internet merchant account to enable your online donation form to accept credit card donations online. An Internet merchant account - gives you permission to take online donations. You may already have an existing merchant account that is enabled for Internet transactions or you may need to apply for one. Internet Merchant accounts can be obtained through an acquirer or financial institution. Usually through the financial institution you are currently banking with.

It is not always easy to obtain an Internet merchant account. Even though some organizations have an existing merchant account, their financial institution will not issue them an Internet merchant account. Online fraud issues and concerns over the organization's viability are the common issues. If you don't qualify for an Internet Merchant Account through regular channels you may apply for a "third party" account. You would apply through a company that has authorization to issue Internet merchant accounts. A third party is a master merchant that will process your credit card transactions through their merchant account, deduct a fee and withhold a percentage of your funds for a period of time (can be several months) before releasing. (If you wish to go this route - we can refer some reputable third party Internet merchant account issuers - please contact us). The application process can be quite detailed and take a minimum of two weeks to obtain your account. Obtaining an Internet merchant account can be likened to opening a business line of credit.

Available Credit Cards
The PayPaq e-payment service currently allows the use of VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Enroute/Diners Club, Discover and JCB. You will typically be able to obtain both VISA and MasterCard at one financial institution or acquirer. As for accepting the other cards you will require separate contracts from the institutions that issue these cards to be able to accept these cards online. You will require at least one merchant account in order to enable your online donation form.

Currency
Your choice of currency at this time is restricted to US and/or Canadian Dollars. This means you must request donations in US Dollars if you have a US Dollar Internet merchant account or in Canadian Dollars if you have a Canadian Dollar Internet merchant account. Transacting in either USD or Canadian Dollars allows you to accept payments anywhere in the world as long as you have the corresponding merchant account for that credit card.

Existing Merchant Account
If you have an existing merchant account please call the issuer to ensure that it is enabled for Internet transactions (or Card Not Present). Be aware of your issuing institutions' rules and regulations regarding Internet transactions including merchant "safe practices". Note: please check your financial institutions merchant account fees and online payment fees as they are "in addition", to what we charge. If you want to utilize Verified by Visa or MasterCard Securecode you may have to ask your aquirer or financial institution to enable your Internet merchant account. See below for more information on Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode.

New Internet Merchant Account
You can apply for an Internet merchant account at any financial institution in North America.

Internet Merchant Account Terms
Card Not Present or Mail Order Telephone Order environment - credit card transactions taken over the Internet or telephone do not guarantee the user is the owner of the card and as a result transactions may result in a chargeback to the merchant. Chargeback - is a debit to a merchant's account from a previous charge to a credit card. Typically this is the result of a criminal who has obtained a credit card number fraudulently and used that card on make a donation to check if the card is "good". The criminal will then subsequently make another attempt to use the card for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining goods and services. It is best to protect yourself with our fraud protection services and be vigilant about reversing any suspect transactions. Make sure to ask your financial institution for a copy of their "Best Practices" for merchants transacting on the Internet. We have two methods of preventing fraud. One is Visa/MasterCard's "Verified by Visa" and MasterCard SecureCode program. This program minimizes chargebacks by ensuring that the cardholder is authenticated before the sale. The other one is our own fraud prevention system which restricts donations from geographical regions or IP addresses.

Verified by VISA and MasterCard SecureCode
VBV (Verified by Visa) and MasterCard SecureCode architecture will validate a customer's credit card and verify the identity of the person using the card. It does this by requiring the purchaser to authenticate the transaction and themselves, as the cardholder, by identifying themselves through their bank or credit card issuer. This dramatically changes the nature of Internet based credit card transactions from being the equivalent of Mail Order/Telephone Order (MO/TO) unauthenticated transactions to being the equivalent of "Card Present" transactions, namely a customer physically presenting their card to the merchant and signing the transaction slip. This greatly reduces the possibility of online credit card fraud, which results in greater customer comfort in performing the transaction and thereby results in more online donations. For more information: Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode

What a Merchant Needs to Know About Online Credit Card Donations

Once your merchant account has been obtained and the information submitted to us you should be ready for online donations within 3 weeks. Here is a summary of how the online real time donation process works:

Donation Process
Immediately upon arriving at the donation form, the donor is advised as to the security of the information they are about to provide. Information regarding the payment system is posted along with instructions for the donor to check and make sure the site is secure. The donor is asked to check for the locked lock and the "https" in the website address. This means that SSL encryption and a digital certificate are being used to protect their personal information. A donor fills in the required contact information, chooses a campaign designation (optional), enters credit card information and then clicks on "submit".

Payment Approval
Once the "submit" button is clicked the information is encrypted and sent through the PayPaq server to the bank gateway for the credit card to be processed. Processing occurs in a matter of seconds depending on bandwidth. Once the bank has processed the credit card - "approved" or "declined" - that information is sent back through the PayPaq server. An onscreen virtual receipt is generated that appears on the donor's web browser. An email receipt is also sent to the donor indicating the donation amount and whether or not the transaction was approved. The merchant also receives an email receipt that contains all the donation and approval information. The organization can then send a manual tax receipt if electronic tax receipting isn't subscribed to.

Processing Online Donations
Once an online donation has been approved those funds will automatically be deposited into the organization's bank account (the account that was confirmed with the merchant's financial institution as the account to deposit online donations). All transactions using PayPaq are automatically submitted to the bank for deposit via a batch close that occurs nightly (varies based on financial institution). Deposits to the merchant's bank account will occur next day or in two days depending on card type and financial institution. Additional administrative functions of the system allow the organization to perform partial and complete credits, transaction voids and refunds as well as reconciliation and statistical analysis.

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