Express Checkout
Advanced Features
Guide
Last updated: April 2012
PayPal Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Document Number: 10121.en_US-201204
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Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
About This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Where to Go for More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Documentation Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter 1 Customizing Express Checkout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
PayPal Review Page Order Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Special Instructions to Merchant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Integrating Order Details into the Express Checkout Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Providing Gift Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Obtaining Buyer Consent to Receive Promotional Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Overriding Your Customer Service Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Adding a Survey Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
PayPal Page Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Custom Page Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Individual Page Style Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Changing the Locale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Handling Shipping Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Confirmed Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Suppressing the Buyer’s Shipping Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Shipping Address Override . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Automatically Filling Out Shipping and Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Buyer Pays on PayPal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Express Checkout Redirect to Let Buyers Pay on PayPal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Chapter 2 Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . .29
About the Express Checkout Experience on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Buyer Pays on Your Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Buyer Pays on PayPal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Mobile Platforms Supported by Express Checkout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
About Mobile Express Checkout Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 3
Contents
Integrating Express Checkout With Your Mobile Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Enabling PayPal Account Optional Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
NVP Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . 37
SOAP Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . 39
Locales Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Locale Codes Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . 40
Handling Locales Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices. . . . . . . 40
Features Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Chapter 3 Handling Recurring Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
How Recurring Payments Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Recurring Payments Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Options for Creating a Recurring Payments Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Specifying the Regular Payment Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Including an Optional Trial Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Specifying an Initial Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Maximum Number of Failed Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Billing the Outstanding Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Identifying Items as Digital or Physical Goods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Initiating the Processing Flow With SetExpressCheckout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Redirecting the Buyer to PayPal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Getting Buyer Details Using GetExpressCheckoutDetails. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Creating the Profiles With CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Recurring Payments Profile Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Getting Recurring Payments Profile Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Modifying a Recurring Payments Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Updating Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Updating the Billing Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Billing the Outstanding Amount of a Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Recurring Payments Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter 4 Reference Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Introduction to Reference Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Reference Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Billing Agreements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4 April 2012Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Contents
API Operations for Reference Transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Setting Up a Billing Agreement Using the Express Checkout API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Initiating a Payment Using a Reference Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
About Cancelling Agreements and Getting the Billing Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Canceling a Billing Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Obtaining the Most Recent Billing Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 5 Implementing Parallel Payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
About Parallel Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
What Is and What Is Not Supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Post-Integration Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Name-Value Pair Syntax Supporting Parallel Payments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the NVP API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the SOAP API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Best Practices for Online Travel Agencies Implementing Parallel Payments . . . . . . . . 72
Styles of Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Payment Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Handling Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Chapter 6 Integrating giropay with Express Checkout . . . . . . . . .75
giropay Page Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
giropay Payment Page Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Canceled or Unsuccessful giropay Payment Page Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
giropay Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Initiate the Flow with SetExpressCheckout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Redirect the Buyer to PayPal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Complete the Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Receive Transaction Status Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 7 Implementing the Instant Update API . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
About the Instant Update API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Integration Steps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Post-Integration Checkout Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
How the Callback Works in the Express Checkout Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Following Instant Update API Best Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Setting Up the Callback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
GetExpressCheckoutDetails and DoExpressCheckoutPayment Changes . . . . . . . 85
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 5
Contents
Other Callback Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Using the Callback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
SetExpressCheckout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Callback Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Callback Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Chapter 8 Payment Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Handling Payment Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Chapter 9 Express Checkout Dynamic Image Integration . . . . . . . 95
Dynamic Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Configuring the Dynamic Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Set Up the Default Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Set Up Image for Dynamic Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Change the Locale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Provide Incentive Eligibility Feedback to Buyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Choose the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Dynamic Image Command Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Dynamic Image Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Locale Codes and Priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Chapter 10 Immediate Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Overview of Immediate Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
About Immediate Payment For Third-Party Checkout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Integrating Immediate Payment for Third-Party Checkout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
The Call to SetExpressCheckout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
The Call to DoExpressCheckoutPayment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
About Immediate Payment For Express Checkout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Revision History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6 April 2012Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Preface
About This Guide
This document describes advanced features of Express Checkout integration.
Intended Audience
This document is for merchants and developers implementin g Exp ress Checko ut wh o wan t to
learn about its extra features, which can enhance their integrations with PayPal.
Where to Go for More Information
Express Checkout Integration Guide
Name-Value Pair API Developer Guide
SOAP API Developer Reference
Merchant Setup and Administration Guide
Documentation Feedback
Help us improve this guide by sending feedback to:
documentationfeedback@paypal.com
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 7
Documentation Feedback
8 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Customizing Express Checkout
1
You can specify options in Express Checkout API requests that change the appearance,
behavior, and flow of the checkout process.
PayPal Review Page Order Details
When a buyer logs in to PayPal to check out, you can present the buyer with detailed
information about each item being purchased. PayPal order details are available with API
version 53.0 or later.
NOTE: The DoExpressCheckoutPayment request includes the same order details as
SetExpressCheckout. PayPal recommends that you submit the same parameters in
both API calls.
The following diagram shows all of the details that you can include:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 9
Customizing Express Checkout
1
PayPal Review Page Order Details
(1) – Item name. The item name can identify this item to distinguish it from other line items in
the order.
(2) – Item number. Each item can be further identified by an item number. If the item is an
eBay auction item, it is recommended that you provide the eBay item number in this field.
(3) – Item description. This field identifies which of several items the buyer is purchasing. For
example, you may be offering an item in different sizes. Knowing the size helps the buyer
decide whether the one they selected was appropriate. If the item is an eBay auction item, it is
recommended that you provide the phrase “eBay item” in this field.
(4) – Item unit price. This field specifies exactly how much one unit of the item costs. It can be
a positive or negative value but not zero.
(5) – Item unit quantity. This field identifies the number of units the buyer is ordering.
PayPal calculates the value in the Amount (6) column as the product of line-item unit price
and line-item unit quantity.
You can also show other detailed information about the order:
(7) – Item total and tax, which are the total of all items in the order and the tax, respectively.
(8) – Shipping and handling, which is the sum of the shipping and handling amounts.
NOTE: You must determine actual shipping and handling amounts.
10 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
(9) – Shipping discount. If the buyer is receiving a discount on shipping, the value appears as a
credit in this field.
(10) – Insurance. This field shows the insurance fee when there is insurance on shipping.
(11) – Total. This is the total of the order, including shipping, handling, tax, and other price
adjustment-related items.
NOTE: The Enter gift certificate, reward, or discount link enables the buyer to redeem
certificates, rewards, or discounts that PayPal issues. The link does not enable the
buyer to redeem incentives that you issue.
Special Instructions to Merchant
You can allow the buyer to send you special instructions about an order. This feature is
especially helpful to buyers who want to customize merchandise. A buyer also might want to
tell you to ship their order at a later date because they are out of the country.
NOTE: Users of this feature should be sure to read the instructions the buyer sends.
This feature appears as the link on the Review your information page. When the buyer clicks
Add, a Note to seller text box opens in which the buyer can enter special instructions to the
merchant and click Save. The instructions are returned in the responses to
GetExpressCheckoutDetails and DoExpressC heckoutPayment.
Customizing Express Checkout
PayPal Review Page Order Details
1
Integrating Order Details into the Express Checkout Flow
To integrate order details into the checkout flow, pass any of the following Express Checkout
parameters to SetExpressCheckout.
NVP Field SOAP Field Description and Comments
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_NAMEm Name Item name.
n_NUMBERm Number Item number.
n_DESCm Description Item description.
The DESC (NVP) and OrderDescription
(SOAP) fields still exist for backwards
compatibility. However, L_DESCn and
Description enable you to provide a more
precise description for each different item
purchased, such as hiking boots or
cooking utensils rather than one general
purpose description such as camping
supplies.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 11
Customizing Express Checkout
1
PayPal Review Page Order Details
NVP Field SOAP Field Description and Comments
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_AMTm Amount Item unit price. PayPal calculates the product
of the item unit price and item unit quantity
(below) in the Amount column of the cart
review area. The item unit price can be a
positive or a negative value, but not 0. You
may provide a negative value to reflect a
discount on an order, for example.
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
ITEMAMT ItemTotal Sum of costs of all items in this order.
TAXAMT TaxTotal Sum of tax for all items in this order.
SHIPPINGAMT ShippingTotal T otal shipping cost for this order (8). PayPal
PAYMENTREQUEST_
PAYMENTREQUEST_
PAYMENTREQUEST_
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_QTYm Quantity Item unit quantity.
calculates the sum of the shipping cost and the
handling cost.
Although you may change the value later, try
to pass in a shipping amount that is
reasonably accurate.
n_HANDLINGAMT HandlingTotal Total handling cost for this order.
n_SHIPDISCAMT ShippingDiscount Shipping discount for this order. You specify
this value as a negative number.
n_INSURANCEAM T InsuranceTotal Total shipping insurance cost for this order.
n_AMT OrderTotal T otal of order, including shipping, handling,
tax, and any other billing adjustments such as
a credit due.
If you pass the generic order description parameter (PAYMENTREQUEST_n_DESC) along with
any two of the following line-item parameters, the order description value does not display.
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_NAMEm
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_NUMBERm
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_DESCm
If you pass in unit price information (L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_ AMTm) without passing in the
unit quantity (L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_QTYm), the unit price does not display. To show both
values, you must pass in values for both parameters. You can pass in a value of 1 even if the
item purchase is uncountable.
The following example shows how to set line-item parameters in the call to
SetExpressCheckout.
12 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Customizing Express Checkout
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=SetExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=http://...
&CANCELURL=http://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NAME0=10% Decaf Kona Blend Coffee
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NUMBER0=62 3083
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_DESC0=Size : 8.8-oz
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_AMT0=9.95
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_QTY0=2
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NAME1=Coffee Fi lter bags
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NUMBER1=62 3084
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_DESC1=Size : Two 24-piece box es
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_AMT1=39.70
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_QTY1=2
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_ITEMAMT=99.3 0
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_TAXAMT=2.58
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPPINGAMT= 3.00
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_HANDLINGAMT= 2.99
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPDISCAMT= -3.00
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_INSURANCEAMT =1.00
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_AMT=105.87
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&ALLOWNOT E=1
Providing Gift Options
1
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
Related information:
"Providing Gift Options" on page 13
"Following Instant Update API Best Practices" on page 83
"Setting Up the Callback" on page 84
Providing Gift Options
You can provide the buyer with gift options on PayPal. To use this feature, you must
implement line-item details.
NOTE: Gift options are available with API Version 61.0 or later.
You can enable any of the following gift options:
Gift message – This feature displays a text box in which the buyer can enter a gift message.
Gift receipt – This feature provides a checkbox for the buyer to check if they would like a
gift receipt included.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 13
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Providing Gift Options
Gift wrap – This feature provides a checkbox for the buyer to check if they would like to
have the gift wrapped. The gift wrap feature can include a label describing the gift
wrapping, for example, “Decorator box and bow.” Optionally, you can provide the amount
to be charged to the buyer for gift wrapping.
The following SetExpressCheckout request example sets these options:
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&GIFTMESS AGEENABLE=1
&GIFTRECE IPTENABLE=1
&GIFTWRAP ENABLE=1
&GIFTWRAP NAME="Bow and Ribbon"
&GIFTWRAP AMOUNT=6.00
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706495P
The following figure shows how the gift options appear to the buyer.
NOTE: You can also configure this option from your profile. For details, see the Merchant
Setup and Administration Guide.
14 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Customizing Express Checkout
Obtaining Buyer Consent to Receive Promotional Email
Related information:
"PayPal Review Page Order Details" on page 9
Obtaining Buyer Consent to Receive Promotional Email
You can obtain the buyer ’s consent to receive email promotions on PayPal pages. PayPal
returns the email address in the response to GetExpressCheckoutDetails and
DoExpressCheckoutPayment.
NOTE: Obtaining buyer consent to receive promotional email is available with API Version
61.0 or later.
To obtain the buyer’s email address, set the BUYEREMAILOPTINENABLE field to 1 in the call
to SetExpressCheckout.
The following request example sets this field:
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&BUYEREMA ILOPTINENABLE=1
1
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706495P
The following figure shows how this appears to the buyer in the cart review area.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 15
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Overriding Your Customer Service Number
NOTE: You can also configure this feature in your profile. For details, see the Merchant Setup
and Administration Guide.
Overriding Your Customer Service Number
You can display your Customer Service number to the buyer on Express Checkout pages by
configuring it in your profile. You can override this number by specifying another number in
the SetExpressCheckout request.
NOTE: This feature is available with API Version 61.0 or later.
Displaying your Customer Service number to the buyer enables you to quickly answer the
buyer’s questions through a telephone call. To override the Customer Service number
configured in your profile with a different number on Express Checkout pages, set the
CUSTOMERSERVICENUMBER field in the call to SetExpres sCheckout.
The following request example sets this field:
16 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&CUSTOMER SERVICENUMBER=1-800-F LOWERS
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
NOTE: For details on configuring the Customer Service number on the PayPal Profile page,
see the
Merchant Setup and Administration Guide.
Adding a Survey Question
Customizing Express Checkout
Adding a Survey Question
1
You can add one survey question to the PayPal pages. PayPal returns the choice that the buyer
selected in the response to GetExpressCheckoutDetails and
DoExpressCheckoutPayment.
NOTE: This feature is available with API Version 61.0 or later.
The survey question displays in the format of a text string on the PayPal Review your
information page. The buyer responds by selecting from choices in a drop-down menu.
To enable the display of the survey question and choices, set the SURVEYENABLE field to 1 in
the call to SetExpressCheckout.
Set the SURVEYENABLE field to 1 in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
Set SURVEYQUESTION to the string containing your question.
Provide at least two L_SURVEYCHOICEn options from which the buyer can select one.
The following request example sets these fields:
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&SURVEYEN ABLE=1
&SURVEYQU ESTION="How did you h ear about us?"
&L_SURVEY CHOICE0="friend"
&L_SURVEY CHOICE1="newspaper ad"
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 17
Customizing Express Checkout
1
PayPal Page Style
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706495P
The survey question appears to the buyer in the cart review area.
NOTE: You can also configure this feature in your profile. For details, see the Merchant Setup
and Administration Guide.
PayPal Page Style
You can change the overall appearance of the PayPal pages by defining a custom page style or
by customizing individual page style characteristics.
You define a custom page style in your profile and pass the resulting page style name when
you call SetExpressCheckout. Typically you customize individual page style
characteristics in your profile as well. However, you can also call SetExpressCheckout and
pass in individual page characteristics dynamically.
Custom Page Style
When your buyer logs in to PayPal to check out, you can make the PayPal pages the buyer sees
appear to have a similar look and feel to those on your website. You can customize any of
these page characteristics and save the results as a Page Style Name. You can define up to
three unique Page Style Names, in which you can specify the following characteristics:
Header image
Header border color
Header background color
Page background color
For instructions on how to customize page styles and create Page Style Names, see the
Merchant Setup and Administration Guide.
To set a custom page style in a call to SetExpressCheckout:
1. Include the optional PAGESTYLE parameter in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
2. Set PAGESTYLE to the Page Style Name you defined in your account.
The following example sets PAGESTYLE to the Page Style Name:
18 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&PAGESTYL E=TestMerchant
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
Individual Page Style Characteristics
Typically, you create a custom page style for the PayPal pages using the custom payment
pages in your Account Profile. In cases where you do not want to use the Account Profile
option, you can specify these individual page style characteristics using variables in your
program code:
Customizing Express Checkout
PayPal Page Style
1
Logo image — a URL to an image of your logo.
Cart review area border color — your principal identifying color. PayPal blends your color
to white in a gradient fill that borders the cart review area.
To define your logo image:
1. Create a logo image up to 90 pixels wide by 60 pixels high and save it in a valid graphics
format, such as .gif, .jpg, or .png.
2. Store the URL to the image on a secure (https) server so your buyer’s web browser does not
display a message that the payment contains insecure items.
3. Assign the URL to the LOGOIMG parameter in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
To di splay the border in your principal identifying color, set the CARTBORDERCOLOR
parameter to the 6-digit hexadecimal value of that color in the call to SetExpressCheckout .
The following example sets a custom header image and adds a border color.
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_MAXAMT=...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&LOGOIMG= https://www.../YourLo go.gif
&CARTBORD ERCOLOR=0000CD
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 19
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Changing the Locale
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
The figure below shows the cart review area with a custom logo and border color around it that
were set in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
Changing the Locale
You can change the locale of PayPal pages to match the language on your website.
T o change the language displayed on the PayPal pages, set the LOCALECODE parameter to one
of the following allowable values in the SetExpressCheckout call:
AU – Australia
AT – Austria
BE – Belgium
20 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
BR – Brazil
CA – Canada
CH – Switzerland
CN – China
DE – Germany
ES – Spain
GB – United Kingdom
FR – France
IT – Italy
NL – Netherlands
PL – Poland
PT – Portugal
RU – Russia
US – United States
Customizing Express Checkout
Changing the Locale
1
The following 5-character codes are also supported for languages in specific countries:
– da_DK – Danish (for Denmark only)
– he_IL – Hebrew (all)
– id_ID – Indonesian (for Indonesia only)
– jp_JP – Japanese (for Japan only)
– no_NO – Norwegian (for Norway only)
– pt_BR – Brazilian Portuguese (for Portugal and Brazil only)
– ru_RU – Russian (for Lithuania, Latvia, and Ukraine only)
– sv_SE – Swedish (for Sweden only)
– th_TH – Thai (for Thailand only)
– tr_TR – Turkish (for Turkey only)
– zh_CN – Simplified Chinese (for China only)
– zh_HK – Traditional Chinese (for Hong Kong only)
– zh_TW – Traditional Chinese (for Taiwan only)
The following example sets LOCALCODE to ES (Spain).
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =EUR
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&LOCALECO DE=ES
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 21
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Handling Shipping Addresses
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
The following figure shows the Log in to PayPal page when the is set to ES:
The following figure shows the PayPal Choose a way to pay page when the LOCALECODE is
set to ES:
Handling Shipping Addresses
You can specify several shipping address options that affect the PayPal pages.
In your SetExpressCheckout request, you can specify the following options:
Require a confirmed address.
Do not display the shipping address on the review page.
Display an alternative address on the review page.
22 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Confirmed Address
A confirmed address is a shipping address that PayPal has established as belonging to the
PayPal account holder. To be protected by PayPal’s Seller Protection Policy, you must require
the shipping address to be a confirmed address.
NOTE: Because many buyers prefer to ship to a non-confirmed address (they may, for
example, be shipping a gift to someone), PayPal does not recommend requiring a
confirmed address unless you are selling high-risk merchandise. If you prefer that
confirmed addresses be used, then do not set ADDROVERRIDE.
To require a confirmed address for the shipping address, ensure that the shipping address
matches the address on record with PayPal. You can do this through your account profile, as
described in the
call to SetExpressCheckout, as follows:
1. Include the optional REQCONFIRMSHIPPING parameter in the call to
SetExpressCheckout.
2. Set REQCONFIRMSHIPPING to 1.
Customizing Express Checkout
Handling Shipping Addresses
Merchant Setup and Administration Guide. Alternately, you can set a flag in the
1
The following example shows how to require the shipping address to be a confirmed address.
NOTE: The value of REQCONFIRMSHIPPING overrides the setting in your Merchant Account
Profile.
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&REQCONFI RMSHIPPING=1
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET =1 Main St
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=S an Jose
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE= CA
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTR YCODE=US
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=95 131
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOPHONEN UM=408-967-4444
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-6UA07551EA393551U
Suppressing the Buyer’s Shipping Address
You can suppress the display of the buyer’s shipping address on the PayPal pages. You might
want to do this in these cases:
You are selling a product or service that does not require shipping.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 23
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Handling Shipping Addresses
You prefer to handle addresses completely on your own and do not want to let buyers
choose from their PayPal address book.
T o suppress the display of the buyer’s shipping address, set the NOSHIPPING parameter to 1 in
the call to SetExpressCheckout. No shipping address displays on Express Checkout pages.
The following example suppresses the shipping address.
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&NOSHIPPI NG=1
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTONAME=J Smith
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET =1 Main St
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=S an Jose
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE= CA
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTR YCODE=US
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=95 131
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOPHONEN UM=408-967-4444
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
The PayPal Review your information page does not display a shipping address when
NOSHIPPING is set to 1.
Shipping Address Override
You can override the buyer’s shipping address stored on PayPal. You would want to do this i f,
for example, your website registration already requested the buyer’s shipping address.
Overriding the shipping address stored on PayPal replaces it with one you specify in the call to
SetExpressCheckout. The buyer cannot edit the overridden address.
NOTE: If you prefer to override addresses, PayPal recommends that you do not require
confirmed addresses, as described in Confirmed Address.
To override the shipping address:
1. Set the ADDROVERRIDE parameter to 1 in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
2. Set the following shipping address parameters in the call to SetExpressCheckout to the
address values you want to use for the new address.
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT ONAME
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT OSTREET
24 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Customizing Express Checkout
Automatically Filling Out Shipping and Contact Information
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT OCITY
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT OSTATE (Optional)
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT OCOUNTRYCODE
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT OZIP
– PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPT OSTREET2 (Optional)
The following example overrides the shipping address with the address values shown.
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&ADDROVERRIDE=1
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET=1 Se cond St
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET 2=Ste 210
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=San Jo se
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE= CA
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTR YCODE=US
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=95 131
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOPHONEN UM=408-967-4444
1
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-57K68322WE343022B
The PayPal Review your information page shows the shipping address parameter values you
specified in the SetExpressCheckout request.
Automatically Filling Out Shipping and Contact Information
PayPal can automatically fill out form fields for the buyer based on the buyer’s shipping
contact information passed in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
When you pass the buyer’s shipping address, telephone number and email address in the call
to SetExpressCheckout, PayPal automatically fills out this information in the debit or
credit card form fields on the PayPal Choose a way to pay page.
After the call to SetExpressCheckout, the buyer is redirected to the PayPal. On the Choose
a way to pay page, buyers having a PayPal account can log in with their email address and
password. Buyers who do not have an account can use their debit or credit card to pay and will
have their shipping and contact information filled out.
See the following SetExpressCheckout example:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 25
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Automatically Filling Out Shipping and Contact Information
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=S etExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=https://...
&CANCELURL=https://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=10.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Sale
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET=1 Ma in Street
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=San Jo se
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE= CA
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTR YCODE=US
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=95 131
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_EMAIL=jsmith 01@example.com
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPTOPHONEN UM=408-559-5948
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-6UA07551EA393551U
The figure below shows the Pay with debit or credit card section expanded with the buyer
shipping and contact fields filled out.
26 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Customizing Express Checkout
Automatically Filling Out Shipping and Contact Information
1
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 27
Customizing Express Checkout
1
Buyer Pays on PayPal
Buyer Pays on PayPal
With Express Checkout, you can shorten your checkout flow to let buyers complete their
purchases on PayPal. Then, you can skip your order confirmation page.
Generally, buyers select payment methods as the last step before they complete their
purchases. If you collect no additional information after buyers return from PayPal, you can
skip the confirm-order page on your website. If you collect additional information that does
not affect the payment, PayPal recommends that you collect it after buyers complete their
purchases.
The useraction URL parameter in your redirect to PayPal determines whether buyers
complete their purchases on PayPal or on your website. If you set useraction to commit,
PayPal sets the button text to Pay Now on the PayPal Review your informaton page. This
text lets buyers know that they complete their purchases if they click the button.
After PayPal redirects buyers to your site, call GetExpressCheckoutDetails and
DoExpressCheckoutPayment to have PayPal complete the payment successfully. Call
DoExpressCheckoutPayment without waiting for buyer interaction. Use information in the
GetExpressCheckoutDetails response to fill out your order confirmation page.
Express Checkout Redirect to Let Buyers Pay on PayPal
The following sample code shows the redirect to let buyers pay on PayPal:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin /webscr?cmd=_expre sscheckout&useraction=commit&tok en=valueFromSetExpressCheckoutResponse
28 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile
2
Devices
Express Checkout on mobile devices runs in mobile browsers with pages optimized for
smaller mobile screens and mobile keyboards. If you have an Express Checkout
implementation, you can take advantage of the mobile checkout experience with only minimal
programming changes.
About the Express Checkout Experience on Mobile Devices
On mobile devices, Express Checkout provides payment pages tailored for faster checkout and
for smaller mobile screens and keyboards. You can either set up the experience so that the
buyer pays on your site or on PayPal
Buyer Pays on Your Site
Buyer Pays on PayPal
Buyer Pays on Your Site
The Express Checkout experience on mobile devices begins on your mobile website when a
buyer is ready to pay you.
With Express Checkout on mobile devices, the buyer:
1. Clicks Checkout with PayPal on your mobile website or from your app.
2. Enters login credentials on the mobile PayPal login page, and then clicks Log in.
3. Reviews payment de tails on the mobile PayPal review page, and then clicks Continue.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 29
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Mobile Platforms Supported by Express Checkout
4. Confirms the order and pays on your mobile website or app.
5. Views order confirmation on your mobile site or app.
NOTE: To pay wi th debit or credit cards, buyers click the “pay by card” at the bottom of the
login page to enter their billing information; this flow is called PayPal account
optional checkout.
Buyer Pays on PayPal
You can shorten the Express Checkout experience on mobile devices by letting buyers pay on
PayPal.
When buyers pay on PayPal, the buyer:
1. Clicks Checkout with PayPal on your mobile website or from your app.
2. Enters login credentials on the mobile PayPal login page, and then clicks Log in.
3. Reviews payment details on the mobile PayPal review page, and then presses Pay Now.
4. Views order confirmation on your mobile site or app.
Related information:
"Enabling PayPal Account Optional Checkout on Mobile Devices" on page 34
Mobile Platforms Supported by Express Checkout
Express Checkout supports the mobile checkout experience on specific mobile devices and
their embedded mobile browsers only.
30 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
About Mobile Express Checkout Integration
Supported Mobile Devices Software Versions
Android-based devices All
iPhone® (2), 3G, 3GS, 4 iPhone OS 2.x, 3.x; iOS 4.0
iPod touch® 2G, 3G iPhone OS 2.x, 3.x
iPad, iPad 2 All
BlackBerry (Research in Motion) BlackBerry OS version 4.6 and higher
About Mobile Express Checkout Integration
PayPal supports several implementations of Mobile Express Checkout. You can provide a
complete mobile website, or you can create a mobile phone app in which the checkout button
is integrated into the app itself or is on your mobile website.
Your preferred integration determines what you must do to convert an existing Express
Checkout integration to provide a mobile experience. Typically, your decision depend s on
whether you create a native app for the devices you want to support:
2
If you are not providing an app, you must modify your pages to the recommended size for
your device. When a buyer uses Express Checkout to check out, PayPal attempts to
determine whether the buyer is using a mobile device, and the kind of device, and redirects
the mobile browser to PayPal’s mobile Express Checkout webpages. The call to
SetExpressCheckout occurs as a result of the buyer clicking Checkout with PayPal.
If you are providing an app, you must include the Mobile Express Checkout Library in
your app and initialize it. For information about the Mobile Express Checkout Library, see
the Mobile Express Checkout Library Developer Guide and Reference for your device’s
operating system:
iOS or Android. The library also provides additional functions that you
can call from your app.
IMPORTANT: You cannot call SetExpressCheckout or any PayPal API directly from
your app. If the page that hosts the Pay with PayPal button is on your app
and not on a secure webpage on your server, you must make the call from
your secure server and pass the response to your app; otherwise, the
credentials used to make the call are not protected.
Integrating Express Checkout With Your Mobile Website
To integrate Express Checkout on you mobile website, specify return and cancel URLs on
your mobile website in your call to SetExpressCheckout and specify the command in the
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 31
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Integrating Express Checkout With Your Mobile Website
redirect as cmd=_expresscheckout-mobile. Not all features of Express Checkout are
supported on mobile websites.
Your mobile website should conform to the standards of the browser in which it runs; for
example, Safari on an iPad or Chrome on an Android phone. It must contain a page or pages to
which PayPal redirects the buyer’s browser when the payment flow completes or is canceled.
You specify these pages in the RETURNURL and CANCELURL fields, respectively, of your call
to SetExpressCheckout.
The following steps assume you already have a working Express Checkout integration that
you want to “port” to your mobile website. If you are providing an app, you must include the
Mobile Express Checkout Library in your app and initialize it. For information about he
Mobile Express Checkout Library, see the Mobile Expr ess Checkout Library Developer Guide
and Reference for your device’s operating system:
To support Mobile Express Checkout integration:
1. Change the command in your redirect to the Express Checkout flow to
_expresscheckout-mobile.
If the buyer checks out on PayPal, your redirect will include:
iOS or Android,
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin /webscr?
cmd=_express-checkout-mobile
&token=valueFromSetExpressCheckoutResponse
If the buyer checks out on your website, also set useraction=commit:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin /webscr?
cmd=_express-checkout-mobile
&useraction=commit
&token=valueFromSetExpressCheckoutResponse
NOTE: While it is not strictly required that you change the cmd value, PayPal recommends
that you make this change to improve performance.
2. Change the RETURNURL field in your call to SetExpressCheckout to the page you want
your buyer to return to on your mobile website.
RETURNURL=https://mobileWebsitePage.html
3. Change the CANCELURL field in your call to SetExpressCheckout to the page you want
your buyer to return to if they cancel out of the Express Checkout payment flow.
CANCELURL=https://mobileWebsitePage.html
4. Remove any non-supported fields from your SetExpressCheckout and
DoExpressCheckoutPayment calls. Include only fields for supported features.
32 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Integrating Express Checkout With Your Mobile Website
Result:
When you redirect to PayPal and the buyer pays on PayPal, the fo llowing Login page appears
on an iOS device:
2
When the buyer logs in to PayPal, the following Review page appears on an iOS device:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 33
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Enabling PayPal Account Optional Checkout on Mobile Devices
Related information:
"Features Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices" on page 41
Enabling PayPal Account Optional Checkout on Mobile Devices
PayPal account optional checkout enables buyers to pay using debit and credit cards on your
mobile website without logging in to PayPal, whether or not the buyer has a PayPal account.
You cannot use this kind of checkout with recurring payments or reference transactions
because these features require buyers to log in to PayPal to complete the initial payment.
34 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Enabling PayPal Account Optional Checkout on Mobile Devices
To enable account optional checkout using Express Checkout, you must set the PayPal
Account Optional preference to On in Profile > W ebsite Payment Pr eferences after you log
in to PayPal.
T o enable account optional checkout, modify your SetExpressChecko ut request to include
the following information:
1. Specify that the buyer is not required to have a PayPal account:
SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole
2. Specify whether the buyer lands on the checkout billing page or the PayPal mobile login
page to complete the payment.
– LANDINGPAGE=Billing places the buyer on the billing page:
2
– LANDINGPAGE=Login places the buyer on the PayPal login page:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 35
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
From the PayPal mobile login page, the buyer can choose to log in to PayPal, pay with a
debit or credit card, or log in to PayPal using the non-mobile payment flow. The buyer
enters debit or credit card information on the billing page after clicking Pay with a
card.
3. Fill in all required fields and optional fields in the SetExpressCheckout request and call
the SetExpressCheckout API operation.
4. Redirect your buyer’s browser to PayPal’s mobile endpoint.
Related information:
"About the Express Checkout Experience on Mobile Devices" on page 29
Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile
Devices
Express Checkout on mobile devices supports a subset of the API request fields that Express
Checkout supports when it runs on personal computers. PayPal ignores API request fields for
features that Express Checkout does not support when it runs on mobile devices.
36 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
NVP Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Express Checkout on mobile devices supports only these NVP fields:
NVP SetExpressCheckout Request Fields Supported on Mob ile Devices
AMT RETURNURL CANCELURL TOKEN
MAXAMT DESC CUSTOM INVNUM
REQCONFIRMSHIPPING NOSHIPPING ADDROVERRIDE LOCALECODE
The following values are
not supported:
AD – Andorra
AL – Albania
AM – Armenia
BR – Brazil
GE – Georgia
VA – Holy See
IN – India
MC – Monaco
MD – Moldova
UA – Ukraine
2
PAYMENTACTION EMAIL SOLUTIONTYPE
value must be mark
CHANNELTYPE
value must be merchant
BRANDNAME
NVP Address Type Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
STREET STREET2 CITY
STATE COUNTRYCODE ZIP
SHIPTOPHONENUM
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 37
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
NVP Payment Details Type Fields Sup ported by Expre ss Check out on M obile Devic es
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_AMT AMT (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_n_CURRENCYC
ODE
CURRENCYCODE (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_SHIPPINGA
SHIPPINGAMT (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_n_INSURANCE
MT
INSURANCEAMT (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_ITEMAMT ITEMAMT (deprecated)
AMT
n_SHIPDISC A
SHIPPINGDISCAMT (deprecated)
MT
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_HANDLINGA
HANDLINGAMT (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_n_TAXAMT
MT
TAXAMT (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_CUSTOM CUSTOM (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_n_INVNUM
n_DESC DESC (deprecated)
INVNUM (deprecated) BUTTONSOURCE PAYMENTREQUEST_
NOTIFYURL (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_TRANSACTI
TRANSACTIONID (deprecated) PAYMENTREQUEST_n_ALLOWEDPA
ONID
ALLOWEDPAYMENTMETHOD
(deprecated)
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_PAYMENTRE
PAYMENTREQUEST_
TION
PAYMENTREQUESTID (deprecated)
n_NOTETEXT NOTETEXT (deprecated)
YMENTMETHOD
n_PAYMENTA C
PAYMENTACTION (deprecated)
QUESTID
n_NOTIFYUR L
NVP Payment Details Item Type Fields Sup ported by Express Check out on Mobile Dev ices
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_DESC
n (deprecated) L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_AMTm L_AMTn (deprecated)
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n (deprecated) L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_TAXAMTm L_TAXAMTn (deprecated)
L_QTY
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
GHTVALUEm and
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
GHTUNIT
L_ITEMURL
m
n (deprecated)
n_NAMEm L_NAMEn (deprecated) L_PAYMENTRE QUEST_n_DESCm
n_NUMBERm L_NUMBERn (deprecated) L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_QTYm
n_ITEMWEI
n_ITEMWEI
L_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE
L_ITEMWEIGHTUNIT
(deprecated)
n and
n
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
m
n_ITEMURL
38 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
SOAP Request Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Express Checkout on mobile devices supports only these SOAP fields:
SOAP SetExpressCheckout Request Fields Supported on Mo bile Devices
OrderTotal ReturnURL CancelURL Token
MaxAmount OrderDescription Custom InvoiceID
Address ReqConfirmShipping NoShipping AddressOverride
2
LocaleCode
The following values are
PaymentAction BuyerEmail SolutionType
value must be mark
not supported:
AD – Andorra
AL – Albania
AM – Armenia
BR – Brazil
GE – Georgia
VA – Holy See
IN – India
MC – Monaco
MD – Moldova
UA – Ukraine
ChannelType
BrandName
value must be merchant
SOAP AddressType Fields Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Street1 Street2 CityName
StateOrProvince Country PostalCode
Phone
SOAP PaymentDetailsType Fields Suppo rted by Express Checkout on Mobile Dev ices
OrderTotal ItemTotal ShippingTotal
InsuranceTotal ShippingDiscount HandlingTotal
TaxTotal OrderDescription Custom
InvoiceID ButtonSource NotifyURL
ShipToAddress PaymentDetailsItem NoteText
TransactionId AllowedPaymentMethodType PaymentAction
PaymentRequestID
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 39
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Locales Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
SOAP PaymentDetailsItemType Fields Suppo rted b y Express Checkou t on Mo bile Devices
Name Description Amount
Number Quantity Tax
ItemWeight ItemURL
Locales Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
You can set the locale for Express Checkout pages on mobile devices to any of the countries
generally supported by PayPal, with a few exceptions. PayPal displays the Login page in the
default language for the country that you specify. The default locale is United States.
Locale Codes Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
The following locale codes are not supported by Express Checkout on mobile devices:
Country or Region Code
Albania AL
Andorra AD
Armenia AM
Brazil BR
Georgia GE
Holy See (Vatican City State) VA
India IN
Moldova, Republic of MD
Monaco MC
Ukraine UA
Handling Locales Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
If you attempt use use an unsupported locale, the following actions occur:
Merchants – If you set the locale code to an unsupported country, PayPal switches buyers
to the full website checkout experience.
Buyers – If a buyer logs in with a PayPal account for an unsupported country, PayPal stops
the mobile checkout experience and the buyer cannot pay.
40 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Features Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
Features Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile
Devices
Before implementing Express Checkout on mobile devices, examine the list of features that
are not supported.
Express Checkout does not support the following features when it runs on mobile devices:
SMS security keys for mobile PayPal login, in which buyers can sign up for an extra
layer of security with a secure token. Buyers add a one-time secure code to their password
or mobile PIN when they log in to PayPal. Buyers can use secure codes from hardware
tokens but not from software tokens sent by SMS to the buyer’s mobile phone.
Forgotten email or password, in which buyers can request their email address or
password during checkout, before logging in to PayPal.
Parallel payments, which lets buyers pay multiple merchants in a single checkout session.
Dynamic images, which lets PayPal update the images on your website for the Checkout
With Express Checkout button and PayPal acceptance mark automatically to coincide
with PayPal campaigns.
2
Buyer experience enhancements, which lets you offer gift wrap, ask a survey question, or
display your customer service number during checkout.
Custom payment page styles, which lets you change the overall appearance of the
Review your information page with a custom page style or with individual page style
characteristics.
Instant Update API, which is a callback that sends you the buyer’s shipping address
during checkout on PayPal and lets you respond with your actual sh ipping charges and
handling charges.
International addresses, which lets buyers add international addresses during checkout
after logging in to PayPal.
Promotional offers, which lets buyers pay with coupons, incentives, and buyer credit.
Dynamic currency conversion, which lets you list an item in one currency and then
accept payment in a different currency.
Keep me logged in, in which buyers remain logged in to PayPal between transactions.
Related information:
"Integrating Express Checkout With Your Mobile We bsite" on page 31
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 41
Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
2
Features Not Supported by Express Checkout on Mobile Devices
42 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Set up a recurring payment to handle subscription and other payments that occur on a fixed
schedule.
Recurring Payments Demo
How Recurring Payments Work
To view a video that demonstrates how to set up Recurring Payments, navigate to: Recurring
Payments Demo
When you support recurring payments for a buyer, you create a recurring payments profile.
The profile contains information about the recurring payments, including details for an
optional trial period and a regular payment period. Both periods contain information about the
payment frequency and payment amounts, including shipping and tax, if applicable.
After creating a profile, PayPal automatically queues payments based on the billing start date,
billing frequency, and billin g amount. Payments reoccur until th e profile expires, t here are too
many failed payments to continue, or you cancel the profile.
NOTE: When using Express Checkout, the buyer can also cancel a recurring payments
PayPal funds queued payments using the normal payment method hierarchy within the buyer’s
PayPal account.
After creating a recurring payments profile, you can view profile details or cancel the profile
from your PayPal account. You can also access recurring payments reports from the PayPal
Business Overview page.
Also, after creating a recurring payments profile, you can use the Recurring Payments API to
do the following:
Get information details about a recurring payments profile.
Change the status of a recurring payments profile.
Update the details of the recurring payments profile.
Bill the outstanding amount of the recurring payments profile.
Limitations
The current release of the Recurring Payments API has the following limitations:
A profile can have at most one optional trial period and a single regular payment period.
The profile start date may not be earlier than the profile creation date.
profile.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 43
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Recurring Payments Terms
Recurring Payments with Express Checkout also has the following limitations:
To be able to create a recurring payments profile for the buyer, you must ensure that the
buyer’s PayPal account includes an active credit card.
You can create a maximum of 10 recurring payments profiles during checkout.
You can increase the profile amount by only 20% in each 180-day interval after you create
the profile.
Recurring Payments Terms
The following table lists and describes terms that are commonly used in the context of PayPal
recurring payments.
Recurring Payments Terms
Term Definition
Recurring payments profile Your record of a recurring transaction for a single buyer. The profile
includes all information required to automatically bill the buyer a fixed
amount of money at a fixed interval.
Billing cycle Make one payment per billing cycle. Each billing cycle has 2 components:
The billing period specifies the unit to calculate the billing cycle (such as
days or months).
The billing frequency specifies the number of billing periods that make
up the billing cycle.
For example, if the billing period is Month and the billing frequency is 2, the
billing cycle is 2 months. If the billing period is Week and the billing
frequency is 6, PayPal schedules the payments every 6 weeks.
Regular payment period The main subscription period for this profile, which defines a payment
amount for each billing cycle. The regular payment period begins after the
trial period, if you specify a trial period for the profile.
Trial period An optional subscription period before the regular payment period begins. A
trial period may not have the same billing cycles and payment amounts as
the regular payment period.
Payment amount The amount the buyer pays for each billing cycle.
Outstanding balance If a payment fails for any reason, PayPal adds that amount to the profile’s
outstanding balance.
Profile ID An alphanumeric string (generated by PayPal) that uniquely identifies a
recurring profile. You can specify the Profile ID in the
TransactionSearch API operation to obtain all payments associated
with the identified profile.
44 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Handling Recurring Payments
Options for Creating a Recurring Payments Profile
Options for Creating a Recurring Payments Profile
You can create a recurring payments profile that allows a regular payment period, an optional
trial period, an initial payment, and other options.
Specifying the Regular Payment Period
Each recurring payments profile has a regular payment period that defines the amount and
frequency of the payment. The following table lists the required fields for specifying the
regular payment period.
Required fields for specifying a regular payment period
NVP SOAP Description
3
PROFILESTARTDATE RecurringPaymentsProfileDet
ails.BillingStartDate
BILLINGPERIOD ScheduleDe tails.
PaymentPeriod.BillingPeriod
BILLINGFREQUENCY ScheduleDetails.
PaymentPeriod.BillingFreque
ncy
AMT ScheduleDetails.
PaymentPeriod.Amount
The date when billing for this profile
begins.
NOTE: The profile may take up to 24
hours for activation.
The unit of measure for the billing cycle.
Must be one of the following:
Day
Week
SemiMonth
Month
Year
The number of billing periods that make
up one billing cycle. The combination of
billing frequency and billing period must
be less than or equal to one year.
NOTE: If the billing period is
SemiMonth, the billing
frequency must be 1.
Amount to bill for each billing cycle.
You can optionally include a value for TOTALBILLINGCYCLES (SOAP field
ScheduleDetails.PaymentPeriod.TotalBilling Cycles), which specifies the total
number of billing cycles in the regular payment period. If you either do not specify a value or
specify the value 0, the payments conti nue until PayPal (or the buyer) cancels or suspends the
profile. If the value is greater than 0, the regular payment period continues for the specified
number of billing cycles.
You can also specify an optional shipping amount or tax amount for the regular payment
period.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 45
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Options for Creating a Recurring Payments Profile
Including an Optional Trial Period
You can optionally include a trial period in the profile by specifying the following fields in the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request. The following table lists the required fields
for creating an optional trial period.
Required fields for specifying a trial period
NVP SOAP
TRIALBILLINGPERIOD ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.Bil lingPeriod
TRIALBILLINGFREQUENCY ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.BillingFrequency
TRIALAMT ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.Amount
TRIALTOTALBILLINGCYCLES ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.Tot alBillingCycles
Specifying an Initial Payment
You can optionally specify an initial non-recurring payment when the recurring payments
profile is created by including the following fields in the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request:
Required fields for specifying an initial payment
NVP SOAP
INITAMT ScheduleDetails.ActivationDetails.Initi alAmount
FAILEDINITAMTACTION ScheduleDetails.ActivationDetai ls.FailedInitAmoun tAction
By default, PayPal does not activate the profile if the initial payment amount fails. To override
this default behavior, set the FAILEDINITAMTACTION field to ContinueOnFailur e. If the
initial payment amount fails, ContinueOnFailure instructs PayPal to add the failed
payment amount to the outstanding balance due on this recurring payment profile.
If you do not set FAILEDINITAMTACTION or set it to CancelOnFailure, PayPal creates the
recurring payment profile. However, PayPal places the profile into a pending status until the
initial payment completes. If the initial payment clears, PayPal notifies you by Instant
Payment Notification (IPN) that it has activated the pending profile. If the payment fails,
PayPal notifies you by IPN that it has canceled the pending profile.
If you created the profile using Express Checkout, the buyer receives an email stating that
PayPal cleared the initial payment or canceled the pending profile.
Maximum Number of Failed Payments
By including the MAXFAILEDPAYMENTS field in the CreateRecurringPayment sProfile
request, you set the number of failed payments allowed before PayPal automatically suspends
the profile. PayPal sends you an IPN message when the number of failed payments reaches the
maximum number specified.
46 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API
Billing the Outstanding Amount
If a payment fails for any reason, PayPal adds the billing amount (including shipping and tax,
if applicable) to the profile’s outstanding balance. Use the AUTOBILLOUTAMT field in the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request to specify whether PayPal should add the
outstanding amount to the payment amount for the next billing cycle.
Whether or not you choose to include the outstanding amount with the payment for the next
billing cycle, you can also use the BillOutstandingAmount API to programmatically
collect that amount at any time.
Identifying Items as Digital or Physical Goods
Set all the payment details item fields in the following table in the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request. If all items are digital goods, be sure to set
the item category field to Digital to get the discount rate for digital goods.
Required fields for specifying item details
NVP SOAP Description
Handling Recurring Payments
3
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_
ITEMCATEGORY
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_
n
NAME
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_
AMT
n
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_
n
QTY
n
ItemCategory For digital goods, this field must be set to
Digital.
Digital
Physical
Name Item name.
Amount Cost of item.
Quantity Item quantity.
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API
During the checkout flow, you can create one or more recurring payments and mix recurring
payments with other purchases.
The following diagram illustrates the typical processing flow to create recurring payments
during checkout.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 47
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API
The circled numbers in the diagram correspond to the numbered steps in the following table:
Recurring payments processing flow
Step Merchant... PayPal...
1Calls SetExpressCheckout, setting up one or
more billing agreements in the request.
2 Returns a token, which identifies the transaction, to
the merchant.
48 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Handling Recurring Payments
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API
Step Merchant... PayPal...
3 Redirects buyer’s browser to:
https://www.paypal.com/cgibin/webscr?cmd=_express-checko ut
&token=
SetExpressCheckout
4 Redirects buyer’s browser to returnURL passed to
5Calls GetExpressCheckoutDetails to get
buyer information (optional).
Displays merchant review page for buyer.
<token returned by
>
Displays login page and allows buyer to select
payment options and shipping address.
SetExpressCheckout if buyer agrees to payment
description.
Returns GetExpressCheckoutDetails
response.
3
6Calls DoExpressCheckoutPayment if the order
includes one-time purchases as well as a recurring
payment. Otherwise, skip this step.
Returns DoExpressCheckoutPayment response
Calls CreateRecurring PaymentsProfile one
time for each recurring payment item included in
the order.
Returns ProfileID in
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile response
for each profile successfully created.
7 Displays successful transaction page.
Initiating the Processing Flow With SetExpressCheckout
As in the Express Checkout flow, the SetExpr essCheckout request notifies PayPal that you
are:
Initiating an order that can be either a one-time purchase, up to 10 recurring payments, or a
mixture of a one-time purchase and recurring payments
Initiating the processing flow to create one or more billing agreements for recurring
payments with no associated one-time purchase or recurring payment
NOTE: You can also initiate the processing flow using SetCustomerBillingAgreement
for orders that contain only a single recurring payment.
Typically, you set the amount of the payment for an Express Checkout transaction when you
call the SetExpressCheckout request. You confirm the amount in the
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 49
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API
DoExpressCheckoutPayment request. If, however, you set the amount of the payment to 0
in the SetExpressCheckout request, you can create a billing agreement without initiating a
payment.
NOTE: To create a billing agreement without purchase, use Version 54.0 or higher, of the
PayPal API.
To set up one or more billing agreements for recurring payments, modify the
SetExpressCheckout request as follows:
1. Add an L_BILLINGTYPEn field for each billing agreement you want to create; n is a value
in the range of 0 to 9, inclusive. Set the value of each field to RecurringPayments.
L_BILLINGTYPE0=RecurringPayments
2. Add an L_BILLINGAGREEMENTDESCRIPTIONn field to correspond to each
L_BILLINGTYPEn field you pass; n is a value in the range of 0 to 9, inclusive. Set the
value of each field to the description of the goods or services associated with that billing
agreement, for example:
L_BILLINGAGREEMENTDESCRIPTION0=Time Magazi ne subscription
3. If there is no associated purchase, set PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT to 0.
PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=0
4. (Optional) Set MAXAMT to the average expected transaction amount.
PayPal uses the value you pass to validate the buyer’s payment method for recurring
payments. If you do not specify a value, the default is 25.00.
The SetExpre ssCheckout response provides a token that uniquely identifies the transaction
for subsequent redirects and API calls.
Redirecting the Buyer to PayPal
After you receive a successful response from SetExpressCheckout, add the TOKEN from
the SetExpressCheckout respon se as a name/value pair to the following URL, and redirect
your buyer to it:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin /webscr?cmd=_expre ss-checkout&
token=<value_returned_by_SetExpressCheckoutResponse>
When redirecting the buyer to PayPal, PayPal recommends that you use the HTTPS response
302 “Object Moved” with the URL as the value of the Location header in the HTTPS
response. Make sure that you use an SSL-enabled server to prevent browser warnings about a
mix of secure and insecure graphics.
50 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Handling Recurring Payments
Recurring Payments With the Express Checkout API
Getting Buyer Details Using GetExpressCheckoutDetails
The GetExpressCheckoutDetails method returns information about the buyer, including
name and email address stored on PayPal. You can optionally call this API after PayPal
redirects the buyer’s browser to the ReturnURL you specified in the SetExpressCheckout
request.
The GetExpressCheckoutDetails request has one required parameter, TOKEN, which is
the value returned in the SetExpressCheckout response.
PayPal does not return the values you specified for the following parameter fields in the
GetExpressCheckoutDetails response unless the transaction includes a purchase. PayPal
ignores the fields if you set up a billing agreement for a recurring payment that is not
immediately charged.
PAYMENTREQUEST_n_DESC
PAYMENTREQUEST_n_CUSTOM
PAYMENTREQUEST_n_INVNUM
3
Creating the Profiles With CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile
After your buyer has agreed to the recurring payments billing agreement on your confirmation
page, you must call CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile to create the profile. If you are
creating multiple recurring payments profiles, you must call
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile once for each profile you plan to create.
If the transaction includes a mixture of a one-time purchase and recurring payments profiles,
call DoExpressCheckou tPayment to complete the one-time purchase transaction. Then call
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile for each recurring payment profile you plan to
create.
IMPORTANT: PayPal does not create the recurring payments profile until you receive a
success response from the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile call.
T o obtain the best rates for digital goods, set values for the following required pay ment details
item fields:
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NAMEn
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMTn
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_QTYn
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMCATEGORYn (you must set the value to Digital)
NOTE: The payment details item fields are available with version 69.0 and later of the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile API.
The CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile response contains a Profile ID, which is an
encoded string that uniquely identifies the recurring payments profile.
The following is a CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile example that enables you to
obtain the best rates for digital goods items.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 51
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Recurring Payments Profile Status
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=CreateRecurringPayment sProfile
TOKEN=EC-13W99099UU817504D
&PROFILESTARTDATE:20XX-03-05T03 :00:00
&DESC=Movie clips
&BILLINGPERIOD=Month
&BILLINGFREQUENCY=12
&AMT=1.00
&CURRENCYCODE=USD
&EMAIL=payername@bbb.net
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMCATEGO RY0=Digital
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NAME0=Kitt y Antics
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT0=1.00
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_QTY0=1
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&PROFILEID=I-G7ALAX8095JY
&PROFILESTATUS=Active
Recurring Payments Profile Status
The recurring payments actions you may take depend on the status of the profile.
A recurring payments profile can have one of the following status values:
ActiveProfile
PendingProfile
ExpiredProfile
SuspendedProfile
CancelledProfile
If PayPal successfully creates the profile, the profile has an ActiveProfile status. However,
if a non-recurring initial payment fails and you set FAILEDINITAMTACTIO N to
CancelOnFailure in the CreateRecurringPayment sProfile request, PayPal creates
the profile with a status of PendingProfile. The profile remains in this status until the
initial payment either completes successfully or fails.
A profile has a status of ExpiredProfile when PayPal completes the total billing cycles for
the optional trial and the regular payment periods.
You can suspend or cancel a profile by using the
ManageRecurringPaymentsProfileStatus API. You can also reactivate a suspended
profile. If PayPal has already reached the maximum number of failed payments, however, you
must increase the number of failed payments before reactivating the profile.
52 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Handling Recurring Payments
Getting Recurring Payments Profile Information
NOTE: You can also suspend, cancel, or reactive a recurring payments profile through the
PayPal website.
For recurring payments profiles created with the Express Checkout API, the buyer receives an
email about the change in status of their recurring payment.
Getting Recurring Payments Profile Information
Use the GetRecurringPaymentsProfileDetails API to obtain information about a
profile.
NOTE: You can also get information about recurring payments profiles from the PayPal
website.
Along with the information that you specified in the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile
request, GetRecurringPaymentsProfileDetails also returns the following summary
information about the profile:
Profile status
3
Next scheduled billing date
Number of billing cycles completed in the active subscription period
Number of billing cycles remaining in the active subscription period
Current outstanding balance
Total number of failed billing cycles
Date of the last successful payment received
Amount of the last successful payment received
Modifying a Recurring Payments Profile
Use the UpdateRecurringPaymentsProfile API to modify a recurring payments profile.
NOTE: You can also modify recurring payments profiles from the PayPal website.
You can modify only the following specific information about an active or suspended profile:
Subscriber name or address
Past due or outstanding amount
Whether to bill the outstanding amount with the next billing cycle
Maximum number of failed payments allowed
Profile description and reference
Number of additional billing cycles
Billing amount, tax amount, or shipping amount
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 53
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Modifying a Recurring Payments Profile
NOTE: You cannot modify the billing frequency or billing period of a profile. You can modify
the number of billing cycles in the profile.
You can modify the following profile information during the trial period or regular payment
period.
Billing amount
Number of billing cycles
NOTE: For recurring payments with the Express Checkout API, PayPal does not allow certain
updates, such as billing amount, within 3 days of the scheduled billing date.
The profile changes take effect with the next payment after the call to update the profile. Say,
for example, the buyer has made 1 trial payment out of a total of 3. You call
UpdateRecurringPaymentsProfile to increase the number of billing cycles to 5. This
provides the buyer with 4 additional trial payments. If you call
UpdateRecurringPaymentsProfile during the regular payment p eriod, the changes take
effect with the buyer’s next scheduled regular payment.
For complete details, see the Name-Value Pair Developer Guide and Reference or the SOAP
API Reference.
Updating Addresses
When you update the subscriber shipping address, you must enter all of address fields, not just
those that are changing:
To update the subscriber’s street address, for example, specify all the address fields listed in
the Name-Value Pair Developer Guide and Refer ence or SOAP API Reference. Do not specify
only the street address field.
Updating the Billing Amount
For profiles created using Express Checkout, you can increase the recurring payment total
amount by 20% maximum in a fixed 180-day interval after profile creation. The 20%
maximum is based on the total amount of the profile at the beginning of the 180-day interval,
including any shipping or tax amount.
If, for example, you create a profile on March 10 with a total amount of $100, during the 180day interval from March 10 to September 6, you can increase the amount to a maximum of
$120 (120% of $100).
Suppose that during the first 180-day interval, you increased the payment amount to $110.
During the next 180-day interval (starting September 7), you can only increase the amount of
the payment to a maximum of $132 (120% of $110).
54 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Handling Recurring Payments
Billing the Outstanding Amount of a Profile
Billing the Outstanding Amount of a Profile
Use the BillOutstandingAmount API to immediately bill the buyer for the current past
due or outstanding amount for a recurring payments profile.
NOTE: You can also bill the buyer for the current past due or outstanding amount for a
recurring payments profile from the PayPal website.
To bill the outstanding amount:
The profile status must be active or suspended.
NOTE: The BillOutstandingAm ount API does not reactivate a suspended profile. You
need to call ManageRecurringProfileStatus to do this.
The profile must have a non-zero outstanding balance.
The amount of the payment cannot exceed the outstanding amount for the profile.
The BillOutstandingAmount call cannot be within 24 hours of a regularly scheduled
payment for this profile.
3
NOTE: An error occurs when another outstanding balance payment is already queued.
PayPal informs you by IPN about the success or failure of the outstanding payment. For
profiles created using Express Checkout, the buyer receives an email notification of the
payment.
Recurring Payments Notifications
PayPal notifies you of recurring payments events through IPN and email. Typically, however,
you can call GetTransactionDetails to obtain the information you need.
PayPal notifies you of certain events through IPN. For recurring payments profiles created
using Express Checkout, PayPal also notifies buyers of specific events by email. The
following table indicates when PayPal generates IPN and emails:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 55
Handling Recurring Payments
3
Recurring Payments Notifications
Recurring payments IPN messages and email
Event IPN Buyer Email
Profile successfully created Ye s Yes
Profile creation failed Yes Yes
Profile canceled from paypal.com interface Yes Yes
Profile status changed using API No Yes
Profile updated using API No Yes
Initial payment either succeeded or failed Yes Yes
Payment either succeeded or failed (during either trial
period or regular payment period)
Outstanding payment either succeeded or failed Yes Yes
Maximum number of failed payments reached Yes No
NOTE: API transactions such as ManangeRecurringPaymentsProfileStatus do not
Yes Yes
trigger IPN notification. The API response immediately provides the success or failure
of the call.
56 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Reference Transactions
4
A reference transaction is a financial transaction from which subsequent transactions can be
derived. For example, a buyer can make a purchase on your site and the PayPal transaction ID
becomes the ID of a reference transaction that can later be used to initiate another transaction.
Introduction to Reference Transactions
Recurring payments using reference transactions enables you to handle payments for varying
amounts of money on a varying schedule. The buyer can sign up for recurring payments as
part of the Express Checkout flow or sign up before making a purchase. Consider the
following examples:
A buyer purchases a mobile phone and selects a carrier. The buyer pays for the phone using
Express Checkout and agrees to pay monthly for the service.
A buyer downloads a music video and pays for it with Express Checkout. During checkout,
the buyer agrees to make a payment whenever the account balance exceeds a specified
minimum amount.
A buyer agrees to pay monthly for utilities, such as gas or electricity. The buyer makes no
payment at the time of agreement. PayPal deducts payments monthly for actual use.
These examples represent payment transactions that reoccur periodically, either for a specific
time period or when transactions reach a certain threshold. The amount of each transaction
varies by use. These kinds of recurring payments are well-suited for processing with reference
transactions, which are used in the same way as reference transactions in credit card
processing. When implementing recurring payments using reference tran saction s, yo u control
transaction initiation and the transaction amount. You can also include payment for multiple
items in one checkout.
NOTE: PayPal must enable you to use reference transactions. Contact PayPal for details.
Reference Transactions
A reference transaction is a financial transaction from which you can derive subsequent
transactions. For example, a buyer makes a purchase on your site, and you use the PayPal
transaction ID or reference transaction ID later to initiate another transaction. In the music
video example, you might use the transaction generated by the purchase to initiate a monthly
transaction for renting videos from the service. Similarly, you can use the transaction for the
first download to generate another transaction for other downloads.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 57
Reference Transactions
4
Introduction to Reference Transactions
Billing Agreements
You must have the buyer ’s agreement to obtain funds from the buyer’s account. The buyer
must log in to PayPal once to agree, but after that, PayPal does not require the buyer to log in.
This agreement represents a billing agreement between you and the buyer. PayPal maintains
the agreement.
The buyer can agree during the Express Checkout flow, as in the case of purchasing a mobile
phone purchase or downloading a music video. Or the buyer can agree before initiating a
payment, as in the case of signing up for automatic utility payments.
PayPal creates a billing agreement ID that represents the agreement. The billing agreement ID
is also associated with a transaction. You can use the billing agreement ID to derive a
subsequent transaction in the same way that you use a reference transaction ID.
A reference transaction must have occurred within the past 365 days because the ID may not
be available after a year. The billing agreement ID does not establish a time frame. It is good
until canceled by the buyer. A buyer may have more than one billing agreement ID for your
site. This could occur if the buyer established separate agreements for different kinds of
service. If you use a reference transaction ID to initiate a reference transaction, you must make
sure that the ID is associated with the correct billing agreement.
To avoid confusion, PayPal recommends that you use the billing agreement ID whenever it is
available, instead of the reference transaction ID.
API Operations for Reference Transactions
Several API operations implement recurring payments using reference transactions:
Express Checkout API operations enable you to set up a billing agreement as part of the
checkout processing, as in the examples of a mobile phone purchase or a music video
download. These operations eliminate the need for a separate step to create the billing
agreement.
The DoReferenceTransaction API operation initiates a payment, which is sometimes
called a merchant pull payment because you initiate the payment, not the buyer. After a
billing agreement has been established, this is the only API operation you must call.
The CreateBillingAgreem ent API operation enables you to set up a billing agreement
without requiring a purchase. Use it in place o f DoExpres sCheckoutPayment to allow a
buyer to set up a billing agreement before making a payment, as in the example of a buyer
preparing to make a monthly utility payment.
You can use the BAUpdate API (NVP: METHOD=BillAgreementUpdate) to enable a
buyer to cancel a billing agreement while on your site. The buyer also can cancel a billing
agreement by logging in to PayPal directly; thus, this API operation may not be required.
You can use BAUpdate (NVP: METHOD=BillAgreementUpdate) to obtain the buyer’s
most recent billing address.
58 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Reference Transactions
Setting Up a Billing Agreement Using the Express Checkout API
Setting Up a Billing Agreement Using the Express Checkout API
You must set up a billing agreement using the Express Checkout API before you can use a
reference transaction.
Specify 0 as the amount of the pu rch as e in SetExp ressCheckout and call
CreateBillingAgreement if you only want to obtain a billing agreement ID for later use.
(Do not call DoExpressCheckoutPayment, because no payment is involved.) Otherwise,
call DoExpressCheckoutPayment to obtain the billing agreement ID and to initiate an
Express Checkout payment.
The following diagram shows the flow for obtaining a billing agreement ID during an Express
Checkout payment:
4
The numbered steps correspond to the circled numbers. Your site must take the specified
actions at each step, as follows:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 59
Reference Transactions
4
Initiating a Payment Using a Reference Transaction
1. Call SetExpressCheckout and pass a BillingAgreementDetails element that
contains the following information:
– A billing type. PayPal recommends that you use
MerchantInitiatedBillingSingleAgreement if you need only one billing
agreement between you and the buyer. Use MerchantInitiatedBill ing to create a
billing agreement between you and the buyer each time you call
DoExpressCheckoutPayment.
– A description of the goods or services associated with the agreement.
– Optionally, the kind of PayPal payment you require.
– Optionally, a string that you can use for any purpose.
2. PayPal returns a token, which you use in the subsequent steps.
3. Redirect the buyer’s browser to PayPal, which allows the buyer to log in or set up an
account to pay for the purchase. PayPal presents the buyer with a confirmation page.
4. PayPal redirects the buyer’s browser to your return page.
5. Call GetExpressCheckoutDetails to obtain information about the buyer and the
buyer’s checkout status. PayPal retu rns checkout details.
6. Call DoExpressCheckoutPayment to initiate the purchase.
7. If the buyer accepts the billing agreement, PayPal returns information about the purchase
and a billing agreement ID. Save the ID for reference transactions or recurring payments.
To obtain a billing agreement ID without also initiating a purchase, modify the previous
procedure as follows:
In step 1, specify 0 for the amount of purchase in the payment details.
(Optional) Set MAXAMT to the expected average transaction amount (default is 25.00).
PayPal uses the value to validate the buyer’s payment method for future payments.
Skip step 5.
In step 6, call CreateBillingAgreement instead of DoExpressCheckoutPayment.
If you offer a store account, you can control whether PayPal creates the billing agreement
based on buyer signup. T o skip the creation of a billing agreement ID if the buyer does not sign
up, set SKIPBACREATION to true in the call to DoExpressCheckout.
The numbered steps correspond to the circled numbers. Your site must take the specified
actions at each step, as follows:
Initiating a Payment Using a Reference Transaction
After you establish a billing agreement, you can initiate a payment, which withdraws funds
from the buyer’s PayPal account without manual intervention. Call
DoReferenceTransaction to use a reference transaction.
60 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Reference Transactions
About Cancelling Agreements and Getting the Billing Address
Call DoReferenceTransaction and include the following information:
A reference ID that associates the buyer to a billing agreement. Typically, the ID is the
billing agreement ID; however, you can also use the ID associated with a reference
transaction.
A payment action, such as an authorization, order, or final sale.
Payment details, including the amount of the payment.
PayPal responds with a reference transaction ID that you can keep for future reference and
other information about the transaction.
You most likely call DoReferenceTransaction in response to the buyer confirming a
purchase on your site. The following diagram shows the DoRef erenceTransaction
message flow for a buyer making a purchase from your site.
4
PayPal does not require that you have a buyer on your site. For example, you could call
DoReferenceTransaction for each buyer in a batch of buyers whose utility bills are due.
The following diagram shows the DoReferenceTransaction message flow for a serverinitiated recurring payment.
About Cancelling Agreements and Getting the Billing Address
You can use the BAUpdate API operation (NVP: METHOD=BillAgreementUpdate) to
perform two distinct functions: cancel a billing agreement or obtain the buyer’s latest billing
address.
NOTE: To update a billing agreement (as the operation name implies), you call BAUpdate to
cancel the agreement. Then, you must create a new billing agreement.
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 61
Reference Transactions
4
About Cancelling Agreements and Getting the Billing Address
Canceling a Billing Agreement
You can use BAUpdate (NVP: METHOD=BillAgreementUpdate) to cancel a billing
agreement.
To cancel an agreement, call BAUpdate and include the following information:
A reference ID that associates the buyer to a billing agreement. Typically, the ID is the
billing agreement ID; however, you can also use a ID from a reference transaction.
An action, which must be Canceled, in the BillingAgreementStatus field.
PayPal responds with the billing agreement ID and other information about the buyer whose
agreement was canceled. Although a buyer can log in to PayPal to manage agreements, the
BAUpdate API operation enables the buyer to cancel the agreement from your site without
logging in to PayPal. You can provide your own page for maintaining agreements with the
buyer.
The following diagram shows the message flow to cancel a billing agreement from your page:
Obtaining the Most Recent Billing Address
Y ou can use B AUpdate (NVP: METHOD=BillAgreementUp date) to obtain the buyer’s most
recent billing address.
NOTE: This feature applies to all new and existing reference transaction-based billing
agreements and preapproved payment-originated agreements.
To obtain the billing address, call BAUpdate without passing a value in the
BillingAgreementStatus field. The billing address is returned in the BAUpdate
response.
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Implementing Parallel Payments
5
Parallel payments enables a single buyer to pay multiple merchants in a single checkout
session. Parallel payments is available with API version 63.0 and higher.
About Parallel Payments
Parallel payments enables buyers to pay multiple merchants on a marketplace in a single
Express Checkout session.
An online travel agency marketplace is a typical example of parallel payments in use. The
buyer purchases airline tickets and makes reservations from various merchants such as hotels,
car rental agencies, and entertainment venues hosted on the site. By implementing parallel
payments through Express Checkout, the marketplace host accepts PayPal as a payment
method. The host also provides the buyer with a consolidated order on the PayPal Review
your information page, summarizing expenses, itineraries, and other supporting information.
Buyers see travel information, including cancellation fees, directly from the supplier on the
Transaction Details page and in an email message.
What Is and What Is Not Supported
Parallel payments:
Supports sales and orders that you later capture with the authorization and capture API
operations
Supports up to10 payments in one Express Checkout session
NOTE: The same merchant can receive multiple payments in one Express Checkout
session.
Does not support use of the Instant Update API (callback)
Does not support accelerated boarding; however single-payment transactions are still
supported
Does not support parallel billing agreements
Post-Integration Experience
After you integrate parallel payments, the PayPal cart review area shows summary
information for each payment. The following figure is an example of summary information for
an online travel agency with payments to an airline and a hotel.
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Implementing Parallel Payments
5
About Parallel Payments
The following figure shows expanded details on the airline purchase.
The following figure shows expanded details on the hotel payment.
64 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Implementing Parallel Payments
Name-Value Pair Syntax Supporting Parallel Payments
5
Name-Value Pair Syntax Supporting Parallel Payments
The PayPal API uses a special syntax for NVP fields to support parallel payments.
The NVP interface to the PayPal API supports up to a maximum of 10 parallel payments in a
transaction. To accommodate this, request fields have the following format, where
number in the range 0 to 9 representing a payment.
PAYMENTREQUEST_
The first numbered field in a list of payments starts with n equal to 0, the second field has n
equal to 1, and so forth.
The response name format is:
PAYMENTREQUEST_
NOTE: Even if your Express Checkout integration supports single payments only, you must
use this format. Specify
Express Checkout API.
The payment information returned in the DoExpressCheckoutPayme nt response has the
same basic format; however, the field name starts with PAYMENTINFO:
PAYMENTINFO_
The NVP API reference documentation shows the proper format and naming for every NVP
field that uses this syntax.
n_NVPREQUESTFIELDNAME
n_NVPRESPONSEFIELDNAME
n=0 for single payment with version 63.0 or higher of the
n_NVPRESPONSEFIELDNAME
n is a
Examples:
The following syntax represents the total amount of the first payment:
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Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the NVP API
PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT
The following represents the second line of the name for the third payment:
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_2_NAME1
Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the NVP API
To integrate parallel payments by using the NVP API, you need to use the syntax for creating
unique NVP request field names and create a unique set of fields for each payment. You also
need to set a few required variables.
To integrate parallel payments using the NVP interface to Express Checkout:
1. Create a unique set of NVP request fields for each payment you will be hosting on your
marketplace using the syntax PAYMENTREQUEST_
a value from 0 - 9.
2. You are required to pass values in the following Payment Details Type fields in the call to
SetExpressCheckout and DoExpressChecko utPayment. For each of the
you host:
n_NVPREQUESTFIELDNAME where n is
n payments
– Pass the value Sale or Order in PAYMENTREQUEST_
– Pass a unique value for PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_PAYMENTREQU ESTID. You will use this
n_PAYMENTACTION .
value to locate the matching payment response details for that payment.
– Pass the merchant’s Payer ID (secure merchant account ID) or the merchant’s email
address in PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_SELLERPAYPALACCOUNTID.
3. Use the Payment Details Item Type fields as appropriate in the call to
SetExpressCheckout and DoExpressCheckout Payment to pass data about each
payment.
Result:
For each payment in the transaction, the DoExpressCheckoutPayment response returns:
A PAYMENTINFO_n_PAYMENTREQUESTID value that matches the
PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_PAYMENTREQUESTID value you passed in the
DoExpressCheckoutPayment request. Use this value to locate the response data for
each payment.
A PAYMENTINFO_n_SELLERPAYPALACCOUNTID. This value is whichever one of the
following values was passed in:
– The merchant’s email address
– The merchant’s Payer ID (secure merchant account ID)
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If errors are returned, check the response data in the PAYMENTERROR field for each payment. It
is possible that errors are returned only for a subset of the payments, while other payments are
successful. For failed payments, you should ask the buyer for an alternate payment method.
Example
The following is an example SetExpressCheckoutrequest with parallel payments
integrated.
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=SetExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=http://...
&CANCELURL=http://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=300
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_ITEMAMT=200
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT=100
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_DESC=Summer Vac ation trip
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_INSURANCEAMT =0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPDISCAMT= 0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SELLERPAYPAL ACCOUNTID=seller-1 39@paypal.com
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_INSURANCEOPT IONOFFERED=false
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTIO N=Order
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTREQUE STID=CART26488-PAY MENT0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_AMT=200
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_ITEMAMT=180
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_SHIPPINGAMT= 0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_HANDLINGAMT= 0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_TAXAMT=20
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_DESC=Summer Vac ation trip
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_INSURANCEAMT =0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_SHIPDISCAMT= 0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_SELLERPAYPAL ACCOUNTID=seller-1 40@paypal.com
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_INSURANCEOPT IONOFFERED=false
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_PAYMENTACTIO N=Order
&PAYMENTREQUEST_1_PAYMENTREQUE STID=CART26488-PAY MENT1
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NAME0=Depa rt San Jose Feb 12 at 12:10PM Arrive in
Baltimore at 10:22PM
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NAME1=Depa rt Baltimore Feb 1 5 at 6:13 PM Arrive i n San
Jose at 10:51 PM
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NUMBER0=Fl ight 522
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_NUMBER1=Fl ight 961
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_QTY0=1
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_QTY1=1
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT0=50
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_TAXAMT1=50
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT0=50
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT1=150
5
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Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the SOAP API
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_DESC0=SJC Terminal 1. Flight time: 7 hours 12 min utes
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_0_DESC1=BWI Terminal 1. Flight time: 7 hours 38 min utes
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_1_NAME0=Nigh t(s) stay at 9990 Deereco Road,Tim onium, MD
21093
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_1_NUMBER0=30 0
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_1_QTY0=1
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_1_TAXAMT0=20
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_1_AMT0=180
&L_PAYMENTREQUEST_1_DESC0=King No-Smoking; Check in after 4:00 PM; Ch eck
out by 1:00 PM
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the SOAP API
Parallel payments uses the PaymentDetailsType structure to pass data for each merchant
receiving payment. You can pass up to a 10 structures in a single call to
SetExpressCheckout and DoExpressCheckout Payment.
NOTE: Be sure to use structure fields that are not marked as ‘deprecated’ in the SOAP API
reference documentation.
To integrate parallel payments by using the SOAP interface to Express Checkout:
1. Create PaymentDetails as an array of PaymentDetailsType structures, one for each
payment you host on your marketplace.
2. You are required to pass values in the following PaymentDeta ilsType fields in the call
to SetExpressCheckout and DoExpressCheckoutPaym ent.
– Pass the value Sale or Order in PaymentAction.
– Pass a unique value in PaymentRequestID. You will use this value to locate the
matching response details for that payment.
– Pass the merchant’s Payer ID (secure merchant account ID) or the merchant’s email
address in the SellerDetailsType.PayPalAccountId field.
3. Use PaymentDetailsType and PaymentDetailsItemType fields, as appropriate, in
the call to SetExpressCheckout and DoExpressCheckout Payment to pass data
about each payment.
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Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the SOAP API
Result:
For each payment in the transaction, the DoExpressCheckoutPayment response returns a
PaymentInfoType structure corresponding to each payment:
The PaymentRequestID will match the value you passed in the
DoExpressCheckoutPayment request. Use this value to locate the response data for
each payment.
SellerDetailsType.PayPalAccountId returns one of the following values that was
passed in:
– The merchant’s email address
– The merchant’s Payer ID (secure merchant account ID)
If errors occur, check the response data in the PaymentInfo.PaymentError field.
PaymentError returns the ErrorType information. It is possible that errors are returned
only for a subset of payments, while other payments are successful. For failed payments, you
should ask the buyer for an alternate payment method.
The following SOAP example sets up the merchants receiving funds:
5
PaymentDetailsType[] PaymentDetai lsArray = new PaymentDetails Type[9];
//**************************** ****************** *********
//merchant 1
//**************************** ****************** *********
PaymentDetailsType payment1 = new Payment DetailsType();
payment1.PaymentAction = Payme ntActionCodeType.O rder;
payment1.PaymentActionSpecifie d = true;
payment1.SellerDetails = new S ellerDetailsType() ;
payment1.SellerDetails.PayPalA ccountID = "suppor t@1stimagehosting.com ";
//set up the line items for th e first merchant
PaymentDetailsItemType[] payment1 _items_array =
new PaymentDetailsItemType [2];
PaymentDetailsItemType payment 1_item1 = new Paym entDetailsItemType();
payment1_item1.Amount = new B asicAmountType ();
payment1_item1.Amount.currency ID = CurrencyCodeType.USD;
payment1_item1.Amount.Value = "1.00 ";
payment1_item1.Description = " payment1_item1_des c";
payment1_item1.Name = "payment1_ite m1_name";
payment1_item1.Number = "payment1_i tem1_number";
payment1_item1.ItemURL = "http ://item1.com";
payment1_item1.Quantity = "3";
payment1_item1.Tax = new Basic AmountType();
payment1_item1.Tax.currencyID = Cur rencyCodeType.USD;
payment1_item1.Tax.Value = ".50";
PaymentDetailsItemType payment 1_item2 = new Paym entDetailsItemType();
payment1_item2.Amount = new BasicAmoun tType();
payment1_item2.Amount.currency ID = CurrencyCodeType.USD;
payment1_item2.Amount.Value = "1.00 ";
payment1_item2.Description = " payment1_item2_des c";
payment1_item2.Name = "payment1_ite m2_name";
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Integrating Parallel Payments by Using the SOAP API
payment1_item2.Number = "payment1_i tem2_number";
payment1_item2.ItemURL = "http ://item2.com";
payment1_item2.Quantity = "2";
payment1_item2.Tax = new Basic AmountType();
payment1_item2.Tax.currencyID = Cur rencyCodeType.USD;
payment1_item2.Tax.Value = ".25";
payment1_items_array.SetValue( payment1_item1, 0);
payment1_items_array.SetValue( payment1_item2, 1);
//bind the items
payment1.PaymentDetailsItem = payme nt1_items_array;
//set the totals
decimal tax_total = 0;
decimal item_total = 0;
foreach (PaymentDetailsItemTyp e Key in payment1_ items_array)
{
if (Key.Tax != null)
{
tax_total = decimal.Ad d(tax_total,
decimal.Multiply(d ecimal.Parse(Key.T ax.Value),
decimal.Parse( Key.Quantity)));
}
if (Key.Amount != null)
{
item_total = decimal.A dd(item_total,
decimal.Multiply(d ecimal.Parse(Key.A mount.Value),
decimal.Parse( Key.Quantity)));
}
}
payment1.ShippingTotal = new B asicAmountType();
payment1.ShippingTotal.currenc yID = CurrencyCode Type.USD;
payment1.ShippingTotal.Value = "3.00";
payment1.ItemTotal = new Basic AmountType();
payment1.ItemTotal.currencyID = Cur rencyCodeType.USD;
payment1.ItemTotal.Value = item_tot al.ToString();
payment1.TaxTotal = new BasicA mountType();
payment1.TaxTotal.currencyID = CurrencyCodeType. USD;
payment1 .TaxTotal.Value = tax_total.T oString();
decimal order_total = decimal.Add(deci mal.Add(tax_total, item _total),
decimal.Parse(payment1.Shi ppingTotal.Value)) ;
payment1.OrderTotal = new BasicA mountTyp e();
payment1.OrderTotal.currencyID = CurrencyCodeTyp e.USD;
payment1.OrderTotal.Value = or der_total.ToString ();
//mandatory for api call
payment1.PaymentRequestID = Sy stem.Guid.NewGuid( ).ToString();
//add the merchants to the arr ay
PaymentDetailsArray.SetValue(p ayment1, 0);
//**************************** ****************** *********
//merchant 2
//**************************** ****************** *********
PaymentDetailsType payment2 = new Payment DetailsType();
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payment2.PaymentAction = Payme ntActionCodeType.O rder;
payment2.PaymentActionSpecifie d = true;
payment2.SellerDetails = new S ellerDetailsType() ;
payment2.S ellerDetails.PayPal AccountID = "airli ne@grupellc.com";
//items for payment2
PaymentDetailsItemType[] payment2 _items_array =
new PaymentDetailsItemType [2];
PaymentDetailsItemType payment 2_item1 = new Paym entDetailsItemType();
payment2_item1.Amount = new BasicAmoun tType();
payment2_item1.Amount.currency ID = CurrencyCodeType.USD;
payment2_item1.Amount.Value = "1.00 ";
payment2_item1.Description = " payment2_item1_des c";
payment2_item1.Name = "payment2_ite m1_name";
payment2_item1.Number = "payment2_i tem1_number";
payment2_item1.Quantity = "1";
PaymentDetailsItemType payment 2_item2 = new Paym entDetailsItemType();
payment2_item2.Amount = new BasicAmoun tType();
payment2_item2.Amount.currency ID = CurrencyCodeType.USD;
payment2_item2.Amount.Value = "1.00 ";
payment2_item2.Description = " payment2_item2_des c";
payment2_item2.Name = "payment2_ite m2_name";
payment2_item2.Number = "payment2_i tem2_number";
payment2_item2.Quantity = "1";
payment2_items_array.SetValue( payment2_item1, 0);
payment2_items_array.SetValue( payment2_item2, 1);
//bind the items
payment2.PaymentDetailsItem = payme nt2_items_array;
//mandatory for api call
payment2.PaymentRequestID = Sy stem.Guid.NewGuid( ).ToString();
//set the totals
decimal tax_total2 = 0;
decimal item_total2 = 0;
foreach (PaymentDetailsItemTyp e Key in payment2_ items_array)
{
if (Key.Tax != null)
{
tax_total2 = decimal.A dd(tax_total2,
decimal.Multiply(d ecimal.Parse(Key.T ax.Value),
decimal.Parse(Key.Q uantity)));
}
if (Key.Amount != null)
{
item_total2 = decimal. Add(item_total2,
decimal.Multiply(d ecimal.Parse(Key.A mount.Value),
decimal.Parse( Key.Quantity)));
}
}
payment2.ShippingTotal = new B asicAmountType();
payment2.ShippingTotal.currenc yID = CurrencyCode Type.USD;
payment2.ShippingTotal.Value = "3.00";
5
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Best Practices for Online Travel Agencies Implementing Parallel Payments
payment2.ItemTotal = new Basic AmountType();
payment2.ItemTotal.currencyID = Cur rencyCodeType.USD;
payment2.ItemTotal.Value = item_tot al2.ToString();
payment2.TaxTotal = new BasicA mountType();
payment2.TaxTotal.currencyID = CurrencyCodeType. USD;
payment2.TaxTotal.Value = tax_ total2.ToString();
decimal order_total2 = decimal .Add(decimal.Add(t ax_total2, item_total 2),
decimal.Parse(payment2.Shi ppingTotal.Value)) ;
payment2.OrderTotal = new BasicAmountT ype();
payment2.OrderTotal.currencyID = CurrencyCodeTyp e.USD;
payment2.OrderTotal.Value = or der_total2.ToStrin g();
//add the merchants to the arr ay
PaymentDetailsArray.SetValue(p ayment2, 1);
//bind the merchants to the re quest
SetECReq.SetExpressCheckoutReq uest.SetExpressChe ckoutRequestDetails.P ayment
Details = PaymentDetailsArray;
Best Practices for Online Travel Agencies Implementing Parallel
Payments
PayPal provides special recommendations to online travel agencies implementing parallel
payments to help the buyer complete the payment flow.
Best practices address ways that you as an online travel agency designer can meet the needs of
the merchants hosted on your marketplace. The following are examples of special needs of
these merchants:
Merchants providing travel services must offer different styles of payment.
Merchants offering a service with reservations would want the buyer to know about the
cancellation policy and fees.
Styles of Payment
Merchants hosted by online travel agencies might be using on e or more of the following styles
of payment:
Prepaid – Prepaid payments are paid in full at the time of checkout. This style is typical of
most online purchases.
Deposit – A deposit is paid before a service is rendered. Usually it is a flat rate equal to a
small percentage of the total, such as a $50.00 deposit on a cruise. The balance is paid
offline at some point before the cruise or other service takes place.
Postpaid – A postpaid expense is not paid until after the service is rendered. Hotel stays,
for example, are typically paid at the time of checkout.
Express Checkout displays to the buyer a total amount for all goods or services. For a good
buyer experience, you can pass additional information about a deposit or postpaid expense
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Best Practices for Online Travel Agencies Implementing Parallel Payments
using the Express Checkout PaymentDetailsType and PaymentDetailsItemType
parameter fields. To eliminate potential buyer confusion, you can let the buyer making a
deposit through Express Checkout know, for example, that they will need another payment
instrument to complete their purchase.
Payment Details
The following table provides PayPal’s recommendations for passing payment information.
Best practices for passing payment information
Item Best practices Example content
5
Merchant name You do not need to pass this data. PayPal
obtains the merchant’s name that
displays on the PayPal Review your
information page from the merchant’s
account record.
Item description Use L_PAYMENTREQU EST_
pass item description information as a
continuous text string. Pass at least the
primary information shown in the table
below. PayPal recommends that you also
pass the secondary information. If the
style of payment is a reservation with
deposit, pass the deposit only in the item
description.
Order description Use PAYMENTREQUEST_
merchant-specific messages such as
cancellation charges for post-paid offline
transactions. This information does not
display on the PayPal Review page.
Instead, it appears in the buyer’s email
and in Transaction Details.
Note to merchant Do not use the ALLOWNOTE parameter. It
is ignored for parallel payments.
n_DESCn to
n_DESC to pass
PayPal presents the
business name, for example,
Airline Name.
See the table below.
Your account will not be
charged now. You’ll later
make a payment directly to
merchant name.
If you cancel the order,
...
Pass, at least, the primary information below. PayPal recommends that you also pass the
secondary information. If the style of payment is a reservation with deposit, pass the deposit
only in the item description.
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Handling Errors
Recommended item description information
Merchant Item description information
Flight Primary information
Flight No.
Departure Location, Date & Time
Arrival Location, Date & Time
Secondary information
Duration
Terminal No.
Distance
Hotel Primary information
Location
Check-in Date
Checkout Date
Secondary information
Check in Time
Room Type
Bed Size
Car Primary information
Pickup Location, Date & Time
Drop-off Location, Date & Time
Secondary information
Car Model & Make
T elephone No.
Insurance Primary information
Insurance Company Name & Description
Cruise Primary information
Date, Time & Description
Handling Errors
It is possible for some merchant payments to succeed while others fail. Parallel payments
creates multiple independent payments, and each payment is subject to its own validation and
review.
If part of a payment fails, the ACK value is PartialSuccess. To find the error, check the
value returned in PAYMENTINFO_
DoExpressCheckoutPayment.
n_ERRORCODE in the response to
NOTE: If an error is generated by any of the payments in the call to SetExpressCheckout,
the transaction fails.
74 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Integrating giropay with Express
6
Checkout
You must modify your Express Checkout implementation to use giropay, a common German
funding source.
giropay Page Flows
If you accept giropay, you must redirect to the giropay website to collect the funds after
completing the Express Checkout transaction.
When your buyer selects giropay as a funding source during the Express Checkout flow, you
redirect the buyer to a static PayPal URL after your order review page. PayPal then redirects
the buyer to the giropay website to push the funds to the merchant. After th e giro pay p a ymen t
is successfully completed, the transaction is confirmed.
If the giropay payment fails or the buyer cancels, PayPal provides the necessary details for an
electronic funds transfer (EFT) so that the buyer can complete the transaction by pushing
funds from his or her bank account. If your PayPal account profile blocks non-instant
payments, the transaction is canceled.
giropay Payment Page Flow
The following diagram illustrates the flow of a successful giropay payment:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 75
Integrating giropay with Express Checkout
6
giropay Integration
Canceled or Unsuccessful giropay Payment Page Flow
If the giropay payment fails for any reason, such as insufficient funds or the buyer cancels,
PayPal provides details to the buyer to do a bank transfer from their bank account. This
transaction will remain pending until PayPal receives the funds, at which time the transaction
is complete.
If you have disabled non-instant funding transactions for your PayPal account, the transaction
is canceled and PayPal redirects the buyer to your Order Cancel page.
After the bank transfer flow completes, the transaction is pending until the buyer pushes the
funds to PayPal.
If the buyer cancels during the PayPal payment in the bank transfer flow, your Order Cancel
page is displayed.
giropay Integration
If you offer the giropay payment option, you must take additional steps to integrate with the
Express Checkout flow.
Initiate the Flow with SetExpressCheckout
To support giropay payments, pass the following three URLs as part of the
SetExpressCheckout request:
NVP Field Description
GIROPAYSUCCESSURL The URL on the merchant site to redirect to after a successful giropay payment.
GIROPAYCANCELURL The URL on the merchant site to redirect to after a giropay or bank transfer
payment is cancelled or fails.
BANKTXNPENDINGURL The URL on the merchant site to transfer to after a bank transfer payment.
These URLs tell PayPal where to redirect the buyer based on the success or failure of each
type of payment transaction. See the PayPal Name-V alue Pair Developer Guide and Refer ence
for more information.
Redirect the Buyer to PayPal
After selecting a funding source on PayPal, the buyer is redirected back to your website, as in
the regular Express Checkout flow. There is one additional field, REDI RECTREQUIRED,
returned in the response from both GetExpressCheckoutDetails and
DoExpressCheckoutPayment:
76 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Integrating giropay with Express Checkout
giropay Integration
NVP Field Description
REDIRECTREQUIRED Flag to indicate whether you need to redirect the buyer to back to PayPal
If the value of this field is true, redirect the buyer from your Order Re v i ew page to
https://www.paypal.com/webscr?cmd=_complet e-expresscheckout&token=
<value_from_SetExpressCheckoutResponse>. PayPal then redirects the
buyer from this redirect page to the necessary page for the selected funding source.
The GetExpressCheckoutDetails response contains the REDIRECTREQUIRE D field,
which lets you know if you need to redirect the buyer after your Order Review page. You can
use this value to inform the buyer on your Order Revi ew page that they will be sent to the
giropay website to complete the order.
Complete the Transaction
Corresponding to the three fields passed to SetExpressCheckout, you must add the
following three additional pages to your website:
6
Your website’s pages Description
Order Completion The page specified in GIROPAYSUCCESSURL to which PayPal redirects the
buyer after a successful giropay payment.
Order Cancelation The page specified in GIROPAYCANCELURL to which PayPal redirects the buyer
after a giropay or bank transfer payment is canceled or fails.
Order Pending The page specified in BANKTXNPENDINGURL to which PayPal redirects the
buyer after a bank transfer payment.
Receive Transaction Status Notification
After PayPal redirects the buyer to giropay, you receive transaction status information in the
following ways:
IPN Notification
Email (only for successful giropay or bank transfer transactions)
PayPal Account Overview
PayPal reports
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 77
Integrating giropay with Express Checkout
6
giropay Integration
78 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Implementing the Instant Update
7
API
The Instant Update API is a callback you can use to obtain the buyer’s shipping address.
About the Instant Update API
The Instant Update API is a server call to your callback server that instantly updates PayPal
pages and enhances the Express Checkout experience on the Review your information page.
The Instant Update API enables you to specify a URL with which PayPal can call your
callback server with the buyer’s shipping address, so you can provide the buyer with more
detailed shipping, insurance, and tax information.
Here is how the Instant Update API works:
1. When a buyer logs in to PayPal, the PayPal server calls your callback server with the
buyer’s default shipping address, which is stored in the PayPal system.
2. Your callback server responds with the shipping options available for that address, along
with any insurance options and tax adjustments on the order.
3. PayPal displays this information in the cart review area so buyers can choose from the
options.
4. The buyer’s final choices are returned in the GetExpressCheckoutDetails response.
Integration Steps
Integrating the Instant Update API requires some preparation and modification to the Express
Checkout API calls.
To integrate the server API, follow these steps:
1. Set up a secure, fast web service to accept HTTP requests from PayPal. On the live site, it
needs to be secured by means of SSL.
2. Enable the callback service to process PayPal requests and return responses.
3. Modify the existing Express Checkout API calls to accommodate new parameters.
– Send the callback URL, shipping, insurance, and tax information to PayPal in the call to
SetExpressCheckout.
– Call GetExpressCheckoutDetails to obtain the buyer’s final choices for shipping
and insurance, if applicable.
– Call DoExpressCheckoutPayment with the buyer’s final selections.
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Implementing the Instant Update API
7
About the Instant Update API
4. Eliminate your shipping options page.
5. Test your integration for the callback and flat-rate shipping options.
Post-Integration Checkout Experience
After you integrate the Instant Update API, you can display the shipping options, related
insurance options, and the tax amount. You control what to display, which is instantly updated
on the page.
The shipping options, related insurance options, and the tax amount appear on the page, as
follows:
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Implementing the Instant Update API
About the Instant Update API
7
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 81
Implementing the Instant Update API
7
How the Callback Works in the Express Checkout Flow
How the Callback Works in the Express Checkout Flow
The Express Checkout flow is initiated on your shopping cart page when the buyer clicks
Checkout with PayPal.
Callback integrated into Express Checkout flow
From left to right, the following events are represented:
1. The Express Checkout flow is initiated on your shopping cart page when the buyer clicks
Checkout with PayPal.
2. In the call to the SetExpressCheckout API operation, you provide the URL where
PayPal can call your callback server, the flat-rate shipping options, and cart line-item
details.
3. You retrieve the token from the response.
4. You redirect the buyer’s browser to PayPal.
5. When the buyer first logs in to the PayPal site, PayPal obtains the buyer’s shipping address
and sends it in the callback request (shown as the red down arrow) to your callback server
at the specified URL.
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Implementing the Instant Update API
Following Instant Update API Best Practices
NOTE: If the buyer changes their shipping address on the PayPal pages during checkout,
PayPal will make subsequent requests to the callback server.
6. Your callback server responds with the shipping option rates (shown by the red up arrow)
based on the buyer’s shipping address. You can also adjust the tax amount and send
insurance options. Depending on your business processes, you may send an API call to
your carrier to calculate the rates and options based on the shipping address.
7. PayPal updates the cart review area and Review your information page content to show the
options and rates based on your response.
8. The buyer makes final selections and clicks Continue.
9. You must call GetExpressChe ckoutDetails to obtain the buyer’s final shipping option
selections.
10. You call DoExpressCheckoutPayment to perform the transaction.
Following Instant Update API Best Practices
7
PayPal recommends its list of best practices as a checklist for completing your implementation
of the Instant Update API.
Meet the prerequisites – Provide order line-item details to take advantage of the Instant
Update API.
Streamline the checkout flow – Existing partners and merchants with Express Checkout
integrations can eliminate the current shipping options page.
Use the default callback timeout – Use the recommended 3-second callback response
timeout.
Follow PayPal-defined semantics and syntax – Adhere to well-formed variable names
and syntax rules in the callback response to PayPal. If errors occur in the response, PayPal
uses the flat-rate shipping options.
Call GetExpressCheckoutDetails – You must call GetExpressCheckoutDetails to
find out what options the buyer selected.
Ensure a consistent and good buyer experience – With flat-rate shipping options, you
should honor the rates to ensure a consistent and correct buyer experience.
Localize shipping options – Return localized shipping options, based on the buyer’s
country and locale, which PayPal sends in the callback request.
Related information:
"PayPal Review Page Order Details" on page 9
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Implementing the Instant Update API
7
Setting Up the Callback
Setting Up the Callback
To set up the callback, establish a connection with PayPal by providing the location where
PayPal calls your callback server, along with your shipping options.
To start, you must build and operate a secure, reliable, and fast callback server that computes
shipping options, corresponding insurance options, and tax, based on your business rules. To
verify that callback requests originate from PayPal.
The HTTP protocol to specify in your callback URL depends on the integration environment
you are using:
The callback URL must start with HTTPS for production integration.
The callback URL must start with HTTP or HTTPS for PayPal Sandbox integration.
In the call to SetExpressCheckout, you must complete the steps 1 thro ugh 3 below. Steps 4
and 5 are optional:
1. Provide line-item details for the merchandise the buyer selected.
2. Provide the URL to your callback server, which PayPal validates.
3. Provide values for the flat-rate shipping option s. For each option, specify:
– Option name (L_SHIPPINGOPTIONNAME
– Option amount (L_SHIPPINGOPTIONAMOUNT
n)
n)
– The shipping option to appear as the default (true)
(L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULT
NOTE: Set L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULTn to true (default) for one and only one
shipping option. Set L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULT
n).
n to false for each of the
remaining options.
– If required, an adjusted value for PAYMENTREQUEST_
– If required, an adjusted value PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_TAXAMT
n_INSURANCEAMT
4. If necessary to adjust the callback timeout (default: 3 seconds), provide a value from 1 to 6
for the CALLBACKTIMEOUT parameter.
5. Optionally, provide values for any of the shipping option description details fields listed
below:
– Option weight (L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_ITEMWEITHTUN ITm)
– Option height (L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_ITEMHEIGHTUN ITm)
– Option length (L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_ITEMLENGTHUN ITm)
– Option width (L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_ITEMWIDTHUNI Tm)
n_ITEMWEIGHT VALUEm,
n_ITEMHEIGHTVA LUEm,
n_ITEMLENGTHVA LUEm,
n_ITEMWIDTHVALU Em,
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Implementing the Instant Update API
Setting Up the Callback
Related information:
"PayPal Review Page Order Details" on page 9
GetExpressCheckoutDetails and DoExpressCheckoutPayment Changes
When you implement the callback, you need to call GetExpressCheckoutDetails and
DoExpressCheckoutPayment.
GetExpressCheckoutDetails and DoExpressC heckoutPayment include new
parameter fields in support of the Instant Update API.
You must call the GetExpressCheckoutDetails API operation to obtain the buyer’s final
shipping option selections. GetExpressCheckoutDetails has been updated to return the
buyer’s selections.
Because the cart information passed in the call to SetExpressCheckout is relevant only for
display on the PayPal pages, you must call the DoExpressCheckou tPayment API operation
with the updated shipping, insurance, and tax data to ensure the buyer sees it upon redirect to
your website.
7
Other Callback Considerations
When you implement the callback, you must consider callback response errors, .timeouts, and
shipping options.
Callback Response Errors
If there are any callback response errors, PayPal responds by displaying the flat-rate shipping
options on the PayPal pages. To obtain the richer set of options available through the callback,
exercise care in the syntax and values you specify, and test the callback integration.
Callback Timeouts
If the callback does not return within the timeout period, PayPal displays the flat-rate shipping
options you specified in the call to SetExpressCheckout.
Minimum and Maximum Shipping Options
You can specify up to 10 shipping options for the flat-rate options in the call to
SetExpressCheckout and for the detailed options based on shipping address in the callback
response. You must specify at least 1 shipping option.
You Do Not Ship to the Buyer ’s Shipping Address
If you do not ship to the buyer’s shipping address that PayPal sends in the callback request, set
NO_SHIPPING_OPTION_DETAILS to 1 in the callback response.
NOTE: The CALLBACKVERSION must have been set to 61.0 or greater in the
SetExpressCheckout request.
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Implementing the Instant Update API
7
Using the Callback
The sample code below illustrates the callback response when you do not ship to the buyer’s
address.
METHOD=CallbackResponse
NO_SHIPPING_OPTION_DETAILS =1
When your callback server sends the previous response, the Review your information page has
these features:
A message at the top of the page indicates that your business does not ship to this location.
The shipping and handling section and the insurance section are dimmed.
The buyer can change the shipping address.
A new callback request is sent if the buyer changes the shipping address.
Using the Callback
To use the callback, you add parameter fields to SetExpressCheckout, provide PayPal a
URL for sending a callback request, and send PayPal the callback response in Name-Value
pair (NVP) format.
SetExpressCheckout
In the call to SetExpressCheckout, set the following parameters:
Set the CALLBACK field to the URL where PayPal can call your callback server. PayPal
makes the HTTPS callback request each time either of the following events occur:
– The buyer changes their shipping addres s
– The buyer enters a new shipping address
Provide values for the following required parameters:
– Provide values for the line-item details parameters, such as
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
– Provide values for the flat-rate shipping options: n, L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULTn,
L_SHIPPINGOPTIONNAMEn, and L_SHIPPINGOPTIONAMOU NTn.
–Set PAYMENTREQUEST_
shipping option.
If, for example, L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULT0=true and
L_SHIPPINGOPTIONAMOUNT0=8.00, then
PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPPINGAMT=8.00
–Set MAXAMT to the expected maximum total amount of the complete order.
n_NAMEm, L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_NUMBERm,
n_DESCm, L_PAYMENTREQUEST_n_AMTm, and
n_QTYm.
n_SHIPPINGAMT to the amount set for the default flat-rate
86 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Implementing the Instant Update API
Using the Callback
NOTE: PayPal recommends that the maximum total amount be slightly greater than the
sum of the line-item order details, tax, and the shipping option of greatest value.
Optionally, provide values for the following parameters:
7
–Set PAYMENTRE QUEST_
n_INSURANCEOP TIONOFFERED to true to inform PayPal that
you are offering insurance options. Otherwise, set
PAYMENTREQUEST_
– Set line-item description details such as L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
and L_PAYMENTREQUEST_
n_INSURANCEOPTIO NSOFFERED to false.
n_ITEMWEIGHTU NIT0
n_ITEMWEIGHTVA LUE0 shown in the example below.
–Set CALLBACKTIMEOUT to the amount of time in seconds to process the callback. By
default, CALL BACKTIMEOUT is 3. Y ou can specify a value in the range of 1 to 6 inclusive.
The following is an example SetExpressCheckout request:
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=SetExpressCheckout
&RETURNURL=http://...
&CANCELURL=http://...
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_PAYMENTACTION=Sale
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTONAME=J Smith
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTREET =1 Main St
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCITY=S an Jose
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOSTATE=CA
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE=US
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPTOZIP=95 131
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NAME0=10% Decaf Kona Blend Coffee
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NUMBER0=62 3083
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_DESC0=Size : 8.8-oz
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_AMT0=9.95
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_QTY0=2
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NAME1=Coffee Fi lter bags
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_NUMBER1=62 30
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_DESC1=Size : Two 24-piece box es
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_AMT1=39.70
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_QTY1=2
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_ITEMWEIGHT VALUE0=0.5
&L_PAYMEN TREQUEST_0_ITEMWEIGHT UNIT0=lbs
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_ITEMAMT=99.3 0
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_TAXAMT=2.59
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_MAXAMT=150.0 0
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_SHIPPINGAMT= 8.00
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_SHIPDISCAMT= -3.00
&PAYMENTREQUEST_0_AMT=107.89
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_CURRENCYCODE =USD
&ALLOWNOT E=1
&CALLBACK =https://...
&CALLBACK TIMEOUT=4
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_INSURANCEOPT IONOFFERED=true
&PAYMENTR EQUEST_0_INSURANCEAMT =1.00
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 87
Implementing the Instant Update API
7
Using the Callback
&L_SHIPPI NGOPTIONISDEFAULT0=fa lse
&L_SHIPPI NGOPTIONNAME0=UPS Gro und 7 Days
&L_SHIPPI NGOPTIONAMOUNT0=3.50
&L_SHIPPI NGOPTIONISDEFAULT1=tr ue
&L_SHIPPI NGOPTIONNAME1=UPS Nex t Day Air
&L_SHIPPI NGOPTIONAMOUNT1=8.00
Response Parameters
[successResponseFields]
&TOKEN=EC-17C76533PL706494P
Callback Request
The PayPal sends the parameters in the callback request to the location you specified for
CALLBACK. The callback request parameters include:
Line-item details you sent in the call to SetExpressCheckout. PayPal also sends back
any line-item description details you may have specified, such as the
L_ITEMWEIGHTUNIT1 and L_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE1 values shown in the example below.
By passing this data back to you, PayPal expedites your callback response by eliminating
the need for you to perform a database query to obtain this information.
Shipping address of the buyer.
Using the information in the callback request, calculate the rates and options yourself or send
the information in an API call to your carrier to perform the calculations for you. Then send
the shipping options, insurance amounts, and taxes to PayPal in the callback response.
This is an example callback request:
METHOD=CallbackRequest
&CALLBACKVERSION=XX.0
&TOKEN=EC-0EE85728D547104V
&CURRENCYCODE=USD
&LOCALECODE=en_US
&L_NAME0=10% Decaf Kona Blend Coffee
&L_NUMBER0=623083
&L_DESC0=Size: 8-oz
&L_AMT0=9.95
&L_QTY0=2
&L_NAME1=Coffee Filter bags
&L_NUMBER1=6230
&L_DESC1=Size: Two 24-piece bo xes
&L_AMT1=39.70
&L_QTY1=2
&L_ITEMWEIGHTUNIT1=lbs
&L_ITEMWEIGHTVALUE1=0.5
&SHIPTOSTREET=1 Main St
88 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
&SHIPTOCITY=San Jose
&SHIPTOSTATE=CA
&SHIPTOCOUNTRY=US
&SHIPTOZIP=95131
&SHIPTOSTREET2
Callback Response
Each time your callback server receives a request from PayPal, it must process the request and
respond with the appropriate details.
This is an example callback response:
METHOD=CallbackResponse
&OFFERINSURANCEOPTION=true
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONNAME0=UPS Nex t Day Air
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONAMOUNT0=20.00
&L_TAXAMT0=2.20
&L_INSURANCEAMOUNT0=1.51
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULT0=fa lse
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONNAME1=UPS Exp ress 2 Days
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONAMOUNT1=10.00
&L_TAXAMT1=2.00
&L_INSURANCEAMOUNT1=1.35
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULT1=tr ue
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONNAME2=UPS Ground 2 to 7 Days
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONAMOUNT2=9.99
&L_TAXAMT2=1.99
&L_INSURANCEAMOUNT2=1.28
&L_SHIPPINGOPTIONISDEFAULT2=fa lse
Implementing the Instant Update API
Using the Callback
7
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Implementing the Instant Update API
7
Using the Callback
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Payment Review
8
Payment Review is an Express Checkout feature that identifies high-risk transactions and
notifies you so that you can hold shipments until the risk has been evaluated by PayPal.
Handling Payment Review
You are immediately notified that a payment is under review and you should not ship
merchandise or, in the case of electronic media, you should not allow download access while
the payment is under review. You are notified of the resolution within 24 hours.
NOTE: Payment Review is not applicable to Direct Payment.
You can determine the status of a payment in the following ways:
By logging in to https://www.paypal.com/ and viewing the status information in the
Transaction History
By email sent by PayPal
By Instant Payment Notification (IPN) message
By Payment Data Transfer (PDT) message
By checking the status of a transaction programmatically
Programmatically, the merchant can determine the status of a payment by checking the initial
status of a transaction using any of the following the API operations:
DoExpressCheckoutPayment
DoReferenceTransaction
DoAuthorization
DoReauthorization
You can check the subsequent status of a transaction programmatically by calling the
GetTransactionDetails API operation.
NOTE: You must use version 58.0 or higher to obtain the initial status information provided
by DoExpressCheckoutPayment, DoReferenceTransaction,
DoAuthorization, or DoReauthorization.
To use payment review with the DoExpressCheckoutPayment,
DoReferenceTransaction, DoAuthorization , and DoReauthorization PayPal API
operations, you must:
Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 91
Payment Review
8
Handling Payment Review
1. Check the payment status in the response to the API operation; specifically, check whether
2. If the PaymentStatus is set to Pending, check whether the PendingReason is set to
If PaymentStatus is set to Pending and the PendingReason is set to PaymentRevi ew,
you should not ship merchandise or, in the case of electronic media, you should not allow
download access.
Because the payment status changes after review, you must periodically check the payment
status using the GetTransactionDetails API operation.
The following diagram shows how to use the payment status to detect payments under review
by PayPal.
PaymentStatus is set to Pending.
PaymentReview, because there are other reasons that a transaction may become pending.
For example, an unsettled authorization’s PaymentStatus is set to Pending; however,
its PendingReason is set to authorization, which is not related to payment review.
92 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Payment Review
Handling Payment Review
8
IMPORTANT: For best results, call the GetTransactionDetails API operation every six
hours. PayPal recommends not calling GetTransactionDetails more
frequently than once per hour.
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Payment Review
8
Handling Payment Review
94 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Express Checkout Dynamic
9
Image Integration
PayPal hosts the PayPal buttons and logo images that you use on your website. Using only
hosted buttons and images standardizes their appearance on websites that use PayPal as a
payment option, which is convenient for you and gives your buyers confidence that their
transaction will be safe and secure.
Dynamic Images
To use dynamic images, you mus t pass information to PayPal as parameters appended to the
image URL. Your unique ID tells PayPal whether or not you are participating in events that
require image changes. Other information you pass instructs PayPal on the types of images to
return.
If, for example, you are participating in a PayPal campaign that you have signed up for with
PayPal and you have passed the appropriate parameter information to PayPal, PayPal
automatically updates the image to reflect the campaign information. When the campaign is
over, PayPal restores the default image. You are not responsible for scheduling or making
changes to your website application code before, during, o r after the campaign. Because you
set up the dynamic image, PayPal handles these activities for you.
If you require localized campaign images, you can have the localized button image display for
each country in which you participate. Simply assign the correct code for the country to the
locale parameter you append to the dynamic image URL. PayPal returns to the default button
image associated with each locale when the campaign is not available.
Configuring the Dynamic Image
T o set up the dynamic image, provide the name-value pair parameter information in the image
URL. You can pass information in the image URL for each option.
Set Up the Default Image
Set Up Image for Dynamic Use
Change the Locale
Provide Incentive Eligibility Feedback to Buyer
Choose the Image
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Express Checkout Dynamic Image Integration
9
Configuring the Dynamic Image
Set Up the Default Image
The following URL points to the default Check out with PayPal image:
https://fpdbs.paypal.com/dynamicimageweb?cmd=_dynamic-image
T o make the image dynamic, you need only add parameters to this URL to specify the changes
you want displayed.
To test in the Sandbox environment, send the image to the following Sandbox URL:
https://fpdbs.sandbox.paypal.com/dynamicimageweb?cmd=_dynamic-image
Set Up Image for Dynamic Use
To set up the image URL for dynamic use, associate the URL with your PayPal Secure
Merchant Account ID, or pal. Use the Secure Merchant Account ID in your Profile or call
GetPalDetails.
This is an example call to GetPalDetails request.
Request Parameters
[requiredSecurityParameters]
&METHOD=GetPalDetails
Response Parameters
This GetPalDetails response returns the value of PAL and your country code (LOC ALE).
[successResponseFields]
&PAL=SFJCXFDLNFR5U
&LOCALE=en_US
1. Append the pal parameter to the image URL, and set the parameter to the value of your
encrypted PayPal merchant account number.
https://fpdbs.paypal.com/dynamicimageweb?c md=_dynamicimage&pal=SFJCXFDLNFR5U
2. You can optionally change the value of LOCALE. See Change the Locale for details.
3. Place the URL with parameter information at the appropriate image locations in your web
application.
The pal alerts PayPal to campaigns in which you are participating. PayPal obtains this
information from your account and replaces the default image with the appropriate
campaign image during the relevant campaign.
NOTE: If you pass in a pal value for a merchant account that is not yours, PayPal displays the
image for that account. Be sure to pass the pal value for your account.
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Express Checkout Dynamic Image Integration
Change the Locale
To specify the locale of the image, append the locale parameter set to the code for the
appropriate country to the image URL. If a country does not have a localized image or if you
do not pass a locale value, the default US image displays. This example displays the image
for the Spanish locale:
https://fpdbs.paypal.com/dynamicimageweb?c md=_dynamicimage&pal=SFJCXFDLNFR5U&locale=es_ES
If you are participating in a campaign across multiple countries, you can set the image locale
for each country in which you participate. PayPal returns the default image associated with the
locale when the campaign is over.
Provide Incentive Eligibility Feedback to Buyer
Pass the order total amount in the ordertotal parameter so PayPal can determine if the
buyer is eligible for an incentive. Say, for example, that you are participating in a campaign in
which the buyer is eligible for a 20% discount when their orde r meets a minimum of $50.00.
You can pass that value to PayPal in the ordertotal parameter, as shown here:
Configuring the Dynamic Image
9
https://fpdbs.paypal.com/dynamicimageweb?c md=_dynamicimage&pal=SFJCXFDLNFR5U&ordertotal=50.00
When a buyer’s order meets or exceeds $50.00, PayPal displays the incentive image informing
the buyer of their eligibility for the discount. When a buyer’s order is less than $50.00, PayPal
displays the default image.
NOTE: If ordertotal is not passed, PayPal does not display the incentive image even if the
buyer is eligible for the incentive.
Choose the Image
To specify the image that you want to display, set the value of buttontype. This example
sets buttontype to the PayPal mark image:
https://fpdbs.paypal.com/dynamicimageweb?c md=_dynamicimage&pal=SFJCXFDLNFR5U&buttontype=ecmark
The default value for buttontype is ecshortcut.
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Dynamic Image Command Reference
Dynamic Image Command Reference
To set up the information that enables dynamic images, add parameters to the dynamic image
URL.
Dynamic Image Parameters
pal (Optional) The encrypted PayPal account number. When merchants sign up for a
PayPal business account, PayPal assigns them an account number. The pal value
represents the pay-to merchant account, not a third party making the API request
on behalf of this merchant. By default, PayPal displays the default Check out
with PayPal button.
ordertotal (Optional) The total cost of the order to the buyer. If shipping and sales tax are
known, include them in this value. If not, this value should be the current subtotal
of the order. By default, PayPal does not display the incentive image even if the
buyer is eligible for the incentive.
Character length and limitations: Must not exceed $10,000.00 USD in any
currency. Do not specify the currency symbol.You must include two decim a l
places. The decimal separator must be a period (.), and the optional thousands
separator must be a comma(,).
locale (Optional) The five-character locale code. See Locale Codes and Priorities. Any
other values default to US.
NOTE: The merchant can participate in one campaign per country.
buttontype (Optional) Indicates a dynamic image. The values are:
Check out with PayPal button image: ecshortcut (default)
PayPal mark image: ecmark
Locale Codes and Priorities
A country code is the two-letter code for the country. Language priority is the language
associated with the country code, where language_0 is the default priority.
Country code Language priority Locale
AT language_0 de_DE
AT language_1 en_US
AU language_0 en_AU
BE language_0 en_US
BE language_1 nl_NL
BE language_2 fr_FR
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Dynamic Image Command Reference
Country code Language priority Locale
C2 language_0 en_US
C2 language_1 zh_XC
C2 language_2 fr_XC
C2 language_3 es_XC
CH language_0 de_DE
CH language_1 fr_FR
CH language_2 en_US
CN language_0 zh_CN
default language_0 en_US
default language_1 fr_XC
default language_2 es_XC
default language_3 zh_XC
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DE language_0 de_DE
DE language_1 en_US
ES language_0 es_ES
ES language_1 en_US
FR language_0 fr_FR
FR language_1 en_US
GB language _0 en_GB
GF language_0 fr_FR
GF language_1 en_US
GI language_0 en_US
GP language_0 fr_FR
GP language_1 en_US
IE language_0 en_US
IT language_0 i t_IT
IT language_1 en_US
JP language_0 ja_JP
JP language_1 en_US
MQ language_0 fr_FR
MQ language_1 en_US
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Dynamic Image Command Reference
Country code Language priority Locale
NL language_0 nl_NL
NL language_1 en_US
PL language_0 pl_PL
PL language_1 en_US
RE language_0 fr_FR
RE language_1 en_US
US language_0 en_US
US language_1 fr_XC
US language_2 es_XC
US language_3 zh_XC
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