Payment Methods

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Managing Payment Methods

Payment Methods are the actual form of payment that will be received from the customer during the checkout process.  AbleCommerce gives you the flexibility to decide what methods of payment will be available to the customer and how they will be processed.  This flexibility provides almost limitless combinations of functionality while still ensuring funds are exchanged accurately and securely. Further extending this flexibility is the ability to support both real-time and deferred payment methods.  While certain methods must be assigned to a gateway for further processing, others can be left "unassigned."  Payments made using unassigned methods are either processed automatically and require no gateway setup, or stored securely in the database for later processing by you.  Regardless of your business model, AbleCommerce offers the flexibility and functionality to meet your store payment needs.

Using the Payment Methods page

This page is readily accessible from Configure > Payments > Methods.

The Payment Method page is where you will create different ways to accept payments in your store.  You can create credit card payment methods that use real-time payment processing or payment methods that use a deferred method of collecting payment.

From the Payment Methods page, you will see a list of all the methods created, the payment processing gateways in use, and the sort order.  An example is shown below.

Sorting Payment Methods

Shown on this page is a complete list of all ACTIVE payment methods for your store.  These are shown in the same order to your customer, so you can use the up and down arrows to change the SORT order.  If a payment method is connected to a payment gateway, it will be shown in the Gateway column.

Deleting Payment Methods

You can remove individual payment methods by using the Delete button in the Action column.

Editing Payment Methods

To edit an existing payment method, click the Edit button from the Action column for the selected payment method.

• After editing and saving, you will be returned to the Payment Methods page.

Adding Payment Methods

From the upper-right corner of the page, you can use the Add Payment Method button to add custom payment methods. The next section describes the different type of payment methods that can be added, and how to create new methods using a few different examples.

Not all payment methods need to use a payment gateway.  You may decide to not use a gateway for automated processing.  You can still accept a customer's credit card information which you will use to process the order later.

Custom Payment Methods

There are seventeen different types of payment methods that can be used. These are called the Instrument Types. When creating a new payment method, one must be selected so the application code can determine the type of input form and any other special requirements, such as a security code, or validation of the card number .

• Credit/Debit Cards - this type of payment method must be assigned to a payment gateway if you plan to accept and process credit/debit cards using the AbleCommerce checkout system or admin payment forms. However, you can collect credit card numbers using AbleCommerce and process them using an outside system. If processing outside of AbleCommerce, the credit card security code will not be available.
  
  - American Express
  - Credit Card
  - Diner's Club
  - Discover
  - JCB
  - Maestro
  - MasterCard
  - Switch/Solo
  - Visa
  - Visa Debit (Delta/Electron)

• Specialty Payment Types - with some of the following payment method instruments, they are only supported by a particular payment processor. Others are used to generate special payment forms or checkout methods.
  
  - ApplePay - supported through Braintree payment gateway.
  - GooglePay - supported through Braintree payment gateway.
  - PayPal - the IPN version supported through Braintree or PayPal payment gateway only.
  - Check - the electronic version of checks (bank transfer) submitted with a routing number and account number, must be supported by your payment gateway.
  - Mail - allows the customer to checkout without submitting a payment, and includes information on where to send a payment through standard mail service.
  - Phone Call - allows the customer to checkout without submitting a payment. Merchant is obliged to call the customer for payment information.
  - Purchase Order - used for a B2B store where the customer can place an order for goods or services and enter an existing purchase order number.

Add or Edit a Payment Method   

1. From the menu, go to Configure > Payments > Methods.

2. This will bring you to the Payment Methods page.  

3. From the upper-right corner of the page, click the Add Payment Method button to open a new popup window.
   
   

4. In the first field, enter a Name for your payment method.  This will be displayed to your customers.

5. Select the Type of payment instrument. AbleCommerce comes pre-configured with a list of credit cards and common types of methods.  This selection determines how the information will be displayed to the customer.

6. If this payment method will use a Payment Gateway, then select it from the list.  If there is no gateway configured, you can add or change it later.
   
   NOTE: You can configure the payment gateway that will be used for the payment method(s).  There is no limit to the number of payment gateways or payment methods you choose to create.

7. The option to Allow Subscriptions Payments is a payment feature that must be enabled in order to use AutoShip subscriptions. At this time, the only payment gateway integrated with AbleCommerce that supports a recurring subscription is Authorize.net CIM.

8. If you want to offer a payment method to a select group of customers, then you can change the Groups option to "Selected Groups" and assign the payment method accordingly.  If you assign a payment method to a group, then only users belonging to that group will be able to see and use that payment method.
   
   NOTE: The Groups option can be used for businesses wanting to offer purchase orders to selected customers.  You can also use it to test a payment method/gateway before making it available to all customers.

9. If you want to offer payment methods based on the customer's location, then you can change the Zones option to "Selected Zones" and assign the payment method accordingly. If you assign a payment method to a zone, then only users located in that zone will be able to see and use that payment method.

10. When finished, click the Save button.

What does the customer see for payment types?

The type of payment instrument you select will determine the type of information collected during checkout.  The following table shows each type with a display example.