Revision as of 16:51, 16 April 2021

Supported Features

Configuration

To activate the module, begin by going to Configuration () > System Settings > Payment Gateways or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, Setup > Payments > Payment Gateways. Choose "PayPal Website Payments Pro" from the available list of gateways to activate. Complete the first 3 fields using the details provided by PayPal (API Username, API Password, and API Signature) and click Save Changes to start accepting payments.

3D Secure

The next 3 fields in the configuration are: Processor ID, Merchant ID & Transaction PW. These are used by the 3D Secure process. PayPal Pro Accounts are usually enrolled for this by default these days and if you have been enrolled, PayPal will have provided you with the details for it.

If they haven't or you don't want to use the 3D Secure feature, then simply leaving these fields blank in WHMCS will disable the 3D Secure process, and mean it is not used during the checkout process on your site.

API Details

PayPal API Step 2

Once activated, you then need to enter your details for the Payflow Pro API. These can be found as described below.

PayPal API Step 2

1. Login to PayPal
2. Select your name/company at the top right
3. On the dropdown menu select "Account settings"
4. On the left, scroll down and select "Website payments"
5. Select "Update" next to "API Access"
6. Under "NVP/SOAP API integration (classic)" select "Manage API credentials"
7. Copy the API credentials

Reference Payments

This feature helps reduce your PCI compliance liability. Instead of storing card details in the WHMCS database the ID of the last transaction is used to make repeat charges. The limitation with remote card number storage is that changing payment gateway would require clients to re-enter their card details.

Supported Features

Configuration

To activate the module, begin by going to Configuration () > System Settings > Payment Gateways or, prior to WHMCS 8.0, Setup > Payments > Payment Gateways. Choose "PayPal Pro Reference Payments " from the available list of gateways to activate. Complete the first 4 fields using the details provided by PayPal (Partner, Merchant Login, Username, Password). Tick the Use Reference Transactions checkbox and click Save Changes.

Next navigate to Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings > Security tab. Untick the Allow Client Pay Method Removal checkbox and click Save Changes to start accepting reference payments.

Limitations

PayPal applies a time limit on how long you can repeat against a transaction, so 24 months after the original payment you will see a Referenced transaction or order is too old error. The solution is for a client to login and submit payment manually which will generate a new transaction that further repeats can be made against. Any time a client pays manually via the client area, that will be stored as the most recent transaction for any further repeats to be made against. The standard "Credit Card Payment Declined" email template will send to a client when the capture fails due to the expired reference transaction.

Declined Payments

If you experience an error whilst processing payments navigate to Billing > Gateway Log and the full response from PayPal is displayed in the debug field. Refer to the L_ERRORCODE0 value, and the following two values will then briefly explain the error.

A common error response is: L_SHORTMESSAGE0 => Security error This indicates that the API Details you've entered in the Setup > Payment Gateways config area are invalid and need to be double checked.

More detailed descriptions of the errors and instructions for correcting them can be found at https://cms.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/e_howto_api_nvp_errorcodes