SagePay has been our preferred payment gateway partner for several years now. We have integrated their services in numerous e-commerce web applications.
Click to Apply for a SagePay Gateway Payment Account.
VSP Direct Protocol
The SagePay Veri-Secure Payment (VSP) system has been integrated into all of e-volve's e-commerce web applications. This system provides a secure and relatively simple means to authorise payment cards without the need to redirect (and risk losing) the customer from the requesting website.
Any payment card authorisation must originate from a secure server - and hence all relevant 128-bit Secure Socket Layers (SSLs) must exist and be valid. Card details are then transferred over to the SagePay servers where they are stored and before entering the authorisation process.
The customer is never made aware (other than any banners and logos on the website) that they are using a third party service. In our experience, systems which redirect the user to a third party payment gateway tend to have a higher drop-out rate.
3D-Secure
Both VISA (Verified by VISA)and Mastercard (Mastercard SecureCode) now require online payments to pass though an additional authentication process (collectively known as 3D-Secure). This essentially requires us to pass the customer through to their card issuing bank where they are forced to input a password of their choice. The SagePay VSP Direct systems allows us to support this protocol and easily integrate it into our website(s).
Process
The payment process is very easy when using VSP Direct. The customer enters their card details (we do NOT need to store them since SagePay do this) on our website, we then POST the data through to SagePay where they are validated, both from the source and from a continuity point of view. SagePay then create a transaction within their database to hold a record of the payment, before they contact the relevant bank. The bank then issues a response to the request, and SagePay feed this back to us by means of a set of parameters. We then notify the customer with the outcome of the transaction based on the parameter values. This process occurs in real-time, and generally takes one or two seconds to process.
As well as sending the payment values and billing details through to SagePay, we also send a text version of the shopping cart, which SagePay uses in the case of any problem.
Our Database(s)
When we create a new order within one of our databases, a parameter is dynamically generated (not the unique ID) which is alphanumeric in composition and unique to the individual order (generally is the Vendor name, the date and the Order ID all joined into one string). This parameter is passed through to SagePay along with the payment details. SagePay then use this parameter to identify our transaction within their systems. Hence, should we need to refund all or part of the particular transaction, we must therefore pass this parameter back to SagePay where they can use it to validate our request.
Payment Methods
There are various payment options available to the vendor when utilising this system, for example, in most cases we might want to authorise payment at the point of sale, and hence any successful transaction will result in funds being taken immediately. Alternatively, we may only want to authorise the payment, but not take the funds for a few days (maybe we cannot fulfil an order immediately). In this case, a successful transaction will result in a 'shadow' being applied to the customer's account. This essentially means that the funds have been authorised and the value has been set aside within the account with payment expected to occur in the near future. (Note: Most card issuers will expire the shadow after a few days, so an attempt to release the funds can fail even though the payment was a success.)
Development
Should you wish to go ahead with SagePay integration (VSP Direct), you will require an account - and hence an associated vendor name, provided by SagePay. They will initially provide you/us with a test space through which we develop your website and ensure all services are working correctly.
I am sure you can imagine, it takes quite a long time to develop a full e-commerce system with integrated payments/orders/refunds etc, so by using e-volve, you will be vastly reducing the time to launch period.
Other Services
SagePay have other services available, and we are more than happy to go through these with you. We will always endeavour to match your business with the service available.
SagePay Approved Partner
We are part of the SagePay Approved Partner Program.
If you would like to speak to someone regarding the integration of SagePay (or any other service), then please don't hesitate to call us on 01670 501 599.
Or click to Apply for a SagePay Gateway Payment Account.