Revision history

Revision History for the Payflow Gateway Developer Guide and Reference:

15 April 2022

• Added support for Card on File, SCA Exemptions for Braintree and PayPal.

30 January 2022

• Added Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) information.

  Note: Merchants operating in the European Economic Area (EEA) are mandated to support Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) on ecommerce transactions to meet the Payments Service Directive 2/Regulatory Technical Standards (PSD2/RTS) regulations.

• Added MERCHANTNAME to TSYS dynamic soft descriptor capability.

• Added PAR and PARID for American Express.

  Note: The Payment Account Reference (PAR) is a non-financial reference number assigned to each unique Primary Account Number (PAN) and mapped to all its affiliated Payment Tokens.

• Added support for Card on File (CoF) for American Express.

15 July 2021

• Added clarification to Card on File (CoF) that storing the credit card details locally requires use of the CARDONFILE parameter.

08 June 2021

• Added note that FISERV Nashville and Global Payments now supports Card on File (CoF).
• Added note to Payflow Header Parameters to not include https:// in the Host URL field.
• Updated description of RESULT=23 to note that no spaces, non-numeric characters or dashes are part of the ACCT value.

15 May 2021

• Added note throughout guide that ACH is no longer available for new accounts.
• Renamed First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) to FISERV due to new branding.
• Removed references to FISERV (First Data) South as this platform is deprecated.
• Removed AUTHENTICATION_ID from 3-D Secure with 3rd-Party Merchant Plug-ins as this field is only used in the Payflow Buyer Authentication Service.

16 April 2021

• Updated description of RESULT=170 under Transaction Responses to add additional information regarding fraudulent transactions.

• Added new response code SUCCESSWITHWARNING.

  Whitelisted merchants: If PayPal Risk flags a transaction as possibly fraudulent, Payflow ignores the reason and allows the transaction to process. Payflow returns a new response parameter called SUCCESSWITHWARNING with the reason why PayPal Risk declined the transaction. For example, RESULT=0&RESPMSG=Approved&SUCCESSWITHWARNING=170:Fraudulent activity detected. Excessive use of card.

  PayPal merchants: As PayPal is your acquiring bank, PayPal may reject a transaction based on its risk criteria. A RESULT=170 could be generated whether the account is whitelisted or not. Whitelisting only prevents your account from being totally blocked to all transaction processing.

• Fixed example for Transaction summary report in the Payflow reporting guide.

• Added new additional parameters for TSYS under TSYS additional credit card parameters.

15 September 2020

• The Payflow SDK has been updated to include support for Card on File (CoF) and 3D-Secure v2 and is now open-sourced. Visit GitHub for more information.
• Updated the description for result code, RESULT=31 to include a note about pilot environment restrictions on the number of active profiles that can be created.

30 August 2020

• Added notes under Test Transaction regarding PayPal when using the PayPal Sandbox versus using the Payflow simulator.
• Added note about Prohibited Characters that can cause the hosted checkout page to not properly display or error out.
• Made note that for level 3 line items for TSYS, the maximum number of lines items is 98.
• Under Additional Processor Information added support for Quasi-Cash for FISERV North.
• Updated descriptions for the following result codes: RESULT=4, RESULT=12, RESULT=13, RESULT=109, RESULT=113, RESULT=170.
• Added missing NUMRETRYDAYS to the modify function in the Payflow Recurring Billing Service user's guide

27 April 2020

• Added the following note throughout the guide:

  Since Payflow is operating out of multiple data centers we highly suggest that all API calls are done using the host URLs above. Should you hard code the IP addresses to send transactions via the Payflow API, PayPal cannot be responsible should your transactions fail should a data center be offline due to any issues or any scheduled maintenances.

• Removed references to CyberCash - now deprecated.

28 December 2019

• Updated definition of 'RESULT' 170 to better reflect that it is now used for general fraudulent activity not just carding.
• Added note under Submit Inquiry Transactions that the secure token has a limited life span.
• Added-updated two new 'RESULT' codes, 38-Recurring profile deactivated and 151-Issuing bank unavailable.

21 October 2019

• Added Card on File (Stored Credentials) section.
• Added information about Online Refunds to the Submit Credit Transaction section.
• Elavon: Removed COMMCARD and fixed length of PONUM.
• Chase Paymentech: Added HSA/FSA test cards.
• Added new section called 3D Secure and added 3rd-Party Merchant Plug-ins.
• TeleCheck: Fixed examples to include CHKTYPE as it is a required parameter.
• Removed references to SecureNet, Global Payments Central, American Express APAC, CitiBank Singapore and Planet Payment as these processors are no longer available.
• Changed Global Payments East to Global Payments.
• Changed Cielo Payments back to Merchant e-Solutions.

18 September 2019

• Reorganized the guide into separate topics rather than a single HTML page for easier navigation and maintenance.

18 May 2017

• The update on 26 October 2016 added additional Mastercard test credit card numbers to the credit card numbers for testing section. Merchants are required to update their websites to accept the new Mastercard BIN ranges of 222100 to 272099. Please see Mastercard for more information on the new range.

26 Apr 2017

• Added a note on voiding PayPal Australia transactions in Submit void transactions.

27 Feb 2017

• Added a new result code 170 to RESULT Values and RESPMSG Text.
• Added Processor specific response parameters for FISERV North, PayPal Australia and Planet Payment.

26 Oct 2016

• Added additional Mastercard test credit card numbers to the credit card numbers for testing section.

10 Dec 2015

• Added a section on Echo data within Core Credit Card Parameters on the ECHODATA request field, its possible values and the fields that are echoed for each possible value.
• Added the Payflow Gateway Tokenization chapter which only includes tokenization fields for the American Express processor at this time.
• Added a note to the TSYS Acquiring Solutions Level 3 Visa Line Item Detail Records section indicating that up to 999 line items can be submitted for TSYS level 3 Visa transactions, and a note to TSYS Acquiring Solutions Level 3 Mastercard Line Item Detail Records section indicating that up to 99 line items can be submitted for TSYS level 3 mastercard transactions.
• Updated the Testing Your PayPal Payments Advanced and PayPal Payments Pro Integration section to include more information on testing Payflow Express Checkout transactions using the PayPal sandbox.

10 Nov 2015

• Corrected the names of the following parameters in the guide: VATAXAMT and VATAXPERCENT. Also, noted that the following fields should not contain more than two decimal places: ADDLAMTn, ALTTAXAMT, ALTERNATETAXAMT, LOCALTAXAMT, NATIONALTAXAMT and VATAXAMT.

15 Jun 2015

• Noted that MODE parameter is now deprecated.

23 Apr 2015

• Added a units of measurement codes reference table that can be used for unit of measurement parameters.

05 Apr 2015

• Clarified the format and uses of the PNREF response parameter.

30 Dec 2014

• Corrected the merchant soft descriptor fields supported by the PayPal processor. Use the MERCHDESCR and MERCHANTCITY fields to pass merchant name and contact information for sale and authorization transactions. This information is displayed on the account holder's statement. See the PayPal Credit Card Transaction Request Parameters section for details.

10 Dec 2014

• Updated the Paymentech Salem - New Hampshire - Level 3 Purchasing Card Parameters Level 2 and Level 3 parameters.
• Added info to the Submit Purchasing Card Level 2 and 3 Transactions introduction clarifying that merchants are responsible for calculating and verifying Level 2 and 3 line item totals.
• Updated the TRANSSTATE field description in Credit Card Transaction Responses to include TRANSSTATE values returned when the Fraud Protection Service filters flag a transaction.

20 Nov 2014

• Updated Diner's club card number in Credit Card Numbers for Testing.

5 Nov 2014

• Added table of processors that support account verifications for each major credit card.

15 Oct 2014

• Clarified that the Payflow Gateway does not charge any fees for account verifications (zero amount authorizations); however, the merchant's processor, including PayPal as a merchant bank, may charge a fee for account verifications. For information on whether transaction fees are charged for the various Payflow credit card transaction types, see Credit Card Features.

19 Sep 2014

• Corrected the Paymentech Salem product code field name. Replaced the incorrect field name L_PRODCODEn with L_UPCn in Paymentech Salem Level 3 Mastercard Line Item Record 1 Parameters, Paymentech Salem Level 3 Visa Line Item Record 1 Parameters and Paymentech Salem Level 3 Visa Line Item Record 2 Parameters.

7 Aug 2014

• Merchant soft descriptor fields are now supported by the PayPal processor. Use the MERCHDESCR and MERCHANTCITY fields to pass merchant name and contact information for sale and authorization transactions. This information is displayed on the account holder's statement. See the PayPal Credit Card Transaction Request Parameters and Merchant Descriptor - M Record sections for details.

17 June 2014

• Added new Elavon Travel Parameters.
• Added a note to the Paymentech Salem - New Hampshire - Level 3 Purchasing Card Parameters section.

06 Mar 2014

• Expanded support for the HOSTCODE and EXTRSPMSG response fields for the WorldPay processor. (HOSTCODE and EXTRSPMSG return the processor's error code and message respectively.)

28 Feb 2014

• Added the Planet Payment processor, which supports Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP).
• Added a new transaction type, supported by Planet Payment only, for currency conversion rate lookups. See Submit Rate Lookups.

18 Feb 2014

• Added new Litle Response Parameters and TSYS Response Parameters.
• Added the BILLTOSTREET2 request parameter to Core Credit Card Parameters.

07 Jan 2014

• Added Paymentech Tampa Level 2 Parameters.
• Updated processor name: Cielo Payments, formerly Merchant e-Solutions.

21 Nov 2013

• Updated the description of the CURRENCY field in PayPal Credit Card Transaction Request Parameters with information for PayPal Payments Advanced and PayPal Payments Pro merchants.

08 Nov 2013

• Added the TRANSSTATE response field description to Credit Card Transaction Responses.
• Added a note in When To Use a Sale Transaction for PayPal Payments Advanced or PayPal Payments Pro merchants who use Fraud Protection Services (FPS).

31 Oct 2013

• Submit Account Verifications is now supported by the PayPal processor.
• Added the CCTRANSID and CCTRANS_POSDATA response fields to Credit Card Transaction Responses; these two fields are currently supported for the TSYS processor only; they are useful for merchants who authorize transactions through the Gateway but settle through a third party.
• Clarified, in the Example Reference Transaction section, that the capture step of a reference transaction does not require the TENDER parameter.
• Clarified that the duration of the Secure Token is 30 minutes.
• Added a new section for Payflow Gateway FAQs.

20 Sep 2013

• Updated the character limits for billing and shipping address fields. These limits are different for the PayPal acquirer PayPal Credit Card Transaction Request Parameters compared with all other processors Core Credit Card Parameters.
• Provided clarification on which Country Codes to use for each of the following: the PayPal acquirer, TeleCheck, FDMS South, and for all other processors.
• Added a section about the The PayPal Manager Website.

19 Jul 2013

• Removed the ACCTTYPE parameter from this guide.

11 Jul 2013

• Maintenance release.
• Added a new section on Processor Specific Response Parameters, which includes Litle Response Parameters and information on the litle-automatic-account-updater feature.
• Added information on Testing the Litle Automatic Account Updater Feature.

15 Jun 2013

• Added information on Submit Credit Refund Transactions for the PayPal processor.
• Added the PAYMENTADVICECODE field to Credit Card Transaction Responses.
• Added a note on problems with using legacy Payflow Link parameters with the Secure Token.
• Updated the support contact information for enabling PayPal processor line item support in the PayPal Credit Card Transaction Request Parameters table.
• Added a Level 3 Required Parameters table to TSYS Acquiring Solutions Level 3 Visa Parameters.
• Added information on Reference Authorizations and Sales specific to the PayPal processor in the Example Reference Transactionsection.
• Updated URL paths.

25 Apr 2013

• Updated the description of the Driver's License DL field in Required TeleCheck Parameters.

22 Feb 2013

• Updated the description of the Driver's License DL field in Required TeleCheck Parameters.

28 Jan 2013

• Added a new Appendix on Payflow Header Parameters.
• Added information about duplicate parameters in the Name Value Parameter Syntax Guidelines.
• In the Hosted Pages Chapter, added the Pass other data to your server with post or silent post section, and clarified that silent-posts are returned for both approved and declined transactions.
• Updated the Payflow Link legacy parameters and the equivalent Payflow parameters parameter table. Removed legacy Payflow Link parameters with identical Payflow equivalents.
• Updated the description of the parameters BILLTOSTATE and SHIPTTOSTATE in the Core Credit Card Parameters table.
• Added a note to the introduction of the Submit Credit Card Transactions chapter.
• Revised the introduction to the Payflow SDK chapter.
• Updated some of the external links in the guide.
• Corrected the format of the ORDERDATE parameter in TSYS Acquiring Solutions Level 3 Visa Parameters.

28 Dec 2012

• Updated the description of the Driver's License
• DL field in Required TeleCheck Parameters.

11 Dec 2012

• Added info on forcing the Cancel URL with layout template C to Configuring Hosted Pages Using PayPal Manager.
• Added Secure Token error codes to Secure Token Errors and to Result Values and RESPMSG Text.

04 Oct 2012

• Added a section on Hosted Pages and Mobile Browsers and updated the Configuring Hosted Checkout Pages chapter.
• Added a section: Supported Languages.
• Added information to the Host URL Addresses section.

29 Aug 2012

• Added the Payflow Gateway MagTek Parameters Appendix.

31 July 2012

• Added a list of Setup and Customize parameters in the section on Use a secure token to pass customization parameters for hosted pages. These parameters override PayPal Manager settings for Hosted Pages.
• Briefly explained the differences between Submit Credit Refund Transactions and Submit Void Transactions.
• Updated the parameters in the Payflow Link legacy parameters and the equivalent Payflow parameters table.
• Added DATE_TO_SETTLE to Credit Card Transaction Responses parameters table.
• Added a note to the About Credit Card Processing section.

23 July 2012

• Added the Bill Me Later feature to the Gateway Product Details section.

16 July 2012

• Updated the value of the required column for the BILLTOCITY, BILLTOSTATE & BILLTOCOUNTRY parameters in PayPal Credit Card Transaction Request Parameters table.

June 2012

• Added the Who Should Use This Document section to the Preface.
• In the Integrating the Secure Token Without the Hosted Checkout Pages: Transparent Redirect section, corrected the value of SILENTTRAN to True.
• Added the Silent Posts section to the Hosted Checkout Pages chapter.
• Removed the legacy parameter CORPCOUNTRY from Country Codes.

May 2012

• Added new sections to the Testing Transactions chapter: Testing Address Verification Service and Testing Card Security Code
• Added PayPal Acquirer chapter: Contains links to PayPal API Ref country and currency codes

April 2012

• Added new transaction type: Balance Inquiry(TRXTYPE=B) can be used to obtain the balance of a pre-paid card.
• Updated TeleCheck chapter: Updated MICR values in Testing TeleCheck Transactions section
• Added TeleCheck Adjustment Response Code Values table
• Updated parameters and examples: Added a description for the response parameters HOSTCODE, RESPTEXT, PROCCARDSECURE, ADDLMSGS and an explanation on how to use these parameters to obtain the processor's raw response codes and response messages.
• Changed the Litle parameters STREET2,STREET3 to BILLTOSTREET2, BILLTOSTREET3.
• Corrected the description of MERCHSVC parameter for FISERV North, Heartland, Litle, Merchant e-Solutions, Paymentech Salem.
• Updated the examples and removed legacy parameters to include: FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME, STREET, CITY, STATE, ZIP, COUNTRY.
• Updated processor and entity names: Vantiv, previously known as Fifth Third Processing Solutions
• PayPal Australia, previously known as FISERV Australia

January 2012

Added new processors

• First Third International
• Heartland Payment Systems
• Planet Payment
• SecureNet
• TeleCheck
• WorldPay

Added new transaction types

• TRXTYPE=L can be used to upload credit card data, easing PCI compliance. You can store the resulting PNREF locally for use in performing reference transactions.

Added request parameters

• ADDLAMTn
• ADDLAMTTYPEn
• AUTHDATE
• CATTYPE
• CONTACTLESS
• CUSTDATA
• CUSTOMERID
• CUSTOMERNUMBER
• DISCOUNT
• DUTYAMT
• DLNAME
• DLNUM
• DOB
• L_ALTTAXAMTn
• L_ALTTAXIDn
• L_ALTTAXRATEn
• L_CARRIERSERVICELEVELCODEn
• L_COMMCODEn
• L_EXTAMTn
• L_PRODCODEn
• L_TAXTYPEn
• ORDERID
• MERCHANTDESCR
• MERCHANTINVNUM
• MERCHANTNAME
• MERCHANTURL
• MERCHANTVATNUM
• MERCHANTZIP
• MISCDATA
• REPORTGROUP
• SILENTTRAN
• STREET3
• VATINVNUM
• VATAXAMT
• VATAXRATE

Added response parameters

• DUPLICATE (response)
• EXTRMSG (response)

Added concepts

• Gateway Product Solutions: PayPal Payments Advanced, PayPal Payments Pro, Payflow Pro, Payflow Link
• Transaction Flow
• Transparent Redirect

February 2011

• First publication.