Cybercash

The CyberCash Secure Payment System is a complete system for conducting financial transactions on the Internet. It accepts both credit card payments and cash/coin transactions. The CyberCash system is a great solution for any Web site that wants to accept electronic payment for goods or services.

CyberCash's CashRegister software offers three methods for authorizing consumer purchases and actually billing the consumer's credit card: online capturing, post-authorization capturing, and batch capturing. The processing method a merchant uses is dictated by how products are delivered to consumers. Merchants selling products or services that are being delivered online or that are guaranteed to ship the same day will use online capturing. On the other hand, because of mail order laws, merchants selling products that are shipped after the order is taken may choose post-authorization capturing or batch capturing.

They break down like this:

• Online Capture: With online capturing, transactions are captured and charged to the consumer's credit card as soon as they are authorized. This method is appropriate for merchants selling on-line services, information, or software that is being delivered immediately to the consumer over the Internet. It also appropriate for merchants who can guarantee shipment of material goods on the same day that they are ordered.
  
  
• Post-Authorization Capture: With post-authorization capturing, the merchant uses CashRegister's administrative server to capture individual transactions using a post-authorization message that is sent to the processing bank. This message tells the bank to capture the transaction and charge the transaction to the consumer's credit card. This method is appropriate for merchants shipping merchandise more than a day after the consumer has ordered it.
  
  
• Batch Capture: Batch capturing is a variant of post-authorization capturing. The merchant uses the CashRegister administrative server to capture transactions using a batch capture model where the merchant saves up the authorizations and submits them in a batch to the processing bank. The batch data contains all of the authorized transactions that the bank needs to reconcile your merchant account and transfer funds. If a merchant is processing a lot of orders, this procedure is probably more efficient than using post-authorization capture for each transaction.

Getting Started

1. Merchant Account: You need a credit card processor and/or merchant account who can accept CyberCash payments. CyberCash has been certified by leading credit card processors such as Global Payment Systems (MAPP/NDC), Visa/Vital, American Express, Wells Fargo Bank, Checkfree, First Data Corporation (Envoy, CES, NaBANCO and FDC), NOVA and more. If you already have a credit card processor, give them a call and ask if they are supporting CyberCash transactions. If your processor does not currently set up merchant credit card accounts for CyberCash, send email to bank@cybercash.com to ask CyberCash to speak to them on your behalf.
   Otherwise, contact a CyberCash Partner Financial Institution about setting up an account with them.
   
   
2. Cybercash Registration:Please go to amps.cybercash.com to register yourself with CyberCash. All merchants using the CyberCash credit card service must complete this step before installation can proceed and for testing to begin. During Registration, please follow these guidelines:
   
   • Make sure to note down your Cybercash Identifier (CCID) that cybercash generates for you
   • When asked what the CCID will be used to define, select "Merchants using an MDP"
   • On the next screen, just click on "Continue registration" without selecting any of the options.
   • On the next page, select "2.1.x"
   • Enter the rest of the information about your business
   
   
   
3. Public Key: when you have completed the Cybercash registration, please send us an Official Request for cybercash setup. Please mention your CCID and Business Name as you gave it to Cybercash. We will then generate a public key for you and submit it to Cybercash.
   
   
4. Test transactions: You will get an email from Cybercash 3 to 4 days later asking you to run some test transactions. Please forward the email to our support team as there is information there that we will need to enter in your configuration files and create your administration panel. When we are finished, we will send you an email confirming that you can start the testing. Here are the basic steps you need to take in order to properly test your Cybercash setup:
   
   • First, you need to go to your CyberCash Panel. Click on "Input a credit card directly and do captures or returns ". Enter the test information (you can enter any amount and name and address, etc...).
   • Second, you need to test the integration with your shopping cart program using the same test credit cards. Follow the instructions that come with your shopping cart program to integrate and use Cybercash. Use the test credit cards with your program and make sure it is working (You should get a notice that the order went through and that the transaction was successful).
   
   
   
5. Going Live: Once you are done with testing, please send us an Official Request asking us to turn your cybercash to "ONLINE" mode and email live@cybercash.com asking them to turn you "LIVE". When emailing cybercash, please mention your domain name, CCID and business name.