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API Reference

Pre-Authorized Debit Payments

Learn how to process Pre-Authorized Debit payments with the BlueSnap APIs.
For more information on topics like subscriptions and refunds, visit our support guides.

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This payment method is currently in Beta. Please reach out to BlueSnap Merchant Support to enable it.

Pre-Authorized Debit Payments are an alternative to credit cards in Canada. Pre-Authorized Debit is a payment method where money is electronically withdrawn from the shopper’s bank account and then deposited into the merchant’s own bank account. This payment method is supported for payments from Canadian shoppers to merchants in CAD.

BlueSnap's Secured Payment Collector allows you to securely collect your shopper's sensitive banking details for Pre-Authorized Direct Debit payments. This feature has discrete input fields that give you complete control over the look and feel of your checkout form while giving customers the seamless experience of remaining on your website. Visit our support guides for complete implementation details.

Supported Currencies

Canadian Dollar (CAD)

Supported Shopper Countries

Canada

Benefits

  • Boost your sales in Canada by reaching additional shoppers who do not use credit cards or other payment methods.
  • Eliminate the need for paper checks and instead enable customers to provide their payment info online.
  • Store shopper account information for easier repeat purchases.
  • Enjoy transaction costs that are typically lower than credit card transactions.
  • Reduce issues with failed payments due to failed or invalid cards, since bank accounts do not have an expiration date, and your shoppers rarely switch banks.
  • Solution for B2B transactions and other payments for high-cost items where a credit card limit could be exceeded.

Transaction Processing

These are the main steps involved in processing Pre-Authorized Debit payments:

  1. On the checkout page, your shopper selects Pre-Authorized Debit and enters their routing number, account number, and personal details.
  2. Once they have entered their info, the shopper accepts the mandate authorizing their account to be debited and submits the payment.
  3. When your shopper submits the transaction, BlueSnap verifies that the routing number corresponds to a financial institution and that the bank account number is valid.
    • If both are valid, BlueSnap creates an invoice in pending status and sends the transaction for processing.
    • If the BSB number is not valid, BlueSnap returns an error message and the transaction is not sent for processing.
  4. Within 3 business days, the bank will notify BlueSnap if the payment was declined.
    • If the payment was declined, BlueSnap will update the status of the invoice to be canceled and a Decline IPN will be sent.
    • If BlueSnap does not receive the notification within this timeframe, the invoice status will be set to approved.
  5. If the bank sends a declined status after 3 business days, the invoice status will be set to refunded.

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Notes

  • We have validation criteria in place and will return an error if an invalid account number is entered.
  • We recommend delivering the product only after you receive the approval.
  • The shopper has 90 days to dispute the debit on their account. If this occurs, BlueSnap will remove the funds from your account and send a Refund IPN, and the invoice status will be updated to refunded. Please note that some banks might allow a longer timeframe for reversals.
  • Resolving payment rejections: Payments can be rejected for a variety of reasons, including insufficient funds. To resolve a payment rejection, you can provide an alternative payment method and resubmit the charge.

API Integrations

Pre-Authorized Direct Debit transactions are supported in BlueSnap's Payment API.

For Payment API requests, see:

Requirements

1. Enable the Pre-Authorized Direct Debit payment method in your account.
First enable this payment method in your account. In the Merchant Portal, go to Checkout Page > Payment Methods and select Show in the menu next to the Pre-Authorized Direct Debit payment method. Click Submit to save your changes.

2. Obtain the shopper's permission to debit their account via a mandate called a Pre-Authorized Agreement.
For certain Pre-Authorized Direct Debit transactions, you must obtain permission from the shopper to debit their account by having them authorize a mandate, also known as a Pre-Authorized Agreement.

Merchants must obtain this authorization in the following cases:

  • Subscription payment: When the shopper makes a subscription payment and checks out using an existing debit account or adds a new one at checkout
  • One-time payment: When the shopper makes a one-time payment and adds a new debit account at checkout.
  • Editing their Returning Shopper account: When the shopper edits their Returning Shopper account and adds a debit account.

You do not need to obtain this authorization when the shopper makes a one-time payment and checks out using an existing debit account.

One approach is to display a mandatory checkbox next to a link that contains the following text: "I authorize the Pre-Authorized Debit Agreement and this transaction, agree to this debit of my account and understand that my account information will be securely stored."

To retrieve the mandate, call BlueSnap's Get Debit Agreement API request. Keep in mind that you need to create the mandate before you can create a PAD transaction.

3. For merchant-managed subscriptions send a pre-notification message to the shopper prior to each debit.

Find example text below. Please replace all tags with the appropriate payment and merchant details.

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Notes

  • Please ensure that shoppers are logged in and verified using their credentials before they add or use the Pre-Authorized Direct Debit payment method.
  • At this time the dynamic statement descriptor is not supported for this payment method. The soft descriptor provided in the portal will be displayed on the shopper's bank statement.
  • The shopper’s routing number should be 9 digits in length:
    • If it is less than 9 digits, add leading 0s.
    • If it is longer than 9 digits, return an error to the shopper.

Hosted Pages

Pre-Authorized Direct Debit transactions are supported in BlueSnap's Payment Buy Now 3 Hosted Pages.

Requirements

1. Enable the Pre-Authorized Direct Debit payment method in your account.
First enable this payment method in your account. In the Merchant Portal, go to Checkout Page > Payment Methods and select Show in the menu next to the Pre-Authorized Direct Debit payment method. Click Submit to save your changes.

2. For merchant-managed subscriptions:

  • Please ask the shopper to authorize the mandate. (find more info under Step 2 here)
  • Send a pre-notification message to the shopper prior to each debit. Find example text below. Please replace all tags with the appropriate payment and merchant details.

Pending charge notification in the case of Merchant Managed Subscriptions

Dear Shopper,

We will be debiting you on <Insert date of debit e.g., 10/02/2022> from your bank account ending in <Insert Last 4 of the bank account number>.

If you have any questions please contact us at:

<Insert Merchant address 1> <Insert Merchant address 2>

Tel:
Email:

Thanks,

# Sandbox Testing You may use the following bank credentials to test various scenarios.

Simulate declined transaction*
Account number: 9990000004
Routing Number: 001004820

Simulate approved transaction*
Account number: 9990000001
Routing Number: 001004820

  • After the initial transaction request, you will see the status change within an hour.