Bancontact

Overview

Bancontact is a payment method that allows customers to perform payments by using Bancontact payment cards or the Bancontact mobile application. Refunds are also available. You can perform purchases through this method by using Payment Page and Gate, refunds by using Gate.

General information

Payment method type	bank payments
Payment instruments	payments cards
Countries and regions	BE
Payment currencies	EUR
Currency conversion	on the ecommpay side
Purchases	+
Payouts	–
Stored credentials payments	–
Full refunds	+
Partial refunds	+
Chargebacks	–
Notes	if the payment amount exceeds 500.00 EUR, then the Bancontact mobile application can't be used for purchase processing
Onboarding and access fee	Refer to your ecommpay key account manager

Interaction diagram

Payment processing by using the Bancontact payment method requires merchant's web service, one of ecommpay interfaces, and the ecommpay payment platform, as well as Bancontact technical facilities.

Operations support

	Interfaces				Amounts, EUR		Times*
	Payment Page	CMS Plug-ins	Gate	Dashboard	minimum	maximum	basic	threshold
Purchases	+	–	+	–	1.00	–	–	30 days
Full refunds	–	–	+	–	–	–	–	–
Partial refunds	–	–	+	–	–	–	–	–

* The basic and threshold times are defined as follows:

The basic time is the average estimated time between the moment a payment is initiated in the payment platform to the moment the payment result is sent to the initiator. The basic time evaluation is made on the assumption of normal operation of all technical facilities and communication channels and typical customer behaviour (if any input from customer is required). Use the basic time to estimate when to react to the absence of payment result notifications or when to check payment status.
The threshold time is the maximum possible time between the moment a payment is initiated in the payment platform to the moment the initiator receives the callback with the payment result. A payment is automatically declined, if its waiting time exceeds the threshold time. For individual setting of the threshold time limit, contact ecommpay technical support.

Processing scenarios

In the Bancontact method, purchases and refunds follow different processing procedures. To perform a purchase operation, you need to redirect customer to the Bancontact service, while to initiate a refund, you need to receive a request from a customer via your web service.

Figure: Purchase by using Payment Page

Figure: Purchase by using Gate

Figure: Refund by using Gate

The sections that follow provide detailed information about what you need to perform payments and how you can analyse the information on payments and operations.

Purchases by using Payment Page

General information

In the Bancontact method, when processing a purchase by using Payment Page, the merchant web service should send a request with all the required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL and get the callback with the payment result from the payment platform. When opening Payment Page, you can have Payment Page opened with one of the Bancontact method selected. For more information about preselecting payment methods, see in Preselecting payment methods. The full sequence and particularities of the purchase process are provided below.

Figure: Purchase sequence when using Payment Page

Customer initiates a purchase by using the web service.
The merchant web service sends the request for processing the purchase by using Payment Page to the specified ecommpay URL.
The payment platform receives the request for processing the purchase by using Payment Page.
The payment platform performs the initial request processing that involves validation of the required parameters and signature.
Requested Payment Page is generated in the ecommpay payment platform as specified in the project settings and the request parameters.
Payment Page is displayed to the customer.
The customer selects the Bancontact method.
The payment platform receives the purchase request for payment processing in the Bancontact service.
The payment platform performs the internal purchase request processing and sends it to the Bancontact service.
The purchase request is processed on the Bancontact side.
The Bancontact service generates the data for redirecting the customer and sends it to the payment platform.
The payment platform sends the customer redirection data to Payment Page.
The customer is redirected to the Bancontact website.
The customer completes all the required payment steps. If the payment amount is less than 500.00 EUR, then the QR code is displayed to the customer (fields for entering Bancontact card credentials are also displayed in this case). The customer can scan the code by using the Bancontact mobile application. If the payment amount is exceeds 500.00 EUR, then the QR code is not displayed and the purchase can't be processed by using the moblie application.
The payment is processed on the Bancontact side.
The result is displayed to the customer on the Bancontact website.
The customer is redirected to Payment Page.
The Bancontact service sends the result notification to the payment platform.
The payment platform sends a callback with the payment result to the web service.
The payment platform sends payment results to Payment Page.
A page with the payment result information is displayed to the customer on Payment Page.

The sections that follow discuss in more details the request format and the Payment Page parameters to use in the Bancontact payment method and provide the information on the format of callbacks with payment results. For the general information on how to use the API, see Payment Page API Description.

Request format

There are several things you need to consider when using the Bancontact method:

You must provide values for the basic minimum of parameters. Listed below are the parameters that are mandatory for any payment method:
- customer_id—the unique ID of the customer within your project
- project_id—the project ID obtained from ecommpay
- payment_id—payment ID unique within the project
- payment_currency—payment currency in ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
- payment_amount—payment amount in minor units
The currency of payment can only be EUR.
It is recommended to specify the name and e-mail address of the user in the customer_last_name parameter (to avoid errors during payment processing it is recommended to set the following value length—from 3 to 100 characters). If the request is missing the parameter, the additional field to input missing data is displayed to the customer on Payment Page. For more details about clarification, see Submission of additional payment information.
If you need to have payment form displayed with the Bancontact method selected, set the force_payment_method parameter to bancontact.
If required, you can also add any other additional parameters Payment Page supports.
After you specify all the parameters you need, you must create the signature for the request. For instructions on how to sign a payment request, see Signature generation and verification.

Thus, a correct payment request in the Bancontact method must include project, customer and payment IDs, the currency and the amount of a payment in the appropriate currency, as well the last name of the customer, as shown in the following example:

    { project_id: 211,
      payment_id: 'X03936',
      payment_currency: 'EUR',
      payment_amount: 1000,
      customer_id: '123',
      customer_last_name: 'Johnson',
      signature: "kUi2x9dKHAVNU0FYldJrxh4yo+52Kt8KURLCvhtT4DqtOcZzUCwX6R\/ekpZhkIQg=="
    }

For information about all parameters available in the Bancontact method, see Parameters for opening payment form.

Callback format

The Bancontact method uses the standard format for callbacks to deliver purchase results. For more information, see Callbacks.

The following is the example of a callback with an information about successful 10.00 EUR purchase made in the 211 project.

Figure: Example of a successful purchase callback

{
        "project_id": 211,
        "payment": {
            "id": "ECT_TEST_1562051806691899",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "method": "bancontact",
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "ECT_TEST_1562051806691810"
        },
        "customer": {
            "last_name": "Johnson"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 37493000003351,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "created_date": "2019-07-02T09:28:24+0000",
            "request_id": "7e08d48c4f5da3692b65e5426f44ed36896e569c",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "provider": {
                "id": 1241,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            },
            "code": "0",
            "message": "Success"
        },
        "signature": "e7wGQAoo1wKMPwsJVCg4zqvlPHA/Hui8XhpAH3AqwpWiZVR83hnRnYsIZ84g=="
    }

The following is the example of a callback for a purchase declined due to amount or frequency limitation.

Figure: Example of a declined purchase callback

{
        "project_id": 211,
        "payment": {
            "id": "ECT_TEST_1562051806691810",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "method": "bancontact",
            "sum": {
                "amount": 50,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
        },
        "customer": {
            "last_name": "Johnson"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 37493000003351,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "created_date": "2019-07-02T09:28:24+0000",
            "request_id": "7e08d48c4f5da3692b65e5426f44ed36896e569c",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 50,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 50,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "provider": {
                "id": 1241,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            },
            "code": "20101",
            "message": "Decline due to amount or frequency limit"
        },
        "signature": "e7wGQAoo1wKMPwsJVCg4zqvlPHA/Hui8XhpAH3AqwpWiZVR83hnRnYsIZ84g=="
    }

Purchases by using Gate

General information

In the Bancontact method, when processing a purchase by using Gate, the merchant web service is required to do the following:

Send a request with all the required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL.
Perform the redirection of a customer to the Bancontact service.
Get the callback with the payment result from the payment platform.

The following diagram provides the detailed picture of the payment processing procedure.

Figure: Purchase sequence when using Gate

A customer initiates a purchase on the merchant's web service side by using the Bancontact method.
The web service sends the request for processing the purchase by using Gate to the specified ecommpay URL.
The payment platform receives the request for processing the purchase from Gate.
The payment platform performs the initial request processing that includes validation of the required parameters and signature.
The payment platform sends the response with request receipt confirmation and correctness check result to the web service. For more information, see Response format.
The payment platform performs the internal payment request processing and sends it to the Bancontact service.
The request is processed on the Bancontact side.
The Bancontact generates the data for redirecting the customer to the Bancontact and sends it to the payment platform.
The payment platform sends the callback with the redirection data in the redirect_data object to the web service.
The customer is redirected to the Bancontact service.
The customer completes all the required payment steps. If the payment amount is less than 500.00 EUR, then the QR code is displayed to the customer (fields for entering Bancontact card credentials are also displayed in this case). The customer can scan the code by using the Bancontact mobile application. If the payment amount is exceeds 500.00 EUR, then the QR code is not displayed and the purchase can't be processed by using the moblie application.
The payment is processed on the Bancontact side.
The result is displayed to the customer.
The customer is redirected to the merchant's web service.
The Bancontact service sends the payment result notification to the payment platform.
The payment platform sends a callback to the web service.
The customer receives the payment result on the web service.

The sections that follow discuss in more details the request format and the Gate parameters to use in the Bancontact payment method and provide the information on the format of callbacks with purchase results. For general information on how to use the API, see API Description.

Request format

There are several things you must consider when using purchase requests in the Bancontact method:

You send purchase requests by sending the /v2/payment/bancontact/sale request by using the POST (HTTP) method.
The following objects and parameters must be specified in any request:
- Object general—general purchase information:
  - project_id—the project ID obtained from ecommpay
  - payment_id—payment ID unique within the project
  - signature—signature created after you specify all the required parameters. For more information about signature generation, see Signature generation and verification
- Object payment—purchase information:
  - amount—purchase amount in minor units
  - currency—payment currency in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
- Object customer—customer information:
  - id—the unique ID of the customer within your project
  - ip_address—IP address
  - last_name—last name (to avoid errors during payment processing it is recommended to set the following value length—from 3 to 100 characters). If the parameter is not specified in the request, a callback containing this parameter is sent for additional payment information submission (for more details, see Submission of additional payment information)
- Object return_url—contains the URLs to which customer is redirected while or after payment processing:
  - return—URL to return customer to the web service during any step before the payment is completed with a click of the return button.
The currency of purchase can only be EUR.
If required, you can also add any other additional parameters Gate supports.

Thus, a correct payment request in the Bancontact method must include project, customer and payment IDs, amount and currency of the purchase, as well as customer data and URLs for redirection, as shown in the following example:

Figure: Example of a purchase request

{
    "general": {
      "project_id": 211,
      "payment_id": "payment_id",
      "signature": "PJkV8ej\/UG0Di8NN5e7cV+VHq3LwY3T\/pOMeSaRfBaNIipTv+AWoXW\/9MTO8yJA=="
    },
    "payment": {
      "amount": 1000,
      "currency": "EUR"
    },
    "customer": {
      "id": "123",
      "last_name": "Johnson",
      "ip_address": "1.1.1.1"
    },
    "return_url": {
      "return": "http://example.com/return"
    }  
}

Formats of the customer redirection data

To redirect a customer from the web service to the Bancontact site, you must receive a callback from the payment platform containing the URL for redirection in the redirect_data.url parameter and data to be sent in the request body in the redirect_data.body parameter, and use these parameters when opening the HTML page using the method specified in the redirect_data.method parameter.

The following is the callback fragment containing the redirection data.

   "redirect_data": {
                   "body": [],
                   "method": "GET",
                   "url": "https://bancontact.girogate.be/bi/t0bc?tx=example

Callback format

The Bancontact method uses the standard format for callbacks to deliver purchase results. For more information, see Callbacks.

The following is the example of a callback with an information about successful 10.00 EUR purchase made in the 211 project.

Figure: Example of a successful purchase callback

{
        "project_id": 211,
        "payment": {
            "id": "ECT_TEST_1562051806691899",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "method": "bancontact",
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "ECT_TEST_1562051806691810"
        },
        "customer": {
            "last_name": "Johnson"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 37493000003351,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "created_date": "2019-07-02T09:28:24+0000",
            "request_id": "7e08d48c4f5da3692b65e5426f44ed36896e569c",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "provider": {
                "id": 1241,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            },
            "code": "0",
            "message": "Success"
        },
        "signature": "e7wGQAoo1wKMPwsJVCg4zqvlPHA/Hui8XhpAH3AqwpWiZVR83hnRnYsIZ84g=="
    }

The following is the example of a callback for a purchase declined due to amount or frequency limitation.

Figure: Example of a declined purchase callback

{
        "project_id": 211,
        "payment": {
            "id": "ECT_TEST_1562051806691810",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "method": "bancontact",
            "sum": {
                "amount": 50,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
        },
        "customer": {
            "last_name": "Johnson"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 37493000003351,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2019-07-02T09:28:29+0000",
            "created_date": "2019-07-02T09:28:24+0000",
            "request_id": "7e08d48c4f5da3692b65e5426f44ed36896e569c",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 50,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 50,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "provider": {
                "id": 1241,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            },
            "code": "20101",
            "message": "Decline due to amount or frequency limit"
        },
        "signature": "e7wGQAoo1wKMPwsJVCg4zqvlPHA/Hui8XhpAH3AqwpWiZVR83hnRnYsIZ84g=="
    }

Refunds by using Gate

General information

Bancontact full and partial refunds processing by using Gate: merchant's web service sends a request with all the required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL, and receives a callback with the payment result. The full sequence of the refund process is provided below.

Figure: Refund sequence when using Gate

A customer orders a refund by using the web service.
Merchant's web service sends the request for the refund processing by using Gate to the appropriate ecommpay URL.
Gate redirects the request to the ecommpay payment platform.
The payment platform performs all the necessary checks and processes the request.
The response with the request processing results is sent to the merchant's web service. For more information, see Response format.
The payment platform redirects the refund request to the Bancontact service.
The payment is processed on the Bancontact side.
Bancontact sends the result notification to the payment platform.
The payment platform sends a callback with the payment result to the web service.
The customer receives the information about the receipt of the requested funds from the web service

The sections that follow discuss in more details the request format and the Gate parameters to use in the Bancontact payment method and provide the information on the format of callbacks with refund results.

Request format

There are several things you must consider when using refund requests in the Bancontact method:

You perform a refund by sending the request to /v2/payment/bancontact/refund by using the POST (HTTP) method.
The following objects and parameters must be specified in any request:
- Object general—general refund information:
  - project_id—the project ID obtained from ecommpay
  - payment_id—payment ID unique within the project
  - signature—signature created after you specify all the required parameters. For more information about signature generation, see Signature generation and verification
- Object payment—refund information:
  - description—comment or description
  - amount—refund amount in minor units (mandatory for partial refunds only)
  - currency—refund currency in ISO-4217 alpha-3 format (mandatory for partial refunds only)
- Object customer—customer information:
  - ip_address—IP address
If required, you can also add any other additional parameters Gate supports.

Thus, a correct partial refund request in the Bancontact method must include project and payment IDs, signature, currency and amount of the refund, refund description and customer IP address, as shown in the following example:

Figure: Example of a partial refund request

  "general": {    
    "project_id": 211,    
    "payment_id": "refund_02",   
    "signature": "of8k9xerKSKpFBR4XL1QFaDH3p9Mh0CIcjmOwSwKJ7KLTZYO56lCv+f1M0Sf/7eg=="
  },
  "payment": {    
    "amount": 1000,    
    "currency": "EUR",
    "description": "refund"
  },
   "customer": {    
     "ip_address": "1.1.1.1"
  }

Callback format

The Bancontact method uses the standard format for callbacks to deliver refund results. For more information, see Callbacks.

The following is the example of a callback with an information about successful 10.00 EUR refund for the customer account 035209875690435 in the 211 project.

Figure: Example of a successful refund callback

{
        "project_id": 211,
        "payment": {
            "id": "refund_02",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "refunded",
            "date": "2019-02-19T14:25:25+0000",
            "method": "bancontact",
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "test_02"
        },
        "account": {
            "number": "035209875690435"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 14153000003282,
            "type": "refund",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2019-02-19T14:25:25+0000",
            "created_date": "2019-02-19T14:25:24+0000",
            "request_id": "9d11b2ca618ec3ba0f588af8af3c4fc9f5fa58f174",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "provider": {
                "id": 1169,
                "payment_id": "105887607",
                "date": "2019-02-19T14:25:24+0000",
                "auth_code": ""
            },
            "code": "0",
            "message": "Success"
        },
        "signature": "of8k9xerKSKpFBR4XL1QFaDH3p9Mh0CIcjmOwSwKJ7KLTZYO56lCv+f1M0Sf/7eg=="
    }

The following is the example of a callback for a refund declined as the amount in the refund requested is greater than the amount in the initial payment.

Figure: Example of a declined refund callback

{
        "project_id": 211,
        "payment": {
            "id": "refund_02",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2019-02-19T14:25:25+0000",
            "method": "bancontact",
            "sum": {
                "amount": 100000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "test_02"
        },
        "account": {
            "number": "035209875690435"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 14153000003282,
            "type": "refund",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2019-02-19T14:25:25+0000",
            "created_date": "2019-02-19T14:25:24+0000",
            "request_id": "9d11b2ca618ec3ba0f588af8af3c4fc9f5fa58f174",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 100000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 100000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "provider": {
                "id": 1169,
                "payment_id": "105887607",
                "date": "2019-02-19T14:25:24+0000",
                "auth_code": ""
            },
            "code": "3283",
            "message": "Refund amount more than init amount"
        },
        "signature": "of8k9xerKSKpFBR4XL1QFaDH3p9Mh0CIcjmOwSwKJ7KLTZYO56lCv+f1M0Sf/7eg=="
    }

Analysis of payments results

As with other payment methods ecommpay offers, when using the Bancontact method, you have several options to analyse the information about payments and operations performed by using the method—alone or in conjunction with other methods.

You can load and analyse all the necessary information in Dashboard, for instance you can use the analytic panels on the Analytics tab to this end.

Also, you can export the information for further analysis by using third party analytical tools. The following options are available:

Dashboard allows you to download reports in CSV and XLS formats—by using the tools on the Payments tab. You can perform export as a one-time download to your local computer or have payment data regularly exported and delivered to email addresses you specify.
Data API allows you to have payment information exported in JSON format and delivered to a URL you specify. The payment information is exported by using the /operations/get queries.

If you have any further questions regarding payment data analysis, contact ecommpay technical support.

Overview

General information

Interaction diagram

Operations support

Processing scenarios

Purchases by using Payment Page

General information

Request format

Callback format

Related topics

Purchases by using Gate

General information

Request format

Formats of the customer redirection data

Callback format

Related topics

Refunds by using Gate

General information

Request format

Callback format

Related topics

Analysis of payments results