Direct Debit BACS
Overview
Introduction
Direct Debit BACS is a payment method which allows you to process payments in pounds by using bank accounts in the UK. This method supports COF purchases and refunds.
This article provides information about working with the Direct Debit BACS method: general insights are presented in the Overview section, while information about the actions required to process payments and perform other actions is presented in the sections that follow.
General information
Payment method type | bank payments |
---|---|
Payment instruments | bank accounts |
Countries and regions | GB |
Payment currencies | GBP |
Currency conversion | – |
One-time purchases | – |
Credential-on-file purchases | + |
Full refunds | + |
Partial refunds | + |
Payouts | – |
Chargebacks | – |
Notes | by default refunds can be performed only after seven calendar days since the purchase has been processed; to enable the possibility of performing refunds before this time, contact your ecommpay account manager |
Onboarding and access fee | refer to your ecommpay account manager |
Interaction diagram
Payment processing by using the Direct Debit BACS method involves the merchant's web service, one of ecommpay interfaces, the ecommpay payment platform, and technical facilities of the provider service.
Operations support
Various platform interfaces can be used to process payments and perform operations using the Direct Debit BACS method. Purchases can be processed by using Payment Page, Gate and Dashboard (using payment links), refunds—by using Gate and Dashboard.
The threshold time for processing purchases (the maximum possible time between the moment a payment is initiated in the payment platform and the moment the web service receives the callback with the payment result information) is 5 banking days. A payment is automatically assigned the decline
status if it wasn't processed within the threshold time.
Processing scenarios
To perform a purchase by using the Direct Debit BACS method, you need to redirect the customer to the Direct Debit BACS service, while to make a refund, you need to receive a request from the customer and notify the customer about the result of the refund via the web service.
COF purchases by using Payment Page
General information
When using Payment Page and the Direct Debit BACS method, you can register COF purchases of two types:
- Regular purchase—regular automatic debits are carried out according to a schedule passed to the platform (details). In this case, automatic debiting is used, without additional actions on the part of the merchant.
- Autopurchase—debits are initiated by the web service by sending requests based on specified rules (details). In this case, to debit funds, each time a separate Gate request is required (details).
At the same time, you can register a COF purchase of any of these types either with or without an initial debit of funds. Please note that for registration without the initial debit the directdebit
payment type is used, and for registration with the first debit the purchase
type is used.
To register a COF purchase through Payment Page by using the Direct Debit BACS method, the merchant's web service is required to send a request with all required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL and receive a callback with the registration result.
Information about the formats of requests and callbacks used for registering purchases by using the Direct Debit BACS method via Payment Page is presented further in this section; general information about working with the Payment Page API is presented in Interaction concepts.
Request format for registration without the initial debit of funds
When registering a COF purchase without the initial debit, the directdebit
payment type is used, within which the following types of operations can be performed: contract registration
, recurring update
(only when for regular purchases), recurring cancel
(only for regular purchases). There are several things you need to consider when sending purchase registration requests by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- The following parameters required for any payment must be specified:
project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectpayment_currency
—payment currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 formatpayment_amount
—payment amount, the0
value must be specifiedcustomer_id
—customer identifier unique within the project
- The following parameters required for any payment must be specified:
project_id
,payment_id
,payment_currency
,payment_amount
,customer_id
. - Additionally, it is necessary to specify the first and last names of the customer in the parameters
customer_first_name
andcustomer_last_name
, as well as thedirectdebit-bacs
method code in theforce_payment_method
parameter and thecard_verify
value in themode
parameter. - To register a COF purchase, you must specify a
recurring
object containing the registration attribute and the necessary information. The Direct Debit BACS method supports two types of COF purchases:U
(autopurchase) andR
(regular purchase). To register regular payments, the request must contain information about the frequency, amount, and beginning and end time of debits of funds. The full list of parameters that can be specified in therecurring
object is presented in the COF purchase registration section. - Additionally, any other parameters available for working with Payment Page can be used (details).
- After all target parameters are specified, generate a signature (details).
Thus, a correct request for opening the payment form using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project identifier, basic payment information (identifier, amount, and currency code), customer and COF purchase information, as well as signature.
Request format for registration with the initial debit of funds
When registering a COF purchase with the initial debit, the purchase
payment type is used, within which the following types of operations can be performed: sale
, reversal
, refund
, contract registration
, recurring update
(only for regular purchases) and recurring cancel
(only for regular purchases).
There are several things you need to consider when sending purchase registration requests by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- The following parameters required for any payment must be specified:
project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectpayment_currency
—payment currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 formatpayment_amount
—payment amount in the smallest currency unitcustomer_id
—customer identifier unique within the project
- The following parameters required for any payment must be specified:
project_id
,payment_id
,payment_currency
,payment_amount
,customer_id
. - Additionally, it is necessary to specify the first and last names of the customer in the parameters
customer_first_name
andcustomer_last_name
. - To register a COF purchase, you must specify a
recurring
object containing the registration attribute and the necessary information. The Direct Debit BACS method supports two types of COF purchases:U
(autopurchase) andR
(regular purchase). To register regular payments, the request must contain information about the frequency, amount, and beginning and end time of debits of funds. The full list of parameters that can be passed in therecurring
object is presented in the COF purchase registration section. - If you need to have the payment form displayed with the Direct Debit BACS method selected, set the
force_payment_method
parameter todirectdebit-bacs
. - Additionally, any other parameters available for working with Payment Page can be used (details).
- After all target parameters are specified, generate a signature (details).
Thus, a correct request for opening the payment form using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project identifier, basic payment information (identifier, amount, and currency code), customer and COF purchase information, as well as signature.
Callback format
The Direct Debit BACS 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 information about a COF purchase without an initial debit of funds that has been registered in the 430716
project.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a COF purchase with an initial debit of funds that has been registered in the 430716
project.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined registration of a COF purchase.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined registration of a COF purchase and a declined purchase.
Useful links
The following articles can be useful when implementing purchases via Payment Page:
- Interaction concepts—about the interaction with the payment platform by using Payment Page.
- Signature generation and verification—about the procedure of generating and verifying signatures in requests and callbacks.
- Payment models and statuses—about the types, processing models, and possible statuses of supported payments and operations.
- Information of operations performing—about error and response codes that are used in the payment platform to record information about performing of operations.
COF purchases by using Gate
General information
When using Gate and the Direct Debit BACS method, you can register COF purchases of two types:
- Regular purchase—regular automatic debits are carried out according to a schedule passed to the platform (details). In this case, automatic debiting is used, without additional actions on the part of the merchant.
- Autopurchase—debits are initiated by the web service by sending requests based on specified rules (details). In this case, to debit funds, each time a separate request is required.
At the same time, you can register a COF purchase of any of these types either with or without an initial debit of funds. Please note that for registration without the initial debit the directdebit
payment type is used, and for registration with the first debit the purchase
type is used.
To register a purchase through Gate by using the Direct Debit BACS method, the merchant's web service is required to do the following:
- Send a request with all the required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL.
- Receive an intermediate callback from the payment platform and redirect the customer to the Direct Debit BACS service.
- Receive the callback from the payment platform informing about the registration result.
To perform each debit of funds within an autopurchase the merchant's web service is required to send a request with all the required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL and receive a callback from the payment platform informing abot the debit result.
Information about the formats of requests and callbacks used for processing payments by using the Direct Debit BACS method via Gate is presented further in this section. General information about working with the Gate API is presented in Interaction concepts.
Request format for registration without the initial debit of funds
When registering a COF purchase without the initial debit, the directdebit
payment type is used, within which the following types of operations can be performed: contract registration
, recurring update
(only when for regular purchases), recurring cancel
(only for regular purchases). There are several things you need to consider when sending purchase registration requests by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- To register each purchase, send a separate POST request to the
/v2/payment/directdebit/bacs/contract/registration
endpoint. This endpoint belongs to the group /v2/payment/directdebit/{payment_method}/contract/registration. - Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general purchase information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectsignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification) (details)
- Object
payment
—payment information:currency
—payment currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
- Object
customer
—customer information:id
—customer identifier unique within the projectip_address
—customer IP address relevant for the initiated paymentfirst_name
—customer first namelast_name
—customer last name
- Object
- To register a COF purchase, you must specify a
recurring
object containing the registration attribute and the necessary information. The Direct Debit BACS method supports two types of COF purchases:U
(autopurchase) andR
(regular purchase). To register regular payments, the request must contain information about the frequency, amount, and beginning and end time of debits of funds. The full list of parameters that can be specified in therecurring
object is presented in the Registering COF purchase section. - Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct purchase registration request by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project identifier, basic payment information (identifier and currency code), customer and COF purchase information, as well as signature.
Request format for registration with the initial debit of funds
When registering a COF purchase with the initial debit, the purchase
payment type is used, within which the following types of operations can be performed: sale
, reversal
, refund
, contract registration
, recurring update
(only for regular purchases) and recurring cancel
(only for regular purchases). There are several things you need to consider when sending purchase registration requests by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- To register each purchase, send a separate POST request to the
/v2/payment/directdebit/bacs/sale
endpoint. This endpoint belongs to the group /v2/payment/directdebit/{payment_method}/sale. - Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general purchase information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectsignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification) (details)
- Object
payment
—payment information:amount
—payment amount in the smallest currency unitcurrency
—payment currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
- Object
customer
—customer information:id
—customer identifier unique within the projectip_address
—customer IP address relevant for the initiated paymentfirst_name
—customer first namelast_name
—customer last name
- Object
- To register a COF purchase, you must specify a
recurring
object containing the registration attribute and the necessary information. The Direct Debit BACS method supports two types of COF purchases:U
(autopurchase) andR
(regular purchase). To register regular payments, the request must contain information about the frequency, amount, and beginning and end time of debits of funds. The full list of parameters that can be specified in therecurring
object is presented in the Registering COF purchase section. - Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct purchase registration request by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project identifier, basic payment information (identifier, amount and currency code), customer and COF purchase information, as well as signature.
Request format for a separate debit of funds
There are several things you must consider when sending requests for separate debits of funds by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- To perform each debit, send a separate POST request to the
/v2/payment/directdebit/bacs/recurring
endpoint. This endpoint belongs to the group /v2/payment/directdebit/{payment_method}/recurring. - Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general purchase information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectsignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification) (details)
- Object
payment
—payment information:amount
—payout amount in the smallest currency unitcurrency
—payout currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
- Object
customer
—customer information:ip_address
—customer IP address relevant for the initiated payout
- Object
recurring
—COF purchase information:id
—registered COF purchase identifier
- Object
- Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct request for a separate debit of funds by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project and COF purchase identifiers, customer and payment information, as well as signature.
Request format for getting information about a debiting series
There are several things you must consider when sending a request for information about a debiting series by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- To request information each time send a separate POST request to the /v2/payment/recurring/info endpoint.
- Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general purchase information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectsignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification) (details)
- Object
recurring
—COF purchase information:id
—registered COF purchase identifier
- Object
- Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct request for information by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project, payment and COF purchase identifiers, as well as signature.
Request format for updating a debiting series
There are several things you must consider when updating a debiting series by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- For each update send a separate POST request to the
/v2/payment/directdebit/bacs/recurring/update
endpoint. This endpoint belongs to the group /v2/payment/directdebit/{payment_method}/recurring/update. - Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general purchase information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectsignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification) (details)
- Object
recurring
—COF purchase information:id
—registered COF purchase identifier
- Object
- You need also use other parameters of the
recurring
object:expiry_year
—expiration year of the COF purchaseexpiry_month
—expiration month of the COF purchaseexpiry_day
—expiration day of the COF purchaseinterval
—multiplicator to increase debiting period, for example if you need to run debiting every third week, you can setperiod
toW
andinterval
to3
. Possible values: from1
to100
amount
—amount to debit after registrationscheduled_payment_id
—ID to assign the COF purchase (for automatic debiting)period
—debiting period:D
—dailyW
—weeklyM
—monthlyQ
—quarterlyY
—yearly
time
—time of subsequent debiting in thehh:mm:ss
formatstart_date
—date to perform the first debit
- Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct update request by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain project ID, payment ID, signature, ID of debit series, and debit series parameters to update.
Request format for cancelling a COF purchase
There are several things you must consider when cancelling COF purchases by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- To cancel each purchase, send a separate POST request to the
/v2/payment/directdebit/bacs/recurring/cancel
endpoint. This endpoint belongs to the group /v2/payment/directdebit/{payment_method}/recurring/cancel. - Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general purchase information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—payment identifier unique within the projectsignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification) (details)
- Object
recurring
—COF purchase information:id
—registered COF purchase identifier
- Object
- Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct purchase request by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project, payment and COF purchase identifiers, as well as signature.
Formats of intermediate callbacks for customer redirection
Each payment made with the Direct Debit BACS method requires redirection of customers from the merchant's web service to the Direct Debit BACS service. To redirect a customer it is necessary to receive an intermediate callback from the payment platform and use the information included in the redirect_data
object. The format of such callbacks is standard (details), and the following objects and parameters are included in the redirect_data
object:
body
—object with data to be sent in the request bodymethod
—parameter specifying the HTTP method for sending the request (GET
orPOST
)url
—parameter containing a link for redirection
Callback format
The Direct Debit BACS 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 information about a COF purchase without an initial debit of funds that has been registered in the 430716
project.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a COF purchase with an initial debit of funds that has been registered in the 430716
project.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined registration of a COF purchase.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a separate debit of funds.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined separate debit of funds.
The following is the example of a callback with information about an updated debiting series.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a cancelled COF purchase.
Response format
The payment platform uses the standard format for response with debit series information. For more information about response format, see Response format.
Useful links
The following articles can be useful when implementing purchases via Gate:
- Interaction concepts—about the interaction with the payment platform by using Gate.
- Signature generation and verification—about the procedure of generating and verifying signatures in requests and callbacks.
- Payment models and statuses—about the types, processing models, and possible statuses of supported payments and operations.
- Information of operations performing—about error and response codes that are used in the payment platform to record information about performing of operations.
Refunds by using Gate
General information
To perform a refund through Gate by using the Direct Debit BACS method, send a request with all required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL and receive a callback with the result. The full sequence and special aspects of refund performing are provided below.
Information about the formats of requests and callbacks used for performing refunds by using the Direct Debit BACS method via Gate is presented further in this section. General information about working with the Gate API is presented in Interaction concepts.
Request format
There are several things you need to consider when sending refund requests by using the Direct Debit BACS method:
- To initiate each refund, send a separate POST request to the /v2/payment/refund endpoint.
- Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
- Object
general
—general refund information:project_id
—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integrationpayment_id
—identifier of the payment that needs to be refundedpayment identifiersignature
—request signature generated after all required parameters are specified (details—in the Signature generation and verification)
- Object
payment
—refund information:description
—refund description or commentamount
—refund amount in the smallest currency unit (required for a partial refund)currency
—refund currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format (required for a partial refund)
- Object
customer
—customer information:ip_address
—customer IP address relevant for the initiated refund
- Object
- Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.
Thus, a correct refund request by using the Direct Debit BACS method must contain the project and payment identifiers, description of the refund, the customer IP address, signature, and, if necessary, currency code and refund amount.
Callback format
The Direct Debit BACS 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 information about a 1.00 GBP
refund made in the 59051
project.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined refund of an initial debit of funds.
The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined refund of a separate debit of funds.
Useful links
The following articles can be useful when implementing refunds via Gate:
- Interaction concepts—about the interaction with the payment platform by using Gate.
- Signature generation and verification—about the procedure of generating and verifying signatures in requests and callbacks.
- Payment models and statuses—about the types, processing models, and possible statuses of supported payments and operations.
- Purchase refunds—about performing of refunds by using Gate.
- Information of operations performing—about error and response codes that are used in the payment platform to record information about performing of operations.
Analysis of payments results
To analyse information about payments made with the Direct Debit BACS method and other methods, you can use:
- Dashboard interface toolkit with various lists and analytic panels.
- Reports in CSV file format, available via the Reports section (one-time and periodically).
- Data in JSON format, sent by program requests to a specified URL available by using the Data API interface.
If you have any questions, refer to the documentation (Dashboard and Using Data API) and ecommpay technical support.