Open Banking (methods group)

Overview

Introduction

Open Banking is a group of internet banking methods which are based on the use of open banking protocols and provide advanced capabilities for secure processing of customer information. The methods of this group are characterized by a set of similar properties and allow processing payments in euros and a number of other European currencies through various banks in Europe by using bank accounts. At the same time, each of the methods is localized in a separate country, taking into account its specifics.

The ecommpay payment platform supports processing purchases made with the Open Banking payment methods. You can also perform payouts by using Payouts to bank accounts in SEPA and Local payouts to bank accounts in the UK as complementary payment methods. Note that in this case payouts can be used to issue refunds to your customers.

This article provides general information about working with the Open Banking methods group, without the description of the parameters and features that apply to individual methods. This article may be useful in cases where it is necessary to enable Open Banking methods in a number of countries and it is reasonable to first configure the general parameters of the web service for the entire group of enabled methods, and then configure individual parameters for each of them.

Specific information about each Open Banking method, including information about available currencies and banks, as well as technical characteristics (such as the method code for preselecting it in Payment Page and the endpoint address for sending requests by using Gate), is presented in the articles describing these methods.

This article provides general information about working with the Open Banking methods group. Specific information about each Open Banking method is presented in the articles describing these methods.

General information

The general information about the Open Banking method group can be presented as follows.

Payment method type bank payments
Payment instruments bank accounts
Countries and regions AT, BE, EE, ES, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, LT, LV, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, SE
Payment currencies EUR (for AT, BE, EE, ES, FI, FR, DE, GR, LT, , NL, PL, PT, RO), HUF (for HU), NOK (for NO), PLN (for PL), RON (for RO), SEK (for SE)
Currency conversion on the ecommpay side
One-time purchases +
Credential-on-file purchases –
Full refunds –
Partial refunds –
Payouts –
Chargebacks –
Notes
  • taking into account the specifics of the providers and banks involved, in some cases customers must provide additional consent to make payments using open banking protocols, which adds the appropriate steps to payment scenarios (more details below)
  • Payment Page supports different bank and method selection options (more details below)
  • when redirecting to services of providers and banks, the option using the iframe element cannot be used; the pages of these services can open in a separate tab or in a modal window
  • payment confirmation procedure may be used during purchase processing (more details below)
  • performing payouts is possible with the use of the complementary payment methods Payouts to bank accounts in SEPA and Local payouts to bank accounts in the UK
Onboarding and access fee refer to your ecommpay account manager; additional information is available in ecommpay shop

Interaction diagram

Payment processing by using the Open Banking methods involves the merchant's web service, one of ecommpay interfaces, the ecommpay payment platform, and technical facilities of the bank and provider services.

Payments using Open Banking methods can be represented as follows.



Operations support

Various platform interfaces can be used to process payments and perform operations using the Open Banking methods: purchases can be processed by using Payment Page, Gate and Dashboard (using payment links for opening Payment Page). At the same time, regardless of the interfaces used, amount limitations are applicable depending on the bank and provider used for purchase processing.

Processing scenarios

To perform a purchase by using the Open Banking methods, you need to redirect the customer to the provider (if necessary) and bank services.

The customer payment scenario via Payment Page (in the basic case where the customer chooses the method and bank and is redirected from the final page of the payment form to the web service) looks like this (using the Open Banking in Germany method as an example).

Figure 1. Proceeding to payment


Figure 2. Selecting method


Figure 3. Selecting bank


Figure 4. Accepting terms and conditions


Figure 5. Authentication


Figure 6. Confirming payment


Figure 7. Redirecting to the payment form


Figure 8. Redirecting to the web service


General scenarios of processing purchases can be presented as follows.

Figure 9. Purchase by using Payment Page


Figure 10. Purchase by using Gate


Scenarios for performing operations via the main interfaces of the payment platform correspond to those presented in the diagrams. Similarly, when additional capabilities are used, scenarios for performing operations can be adjusted accordingly. In addition, for payments using Open Banking methods, different bank selection options are available; they are described in the Purchases by using Payment Page section of this article.Similarly, when additional capabilities are used (for example when using payment links and using separate additional capabilities), scenarios for performing operations can be adjusted accordingly

At the same time, the specifics of working with the Open Banking methods include the necessity of selecting a bank for each payment. When Payment Page is used for payment processing, the customer usually selects a bank while already in the payment form. When Payment Page is opened with the method and bank preselected as well as when payments are initiated through Gate, the bank must be selected on the side of the web service and the identifier of this bank must be specified in requests. Possible options for bank selection when working with Payment Page are described in Purchases by using Payment Page, ways of using bank identifiers—in the next subsection, Supported banks.

Supported banks

When making payments using any of the Open Banking group methods, various banks that support this method may be involved. To obtain up-to-date information about the banks available for a specific method, it is recommended to send POST requests to the /v2/info/banks/{payment_method}/{operationType}/list Gate API endpoint group. For Open Banking methods, the name of the catalog {payment_method} is the name of the country (in accordance with how it is specified in the description of the method), and the name of the catalog {operationType} is the type of operation (sale). So, for the Open Banking in Germany method the request to the /v2/info/banks/germany/sale/list endpoint is applicable.

When making payments using any of the Open Banking group methods, various banks that support this method may be involved. To obtain up-to-date information about the banks available for a specific method, it is recommended to send POST requests to the /v2/info/banks/{payment_method}/{operationType}/list Gate API endpoint group. For Open Banking methods, the name of the catalog {payment_method} is the name of the country (in accordance with how it is specified in the description of the method), and the name of the catalog {operationType} is the type of operation (sale). So, for the Open Banking in Germany method the request to the /v2/info/banks/germany/sale/list endpoint is applicable.

The request must contain the project and payment identifiers, signature, currency code, and payment amount, as shown in the example. Specify real payment data if possible. However, random values are also allowed.

Figure 11. Example of data in the request for receiving the list of banks
{
    "general": {
        "project_id": 200,
        "payment_id": "ORDER_155860015",
        "signature": "K6jllym+PtObocZtr345st...=="
    },
    "payment": {
        "amount": 1000,
        "currency": "EUR"
    }
}
Figure 12. Example of data in the response containing the information about banks
[
  {
    "id": 54991, // Bank ID
    "abbr": "COMMERZBANK", // The service name of the bank in the platform (or its abbreviation)
    "name": "Commerzbank", // International bank name
    "nativeName": "Commerzbank", // Local (national or regional) bank name
    "currencies": [ // Array with information about the currencies supported by the bank
      {
        "id": 978, // Currency ID in the payment platform
        "alpha_3_4217": "EUR", // ISO-4217 alphabetic currency code
        "number_3_4217": "978", // ISO-4217 numeric currency code
        "exponent": 2 // The number of decimal units of the currency
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "id": 54981,
    "abbr": "UNICREDIT-BANK",
    "name": "UniCredit Bank",
    "nativeName": "UniCredit Bank",
    "currencies": [
      {
        "id": 978,
        "alpha_3_4217": "EUR",
        "number_3_4217": "978",
        "exponent": 2
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "id": 54971,
    "abbr": "DEUTSCHE-BANK",
    "name": "Deutsche Bank",
    "nativeName": "Deutsche Bank",
    "currencies": [
      {
        "id": 978,
        "alpha_3_4217": "EUR",
        "number_3_4217": "978",
        "exponent": 2
      }
    ]
  }
]
]

If you have any questions about working with banks supported by the Open Banking methods, refer to your ecommpay account manager.

Payment confirmation procedure

The workflow of processing purchases made with Open Banking methods implies participation of banks, and in certain cases, processing payments on the side of these banks and the provider service may take up considerable time (in some cases up to seven or more days). As a result, there can be situations when the earlier information about the payment's completion or decline contradicts the final result (for example, following a notification about a declined payment, the funds are credited to the recipient's account, or vice versa).

To ensure timely and correct notification of merchants regarding the status of payments in these cases, the ecommpay payment platform uses a payment confirmation procedure. When you integrate the Open Banking payment methods, discuss with your account manager the use of this procedure as well as switching of statuses of the payments with the confirmed declines to the reversed or decline status (to make monitoring and analysing payments more convenient).

The payment confirmation procedure is performed as follows:

  • After the customer completes all required steps, the payment is processed on the provider and bank services side while the customer is redirected to the payment interface (Payment Page or the web service) where they receive the information about payment processing.
  • A number of actions are performed on the payment platform side:
    • The payment confirmation operation is formed.
    • The payment is assigned the awaiting confirmation status—until the provider receives information about the crediting of funds.
    • A callback is sent to the web service about changes in payment status.
    • The sale operation status is set to success or decline (depending on the provider or bank specifics) until the information about payment confirmation is received from the provider side.
    • A callback is sent to the web service about changes in the status of the operation.
  • On the provider’s side, the final status of funds being credited is determined, after which the information about this status is sent to the payment platform.
  • On the payment platform side, the received information is processed, as a result of which the payment confirmation operation and the payment are assigned final statuses and the corresponding callbacks are sent to the web service.

The payment confirmation operation can have one of the following final statuses:

  • success—when the information about the crediting of funds to the recipient is received from a service provider side. In this case the payment status is set to success and the final callback containing the payment information is sent to the web service.
  • decline—when the information regarding the funds not being credited to the recipient is received from a service provider upon expiration of the specified period (which is 7 days by default and can be changed by contacting ecommpay technical support).

    In such cases depending on the project settings, that were configured during integration, the following scenarios are available:

    • The reversal operation is formed automatically and the payment platform sends the following callbacks successively: an intermediate callback, containing information about the funds not being credited and the final callback, containing the information about the purchase refund and the reversed payment status.
    • The payment status is set to decline and the final callback with information that purchase was declined is sent from the payment platform to the web service.

When using this procedure, you can also monitor payment and operation statuses by using the Gate API (by receiving responses to payment status requests), as well as the Dashboard interface.

Using payment confirmation via Payment Page and Gate is described in the corresponding sections of this article. If you have any additional questions regarding this procedure, contact the ecommpay specialists.

Purchases by using Payment Page

General information

To process a purchase through Payment Page by using the Open Banking methods, 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 result. It should be taken into account that in the process of making a payment, the customer is redirected to the service of the provider or bank and in some cases, taking into account the specifics of the provider processing the payment, the customer may additionally be required to provide consent and certain information. To obtain such consent and information (when required), a corresponding page is displayed on Payment Page.

Warning: When redirecting to services of providers and banks, the option using the iframe element cannot be used. The pages of these services can open in a separate tab or in a modal window (regardless of the Payment Page opening option).

The full sequence and special aspects of purchase processing are provided below.



Figure 13. Purchase processing by using Payment Page: step-by-step description
  1. A customer initiates a purchase in the web service.
  2. The web service sends the request for opening Payment Page to the specified ecommpay URL.
  3. The request for opening Payment Page is sent to the payment platform.
  4. The payment platform receives the request and validates the required parameters and signature.
  5. Payment Page is generated based on the project and request parameters.
  6. Payment Page is displayed to the customer.
  7. The customer selects one of the Open Banking methods and one of the supported banks.
  8. The payment platform receives the request for processing the payment by using the selected method.
  9. The payment platform processes the received request, identifying the need to obtain additional customer consent and additional information about the customer. If such consent (and information) is required, the following steps are followed:
    1. Information about the need for additional consent of the customer and additional information (if needed) is sent from the payment platform to Payment Page.
    2. A page with information about the need for customer's consent and additional information (if needed) is displayed to the customer on Payment Page.
    3. The customer gives their consent and provides the necessary information (if requested) and confirms purchase processing.
    4. The information provided by the customer is sent from Payment Page to the payment platform.
    5. The information is processed on the payment platform side.
  10. The data for redirecting the customer is sent from the payment platform to Payment Page.
  11. The customer is redirected to the required service (provider or bank) where payment instructions are displayed.
  12. The customer completes all required payment steps on the side of the used service.
  13. The purchase is processed on the side of the used service.
  14. The result information is displayed to the customer on the side of the used service.
  15. The customer is redirected to Payment Page.
  16. The used service sends information about the result to the payment platform.
  17. The payment platform sends the payment result callback to the web service.
  18. The payment platform sends the result information to Payment Page.
  19. The result information is displayed to the customer on Payment Page.

Generally, when a customer confirms their intention to pay on the side of the web service, they are redirected to Payment Page where they select the payment method and, in the case of working with the Open Banking methods, additionally select one of the available banks. However, in some situations, other options for choosing a payment method and bank may be relevant. For example, upon opening Payment Page, you can immediately redirect the customer to the bank selection page or limit the list of supported banks for a particular payment and display only target bank selection buttons to the customer. And from the web service side, you can control the use of such options.

The specific option of selecting the payment method and bank is determined depending on the parameters specified in the request for opening Payment Page (details). The following options are available:

  • 1—when the payment form is opened, it sequentially displays separate pages for selecting a method and a bank. Then the customer selects the method and the bank (this option is used by default).
  • 2—when the payment form is opened, the buttons for selecting other methods and banks supported by this method are displayed on one page. Then the customer selects one of these banks.
  • 3—when the payment form is opened, the buttons for selecting other methods of the specified group and banks supported by this method are displayed on one page. Then the customer selects one of these banks.
  • 4—when the payment form is opened, it displays a page with buttons for selecting all available banks for this method. Then the customer selects one of these banks.
  • 5—when the payment form is opened, it displays a page with buttons for selecting only specific banks supported by this method. Then the customer selects one of these banks.
  • 6—when the payment form is opened, it displays a page requesting confirmation of redirection to the service of the specific bank. Then the customer confirms the redirection.

When working with such purchases, you can use the following options for choosing a method and bank.

Figure 14. 1—Selecting method and bank
Figure 15. 2—Selecting bank among other methods
Figure 16. 3—Selecting bank among other methods of the specified group
Figure 17. 4—Selecting bank among all available banks
Figure 18. 5—Selecting bank among specific banks
Figure 19. 6—Redirection to the service of the specific bank

Information about the formats of requests and callbacks used for processing payments by using the Open Banking methods 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

There are several things you need to consider when sending purchase requests by using the Open Banking methods:

  1. The following parameters required for any payment must be specified:
    • project_id—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integration
    • payment_id—payment identifier unique within the project
    • payment_currency—alphabetic payment currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
    • payment_amount—payment amount in the smallest currency unit
    • customer_id—customer identifier unique within the project
  2. The following parameters required for any payment must be specified: project_id, payment_id, payment_currency, payment_amount, customer_id.
  3. Additional parameters may be required for payment processing, the list of which depends on the method, country, provider and bank. If such parameters are not included in the request, the payment form may display fields for the customer to specify them (details) (details are available in Submission of additional payment information).

    Additionally, when selecting certain banks the customer can be required to specify the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) on Payment Page, while selecting other banks the IBAN is specified on the provider side. Due to the specifics of the payment methods this number can only be specified by the customer separately and can't be used in requests.

  4. It is recommended to specify in the request the merchant_return_url parameter with the URL for redirecting the customer to the web service, so that the customer can return to the web service by clicking the corresponding button on the payment form in case the customer does not grant their consent for payment processing.

  5. The bank selection option can be defined as follows (with example values ​​for the Open Banking in Germany method):

    1. Selecting the method and the bank on Payment Page (1)—the default option, applied if the force_payment_method parameter and the payment_methods_options object, mentioned in subpoints 2–6 are not used.
    2. Selecting a bank among other methods on Payment Page (2)—for this option, you need to specify a string object in the value of the payment_methods_options parameter, the name of which is the method indicator (online_german_banks), and the value of which is the split_banks parameter set to the value true. While specifying such an object, all nested " characters (U+0022) must be escaped using the preceding \ characters (U+005C).
      "payment_methods_options": "{\"online_german_banks\": {\"split_banks\": true}}"

      As a result of using this option for the specified method, instead of a button for selecting it, buttons for selecting all supported banks are displayed.

    3. Selecting a bank among other methods of the specified group on Payment Page (3)—this option requires the following:
      • Specify a string object in the value of the payment_methods_options parameter, the name of which is the method indicator (online_german_banks), and the value of which is the split_banks parameter set to the value true. While specifying such an object, all nested " characters (U+0022) must be escaped using the preceding \ characters (U+005C).
      • Specify the openbanking group code in the force_payment_group parameter
      "payment_methods_options": "{\"online_german_banks\": {\"split_banks\": true}}",
"force_payment_group": "openbanking"

      As a result of using this option for the specified method, instead of a button for selecting it, buttons for selecting all supported banks are displayed, as well as buttons for other methods of the Open Banking group.

    4. Selecting a bank among all available ones on Payment Page (4)—for this option specify the selected Open Banking method code (online-german-banks) in the force_payment_method parameter.
      "force_payment_method": "online-german-banks"

      As a result of using this option for the specified method, buttons for selecting all banks, supported by this method, are displayed.

    5. Selecting a bank among specific ones on Payment Page (5)—this option requires the following:
      • Specify a string object in the value of the payment_methods_options parameter, the name of which is the method indicator (online_german_banks), and the value of which is the split_banks parameter set to include the value true and the banks_id array containing the target bank identifiers. While specifying such an object, all nested " characters (U+0022) must be escaped using the preceding \ characters (U+005C).
      • Specify the selected Open Banking method code (online-german-banks) in the force_payment_method parameter.
      "payment_methods_options": "{\"online_german_banks\": {\"split_banks\": true, \"banks_id\": [54971, 54981]}}",
"force_payment_method": "online-german-banks"

      As a result of using this option, buttons for selecting specified banks that support working with the specified method are displayed in the payment form.

    6. Confirming redirection to the service of the specific bank on Payment Page (6)—this option requires the following:
      • Specify a string object in the value of the payment_methods_options parameter, the name of which is the method indicator (online_german_banks), and the value of which is the split_banks parameter set to include the value true and the banks_id array containing the target bank identifier. While specifying such an object, all nested " characters (U+0022) must be escaped using the preceding \ characters (U+005C).
      • Specify the selected Open Banking method code (online-german-banks) in the force_payment_method parameter.
      "payment_methods_options": "{\"online_german_banks\": {\"split_banks\": true, \"banks_id\": [54971]}}",
"force_payment_method": "online-german-banks"

      As a result of using this option, when opening a payment form, a confirmation page is displayed in it to redirect to the service of the specified bank.

  6. Additionally, any other parameters available for working with Payment Page can be used (details).
  7. After all target parameters are specified, generate a signature (details).

Thus, a correct request for opening the payment form using the Open Banking method must contain the project identifier, basic payment information (identifier, amount, and currency code), customer identifier and signature, as well as various optional parameters.

{ 
 // required parameters  
   "project_id": 120,
   "payment_id": "580",
   "payment_amount": 1000,
   "payment_currency": "EUR",
   "customer_id": "customer1",
 // optional parameters
    ...
 // signature
   "signature": "kUi2x9dKHAVNU0FYldOcZzUCwX6R\/ekpZhkIQg=="
}
Figure 20. Example of data in a purchase request
{ 
 // required parameters  
   "project_id": 120,
   "payment_id": "580",
   "payment_amount": 1000,
   "payment_currency": "EUR",
   "customer_id": "customer1",
 // optional parameters
    ...
 // signature
   "signature": "kUi2x9dKHAVNU0FYldOcZzUCwX6R\/ekpZhkIQg=="
}

At the same time, in case of selecting a bank among specific banks (5), the request for opening Payment Page may contain additional data.

{
 // required parameters  
   "project_id": 120,
   "payment_id": "580",
   "payment_amount": 1000,
   "payment_currency": "EUR",
   "customer_id": "customer1",
 // optional parameters
   ...
   "force_payment_method": "online-german-banks",
   "payment_methods_options": "{\"online_german_banks\": {\"split_banks\": true, \"banks_id\": [54971, 54981]}}"
 // signature
   "signature": "kUi2x9dKHAVNU0FYldOcZzUCwX6R\/ekpZhkIQg=="
}

Callback format

The Open Banking method uses the standard format for callbacks to deliver purchase results. For more information, see Callbacks (details).

The following is the example of a callback with information about a 10.00 EUR purchase made in the 200 project.

Figure 21. Example of callback data indicating that the purchase has been processed
{
        "project_id": 200,
        "payment": {
            "id": "order_487",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:06+0000",
            "method": "German Banks", // Indication of the method used
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "Book order"
        },
        "customer": {
            "id": "123"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 9529253065607,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:06+0000",
            "created_date": "2020-03-20T14:22:00+0000",
            "request_id": "f1de353331a01fd14163fe4226-00009530",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "code": "0",
            "message": "Success",
            "provider": {
                "id": 1914,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            }
        },
        "signature": "giRT+RB/rG5JrSMjb/...DaHDxz+JukI2+7HhMivMlmbhQ=="
    }

The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined purchase.

Figure 22. Example of callback data indicating that the purchase has been declined
{
        "project_id": 200,
        "payment": {
            "id": "order_488",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:07+0000",
            "method": "German Banks", // Indication of the method used
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "Book order"
        },
        "customer": {
            "id": "123"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 9529253065608,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:07+0000",
            "created_date": "2020-03-20T14:22:00+0000",
            "request_id": "f1de353331a01fd14163fe4226-00009531",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "code": "20000",
            "message": "General decline",
            "provider": {
                "id": 1914,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            }
        },
        "signature": "giRT+RB/rG5JrSMjb/...DaHDxz+JukI2+7HhMivM2mbhQ=="
    }

Useful links

The following articles can be useful when implementing purchases via Payment Page:

Purchases by using Gate

General information

To process a purchase through Gate by using one of the Open Banking methods, the merchant's web service is required to do the following:

  1. Send a request with all the required parameters and signature to the ecommpay URL.
  2. If you receive a callback from the payment platform about the need to obtain consent and, if relevant, additional information from the customer:
    1. Check the integrity of the received data (by checking the signature), identify the composition of the requested information (by parsing the parameters included in the callback) and confirm receiving the callback (by sending a synchronous response 200 OK).
    2. Obtain consent and additional information from the customer (if requested).
    3. Provide information about the customer consent and the provided information (if requested) in a request to the payment platform.
  3. Receive an intermediate callback from the payment platform and redirect the customer to the required service (provider or bank).
  4. Receive the final callback from the payment platform.

Information about the data formats used to obtain customer consent and perform customer redirection is provided further in this section.

Warning: When redirecting to services of providers and banks, the option using the iframe element cannot be used. The pages of these services can open in a separate tab or in a modal window (regardless of the specifics of the web service).

The full sequence and special aspects of purchase processing are provided below.



Figure 23. Purchase processing by using Gate: step-by-step description
  1. A customer initiates a purchase by using one of the Open Banking methods and one of the supported banks in the web service.
  2. The web service sends the request for processing the purchase by using Gate to the specified ecommpay URL.
  3. The payment platform receives the request.
  4. The payment platform validates the required parameters and signature in the request.
  5. The payment platform sends the response to the web service with information about the receipt of the request and its validity (details).
  6. The payment platform processes the received request, identifying the need to obtain additional customer consent and additional information about the customer. If such consent (and information) is required, the following steps are followed:
    1. Information about the need for additional consent of the customer and additional information (if needed) is sent from the payment platform to the web service.
    2. A page with information about the need for customer's consent and additional information (if needed) is displayed to the customer on the web service side.
    3. The customer gives their consent and provides the necessary information (if requested) and confirms purchase processing.
    4. The information provided by the customer is sent from the web service to the payment platform.
    5. The information is processed on the payment platform side.
  7. The payment platform sends the callback with the redirection data to the web service.
  8. The customer is redirected to the required service (provider or bank) where payment instructions are displayed.
  9. The customer completes all required payment steps on the side of the used service.
  10. The purchase is processed on the side of the used service.
  11. The result information is displayed to the customer on the side of the used service.
  12. The customer is redirected to the web service.
  13. The used service sends information about the result to the payment platform.
  14. The payment platform sends the payment result callback to the web service.
  15. The customer receives the payment result information from the web service.

Information about the formats of requests and callbacks used for processing payments by using the Open Banking methods 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 purchase requests by using the Open Banking methods:

  1. To initiate each purchase, send a separate POST request to the /v2/payment/banks/{payment_method}/sale endpoint, where the {payment_method} directory name is the name of the country (as specified in the method description; for example, germany is used for Germany).
  2. Each request must include the following objects and parameters:
    • Object general—general purchase information:
      • project_id—project identifier obtained from ecommpay during integration
      • payment_id—payment identifier unique within the project
      • signature—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 unit
      • currency—alphabetic payment currency code in the ISO-4217 alpha-3 format
    • Object customer—customer information:
      • id—customer identifier unique within the project
      • ip_address—customer IP address relevant for the initiated payment
    • Object account—customer account information:
      • bank_id—bank identifier
    • Object return_url—URLs for redirecting the customer to the web service:
      • return—URL for redirecting the customer to the web service when working with the service of a provider or bank in cases where the customer refuses to make a payment.
  3. Additional parameters may be required for payment processing, the list of which depends on the method, country, provider and bank. If any of these parameters are missing, the payment platform may send the list of missing parameters in a callback requesting additional information submission. To improve the customer experience, it is recommended to pass such parameters in initial requests.

    In addition, in some cases, due to the specifics of the group’s methods, even if the initial request included the International Bank Account Number (IBAN), it is still requested additionally, by specifying the account object including the number parameter in the in a callback requesting additional information submission.

    In addition, in some cases, taking into account the specifics of the provider or bank used, the customer may be required to specify the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) on the web service side, while in other cases this number is specified by the customer on the provider side or bank side. At the same time, due to the specifics of the group’s methods, even if the customer account number is indicated in the initial request, it is not taken into account during the initial processing of this request and can be requested separately, by specifying the account object including the number parameter in a callback requesting additional information submission (along with indicating other relevant parameters if they were not specified).

    Details about providing additional parameters are available in the Submission of additional payment information article.

  4. Additionally, any other parameters included in the specification can be used.

Thus, a correct purchase request by using the Open Banking methods must contain the project identifier, basic payment information (identifier, amount, and currency code), customer identifier and IP address, bank identifier, URL for redirection and signature, as well as various optional parameters.

{
 // required parameters 
    "general": {
      "project_id": 2990,
      "payment_id": payment_id,
      "signature": "PJkV8ej\/UG0Di8hTng6JvC7IipTv+AWoXW\/9MTO8yJA=="
    },
    "payment": {
      "amount": 1000,
      "currency": "EUR"
      },
    "customer": {
      "id": "customer123",  
      "ip_address": "192.0.2.0"
    },
    "account": {
      "bank_id": 54981
    },
    "return_url":{
      "return": "http://example.com/return"
 // optional parameters
    ...
 }
}
Figure 24. Example of data in a purchase request
{
 // required parameters 
    "general": {
      "project_id": 2990,
      "payment_id": payment_id,
      "signature": "PJkV8ej\/UG0Di8hTng6JvC7IipTv+AWoXW\/9MTO8yJA=="
    },
    "payment": {
      "amount": 1000,
      "currency": "EUR"
      },
    "customer": {
      "id": "customer123",  
      "ip_address": "192.0.2.0"
    },
    "account": {
      "bank_id": 54981
    },
    "return_url":{
      "return": "http://example.com/return"
 // optional parameters
    ...
 }
}

Formats for intermediate callbacks and requests for obtaining consent and additional information

In cases where it is necessary to obtain additional consent from the customer and, if relevant, additional information, an intermediate callback containing the clarification_fields object is sent from the payment platform to the web service each time. The nested objects of that object describe the specified objects and parameters necessary to process the payment. Such a callback may include:

  • parameter customer.properties.psu_consent_text.default which includes the text that must be displayed to the customer to obtain the purchase consent
  • parameters which specify the additional information about the customer that needs to be provided.

The text which is required to be displayed to the customer is specified in the clarification_fields.customer.properties.psu_consent_text.default parameter. Information about parameters for which additional customer information must be provided is specified in accordance with the structures that are relevant for specific Open Banking group methods.

The following is a fragment of a callback informing about the necessity of obtaining customer's consent.

{
  "clarification_fields": {
    "customer": {
      "type": "object",
      "description": "",
      "properties": {
        "psu_consent": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "Need to request the customer's consent to make a payment"
        },
        "psu_consent_text": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "The text to be displayed on the payment form",
          "default": "The consent text to be displayed to the customer"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

After obtaining the customer consent and the requested information on the web service side, it is necessary to send a POST request to continue the payment. Such a request must be sent to the /v2/payment/clarification endpoint and must contain the following objects and parameters:

  • general—object that contains general request identification information:
    • project_id—the project ID which is relevant to the payment
    • payment_id—payment ID which is relevant to the data being sent
    • signature—request signature generated after all of the required parameters are specified. For more information about signature generation, see Signature generation and verification
  • additional_data—object that contains information about customer's consent for purchase processing (and additional information, if needed):
    • customer—object that contains customer information:
      • psu_consent—information about obtainment of customer's consent for purchase processing. If the customer granted their consent for purchase processing, the value for this parameter must be 1.

        If the customer has not provided consent, then the request to continue the payment may not be sent. In such cases, after 30 minutes (or another time, if this was configured for the project used) a certain time the payment is declined. When sending requests with a psu_consent parameter value other than 1, the customer's consent is requested again.

      • psu_consent_text—the text of the request for customer's consent for purchase processing displayed to the customer. The text specified as the value of this parameter must be exactly the same as the text received in the callback informing the merchant about the necessity of obtaining customer's consent. If the specified text is different, the customer's consent is requested again.
    • <additional_parameters>—parameters which specify the additional requested information about the customer.

Thus, a correct request must include project and payment IDs, information about customer's consent and text displayed to the customer, additional customer information (if needed) and signature, as shown in the following example:

{
    "general": {
        "project_id": 10571,
        "payment_id": "1234567890",
        "signature": "PJkV8ej\/UG0Di8jQVVfBaNIipTv+AWoXW\/9MTO8yJA=="
    },
    "additional_data": {
        "customer": {
            "psu_consent": "1",
            "psu_consent_text": "The consent text displayed to the customer"
        }
    }
 ...
}
Figure 25. Example of data in a purchase request to continue the payment
{
    "general": {
        "project_id": 10571,
        "payment_id": "1234567890",
        "signature": "PJkV8ej\/UG0Di8jQVVfBaNIipTv+AWoXW\/9MTO8yJA=="
    },
    "additional_data": {
        "customer": {
            "psu_consent": "1",
            "psu_consent_text": "The consent text displayed to the customer"
        }
    }
 ...
}

Formats of intermediate callbacks for customer redirection

Each payment made with Open Banking methods requires redirection of customers from the merchant's web service to the service of the provider or bank. 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 body (taking into account the specifics of a particular method, this object may contain various information)
  • method—parameter specifying the HTTP method for sending the request (GET or POST)
  • url—parameter containing a link for redirection
Figure 26. redirect_data example
  "redirect_data": {
    "body": {},
    "method": "GET",
    "url": "https://www.example.com/pay"
  }

Final callback format

The Open Banking method uses the standard format for callbacks to deliver purchase results. For more information, see Callbacks (details).

The following is the example of a callback with information about a 10.00 EUR purchase made in the 200 project.

Figure 27. Example of callback data indicating that the purchase has been processed
{
        "project_id": 200,
        "payment": {
            "id": "order_487",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:06+0000",
            "method": "German Banks", // Indication of the method used
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "Book order"
        },
        "customer": {
            "id": "123"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 9529253065607,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "success",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:06+0000",
            "created_date": "2020-03-20T14:22:00+0000",
            "request_id": "f1de353331a01fd14163fe4226-00009530",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "code": "0",
            "message": "Success",
            "provider": {
                "id": 1914,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            }
        },
        "signature": "giRT+RB/rG5JrSMjb/...DaHDxz+JukI2+7HhMivMlmbhQ=="
    }

The following is the example of a callback with information about a declined purchase.

Figure 28. Example of callback data indicating that the purchase has been declined
{
        "project_id": 200,
        "payment": {
            "id": "order_488",
            "type": "purchase",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:07+0000",
            "method": "German Banks", // Indication of the method used
            "sum": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "description": "Book order"
        },
        "customer": {
            "id": "123"
        },
        "operation": {
            "id": 9529253065608,
            "type": "sale",
            "status": "decline",
            "date": "2020-03-20T14:22:07+0000",
            "created_date": "2020-03-20T14:22:00+0000",
            "request_id": "f1de353331a01fd14163fe4226-00009531",
            "sum_initial": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "sum_converted": {
                "amount": 1000,
                "currency": "EUR"
            },
            "code": "20000",
            "message": "General decline",
            "provider": {
                "id": 1914,
                "payment_id": "",
                "auth_code": ""
            }
        },
        "signature": "giRT+RB/rG5JrSMjb/...DaHDxz+JukI2+7HhMivM2mbhQ=="
    }

Useful links

The following articles can be useful when implementing purchases via Gate:

Analysis of payments results

To analyse information about payments made with the Open Banking group methods, as well as 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.