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Payflow Link User’s
Guide

For Professional Use Only
Currently only available in English.
A usage Professional Uniquement
Disponible en Anglais uniquement pour l’instant.

Last updated: June 2009

Payflow Link User’s Guide
Document Number: 200004.en_US-200906

© 2009 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. PayPal is a registered trademark of PayPal, Inc. The PayPal logo is a trademark of PayPal, Inc. Other
trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
The information in this document belongs to PayPal, Inc. It may not be used, reproduced or disclosed without the written approval of PayPal, Inc.
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Royal, L-2449, Luxembourg, R.C.S. Luxembourg B 118 349.
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PayPal, Inc. is providing the information in this document to you “AS-IS” with all faults. PayPal, Inc. makes no warranties of any kind (whether express,
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Contents

This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Organization of This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Customer Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Chapter 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What is Payflow Link? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Payflow Link Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How Payflow Link Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
PayPal Express Checkout Transaction Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Flow of the Payflow Link Order Processing Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Introduction to Integrating with Payflow Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Requirements for Using Payflow Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Payment Types, Credit Cards, and Processing Platforms Supported by Payflow Link . . . . 8
Supported Payment Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Supported Credit Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Supported Processing Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2

Configuring Payflow Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Configuring Payflow Link Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 3

Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Basic
Integration)15

Example of a Simple Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 4

Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Advanced
Integration)17

Example of a Custom Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 5

Testing Payflow Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Testing Credit Card Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Payflow Link User’s Guide

iii

Contents

Verify that the Transaction Process Mode is set to TEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Performing Test Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Alternative Methods for Generating Specific Result Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Testing Address Verification Service (AVS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Testing Card Security Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Chapter 6

Activating Payflow Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Determining Whether Your Payflow Account is Currently Active. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Activating Your Payflow Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Chapter 7

Managing Payflow Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Management Tasks Available in PayPal Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Generating Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 8

Integrating TeleCheck Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Integrating Check Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Enabling Customers to Specify the Payment Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Data That You Must Post if You Do Not Use Payflow Link’s Order Form . . . . . . . . . . 30
Transaction Results Returned for TeleCheck Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Testing TeleCheck Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Appendix A Transaction Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
RESULT Values for Transaction Declines or Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
RESULT Values for Communications Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
AVS Result Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Processors that Support AVS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
AVS Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Card Security Code Result Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Card Security Code Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Processors and Credit Cards Supporting Card Security Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
American Express Card Security Code Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Appendix B Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server . . 47
About PayPal’s Transaction Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Contents

Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using the Payflow Link Order Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Collecting Data on Your Web Page and Posting to the Payflow Link Server . . . . . . 50
Optional Transaction Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Returning Data to Your Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Retaining Session Data and other Temporary Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Specifying How Data is Returned to Your Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Values Returned When ECHODATA is False . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Values Returned When ECHODATA is True. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Parameters That Specify Payflow Link Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Appendix C About the Confirmation Email Messages . . . . . . . . . . 61
Example Customer Email Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Example Merchant Email Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Fields Returned in the Confirmation Email Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Transaction Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Billing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Shipping Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Appendix D Payflow Link Transaction Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Appendix E Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using Payflow Link with other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
How Payflow Link Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Using Payflow Link. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Contents

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Preface

This Document
Payflow Link User’s Guide is intended for merchants who will integrate Payflow Link with
their e-commerce Web site. The documentation first describes a simple implementation that
“gets you up and running” quickly. More complex solutions are described in later chapters.

Organization of This Document
This guide is organized as follows:
z

Chapter 1, “Introduction,” contains an overview of Payflow Link.

Chapter 2, “Configuring Payflow Link,” briefly describes how to configure the Payflow
Link Configuration page.

Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Basic Integration),” describes
the process of customizing and adding HTML text into your Web page. This HTML code
passes your customer (and a set of data) to PayPal’s Payflow Link server for transaction
processing.

Chapter 4, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Advanced Integration),”
describes a more sophisticated integration between your Web store and Payflow Link.

Chapter 5, “Testing Payflow Link,” describes the process that you follow to test your
Payflow Link integration and to verify that it is operating correctly.

Chapter 6, “Activating Payflow Link,” provides instructions on activating your Payflow
Link account and changing the appropriate configuration settings.

Chapter 7, “Managing Payflow Link,” provides an overview of basic PayPal Manager
tasks.

Chapter 8, “Integrating TeleCheck Transactions,” provides instructions on enabling
TeleCheck transactions for your customers.

Appendix A, “Transaction Responses,” provides reference material on the transaction
response information in reports.

Appendix B, “Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server,” provides
guidance for those who wish to develop more complex interactions between their Web
page and Payflow Link.

Appendix C, “About the Confirmation Email Messages,” describes the content of the
optional confirmation email.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

vii

Preface
Customer Support

Appendix D, “Payflow Link Transaction Types,” describes the two Payflow Link
transaction types.

Appendix E, “Frequently Asked Questions,” contains information about Payflow Link.

Customer Support
When you purchase Payflow Link, PayPal provides telephone-based customer support. If you
purchased Payflow Link as a separate service, phone support is available during your initial
integration phase Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 6 PM Pacific Time.
Once your account is integrated with your Web store, PayPal provides free email support 24
hours per day, 7 days per week.
If you have purchased Payflow Link as part of a Commerce Package, your are entitled to free
phone support Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 6 PM Pacific Time and 24-hour
email support for as long as you use the service.
For integration and connectivity issues, PayPal provides online documentation, direct email
support, and phone support. For technical support on shopping carts, please contact the
vendor.
PayPal is committed to providing you with the most advanced technical support expertise to
ensure availability and reliability of your e-commerce applications.
Online Information: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/helpweb?cmd=_help
This site offers an FAQ (frequently asked question) section.
Email: payflow-support@paypal.com
Phone: 1 888-883-9770

Related Information
You will need to reference the following documentation:
Payflow Link Fraud Protection Services User’s Guide describes the tools you can use to
protect your account from fraud.
PayPal Manager online help describes the use of PayPal Manager—the web-based
administration tool that you use to process transactions manually, issue credits, generate
reports, and configure Payflow Link.

viii

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction

IMPO RTANT: This

document is intended for merchants who do not subscribe to PayPal’s
Fraud Protection Services.

If you currently use Payflow Link and recently added a Fraud Protection
Services package, then you must change your HTML code to send transaction
data to a different Payflow Link URL.
Do not use this document. Instead, use Payflow Link Fraud Protection
Services User’s Guide.
Payflow Link is the fast and easy way to add transaction processing to your Web site. With
Payflow Link, your customers are linked to Order forms on PayPal’s secure Web server where
transactions are processed in real time.
With Payflow Link’s simple “cut and paste” integration, you can be up and running with a
completely automated payment solution in a matter of hours. You can:
z

Customize the look and feel of your secure Order forms to match the other pages on your
Web site.

Automatically send email confirmation to customers.

Post transaction data “behind-the-scenes” to your Web server.

Take advantage of security features.

Use PayPal Manager to generate Payflow Link report and to view transaction reports.

IMPO RTANT: PayPal recommends

that you use PayPal Manager to verify each order and
the dollar amount of all Payflow Link transactions.

It is your responsibility to protect your passwords and other confidential data
and to implement security safeguards on your Web site and in your
organization, or to ensure that your hosting company or internal Web
operations team is implementing them on your behalf.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
What is Payflow Link?

What is Payflow Link?
Payflow Link is a secure, PayPal-hosted, HTTP-based Internet payment solution. It allows you
(a merchant with an internet merchant account) to securely connect your customers to
PayPal’s secure server and use it to automate order acceptance, authorization, processing, and
transaction management. Payflow Link is the choice for merchants who process low to
moderate order quantities and prefer a solution that is especially easy to implement and
maintain.
N O T E : If

your Web site processes more than 500 transactions per month, you should consider
using Payflow Pro, PayPal’s high performance Internet payment solution.

Payflow Link Features
z

Easy to implement and use. PayPal supplies you with the HTML code you need to get
started.

Customizable to your Web site. You can customize the look and feel of the PayPalhosted Order forms to reflect your Web site design.

Responsive and reliable. Payflow Link immediately advises customers whether their
transaction was successful.

Email receipt notification. With approved transactions, Payflow Link can send an email
confirmation receipt to you and to your customers.

High security. All transactions processed on PayPal-hosted forms occur over secure SSL
connections. All certificates required to ensure both authentication and security are hosted
by PayPal. You can specify that only certain Web pages (for example, your e-commerce
site) are valid entry points for the transaction processing pages.

Fraud protection. Payflow Link supports a large set of automated fraud protection tools,
including Card Security Code (CSC).

PayPal Manager. PayPal Manager enables you to perform transactions, and manage them
with features like search tools, reports, and so on.

Access for offline orders. PayPal Manager gives you the flexibility to process orders
offline, including orders received by phone, fax, email, or in person.

IMPO RTANT: Payflow

Link is a single payment amount solution. If you want your
customers to be able to order multiple items or quantities, you must develop a
solution that calculates the total transaction amount based upon customer
choices. If you do not have development staff, you could use a shopping cart
that integrates Payflow Link.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
How Payflow Link Works

How Payflow Link Works
You insert a short bit of HTML text into your Web page. The code creates a Buy button on
your Web page that links your customers to PayPal’s secure Payflow Link pages.
When your customers click the Buy button at your Web store, they are redirected to a
sequence of secure Payflow Link Order processing forms hosted on the PayPal servers. All
forms except the Receipt form are optional. Using the Payflow Link Configuration page, you
specify the content of these forms and configure their appearance to reflect the look and feel of
your Web store (including your logo).
You can provide PayPal Express Checkout as a payment option to your customers. For more
information, refer to “PayPal Express Checkout Transaction Processing” on page 3.
When the customer submits the Payflow Link Order form, PayPal acts as the gateway to the
transaction processing networks (much like the swipe machine for physical credit cards). Once
the transaction is processed, the customer is returned to your site (or to any URL that you
specify).
You can configure Payflow Link to send both you and your customer email receipts. You can
also configure Payflow Link to return transaction data to your site.
N O T E : As

a security measure, if a customer makes five invalid purchase attempts, access to
Payflow Link is disabled. The customer must exit the Web site and attempt the
purchase again.

PayPal Express Checkout Transaction Processing
This section provides guidelines on how to use PayPal Express Checkout with Payflow Link.
What is Express Checkout

PayPal Express Checkout offers your buyers an easy, convenient checkout experience. It lets
them use shipping information stored securely at PayPal to check out, so they do not have to
re-enter it on your site.
With Express Checkout, your buyers finish their orders on your Website, not PayPal’s, so you
can:
z

Get real time notification of success payments.

Automate your internal business processes.

Ensure buyers make it to your final confirmation page.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
How Payflow Link Works

How it works

The following steps describe how PayPal Express Checkout works with Payflow Link:
1. After selecting products to purchase, your buyers select PayPal Express Checkout as the
method of payment. (Express Checkout gives you the flexibility to put PayPal either first in
your checkout process, or on your billing page along with other payment options.)
2. When the buyers click Submit, they are redirected to the PayPal site where they log in to
PayPal using their PayPal login and password.
3. After logging in, they verify the shipping address, or select an address if they have multiple
addresses stored, and click Continue Checkout.
4. The buyers are then returned to the Confirmation page on your website where they can
verify the order details and submit the transaction. The Receipt page contains a summary of
the transaction.
For complete details on PayPal Express Checkout, refer to the Express Checkout Integration
Guide.

Flow of the Payflow Link Order Processing Pages
The following example pages appear in the order shown here. You can configure the pages to
include different or additional information.
Form 1: (Optional) Credit Card Information
If your Web site does not collect the
credit card number, then the Credit
Card Information page opens to
enable the customer to enter the
account information.
The benefit of using this page is
that you do not have to invest in the
security infrastructure required to
accept account information at your
site.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
How Payflow Link Works

Form 2: Order

The Order form enables the
customer to enter any additional
order data on Payflow Link’s secure
servers. You have the option to
eliminate this page and pass the
transaction data directly to the
Payflow Link server.
In this example, the merchant added
their logo to the form. To improve the
customer experience and to foster
trust, PayPal strongly recommends
that you add your logo to the pages
and customize the color scheme to
match your Web store pages. You
can do this using PayPal Manager.
Refer to PayPal Manager help for
detailed instructions.

Form 3: Confirmation
The Confirmation page enables
the customer to verify and submit
the order.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
How Payflow Link Works

Form 4: Receipt

The Receipt page presents a
summary of the transaction and
returns the customer to the URL
that you specify (typically your Web
store).
Optionally, you can specify that
Payflow Link should perform an
HTML Post operation to send the
transaction data to your Web
server.
This is the only Payflow Link page
that you must present to the
customer.

Reporting
Along with Payflow Link you also receive access to the PayPal Manager portal. Once you
have Payflow Link in daily operation, you can use the Reports tab on the PayPal Manager to
generate and review reports on transaction activity. Reports can be printed, or saved as ASCII
files for use in other applications.
For more information on generating reports using PayPal Manager, see PayPal Manager online
help.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
Introduction to Integrating with Payflow Link

Introduction to Integrating with Payflow Link
You follow these steps to integrate your Web store with Payflow Link:
1. Register for a Payflow Link account and apply for an internet merchant account at
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_payflow-link-overview-outside.
2. Configure Payflow Link by specifying the appearance and content of your PayPal-hosted
order processing forms. Refer to Chapter 2, “Configuring Payflow Link.”
3. Connect your Web store to the Payflow Link service: Paste a few lines of HTML text into
your Web page. This HTML code passes your customer (and the transaction data) to
PayPal’s Payflow Link server for transaction processing. This step is described in
Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Basic Integration).”
4. Test Payflow Link before you activate your Web store for customer use. This step is
described in Chapter 5, “Testing Payflow Link.”
5. Activate your account to go live. This step is described in Chapter 6, “Activating Payflow
Link.”

Requirements for Using Payflow Link
To use Payflow Link, you must have the following:
z

Web page. You must have a Web page for your e-commerce business. You must also be
able to upload changes to your Web site.

Internet Service Provider. An ISP must host your Web site.

A basic text editor or HTML editor. You will use the editor to add the HTML text that
links your site to Payflow Link.

Web browser. You must have Internet Explorer 5.5 (or newer) to access the PayPal
Manager application.

Internet Merchant Account. You must have an internet merchant account before you can
begin accepting payments at your Web site. PayPal has partnered with several internet
merchant account providers to make applying easy.

Your Web page must calculate the total transaction amount. Payflow Link enables
your customers to process a single transaction amount. Payflow Link does not calculate the
transaction amount based on customer selections. To enable customers to order multiple
items or quantities, you must develop a solution that dynamically calculates the total
transaction amount based upon customer selections in your Web store. Your code then
passes the total transaction amount to the Payflow Link server. PayPal provides simple
HTML code that passes the amount, as described in Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site
with Payflow Link (Basic Integration).”
– Merchant must have its business operations physically based in the United States.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
Payment Types, Credit Cards, and Processing Platforms Supported by Payflow Link

– Merchant must use one of the following terminal-based processors: American Express,
FDMS First Data Nashville, FDMS First Data South, Global Payments - East, Nova,
Paymentech, or Vital.

Payment Types, Credit Cards, and Processing Platforms
Supported by Payflow Link
Supported Payment Types
Payflow Link supports the following tender types:
Credit cards
Check/debit cards issued by MasterCard or Visa
Telecheck electronic checks
Pinless debit cards

Supported Credit Cards
Payflow Link supports the following credit cards:
American Express/Optima
Diners Club
Discover/Novus
JCB
MasterCard
Visa

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
Payment Types, Credit Cards, and Processing Platforms Supported by Payflow Link

Supported Processing Platforms
Payflow Link supports the following processing platforms:
American Express Phoenix
American Express APA
First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) Nashville
First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) North
First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) South
First Data Resources (FDR) Australia
Global Payments Central
Global Payments East
Nova
Paymentech New Hampshire
Paymentech Tampa
TeleCheck
Vital

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Introduction
Payment Types, Credit Cards, and Processing Platforms Supported by Payflow Link

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Configuring Payflow Link

Once you have registered for a Payflow Link account, your first step is to configure Payflow
Link using the PayPal Manager application. Using PayPal Manager, you specify the
appearance and content of your PayPal-hosted order processing forms. In addition, you have
the option to specify which fields your customers need to fill in, and how transaction data is
passed and posted to scripts on your Web site.

Configuring Payflow Link Settings
To configure Payflow Link, log in to the PayPal Manager at https://manager.paypal.com.
Navigate to Service Settings > Payflow Link and click on the Configuration page. For
information about configuration, click Help on that page.
Table 2.1 contains brief descriptions of the fields that appear on the PayPal Manager Payflow
Link Configuration page:
TABLE 2.1

PayPal Manager Payflow Link Confirmation Page

Field

Description

Form Configuration: Enables you to specify the URL to which customers return, required and optional fields that
should appear on the Payflow Link forms, and how data is handled upon completion of a transaction.
Return URL Method

Specify one of the following values:
Link: Default setting and is strongly recommended for merchants new to
HTML. This setting returns the customer to the specified site. No
additional transaction data is posted if this option is specified.
Post: Returns the customer and transaction data to the Web site that you
specify in the Return URL field.

Return URL

Enter the URL of the Web site to which customers should be sent upon
clicking Continue on the Receipt page. This URL is typically your
merchant site. If you do not specify a URL, then the Continue button does
not appear on the Receipt page.

Silent POST URL

Ensure that the transaction data is passed back to your Web site when a
transaction is completed.

Force Silent Post Confirmation

In conjunction with Silent POST, causes Payflow Link to verify that the
Silent Post data was received by your Web site

Billing Address

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Configuring Payflow Link
Configuring Payflow Link Settings
TABLE 2.1

PayPal Manager Payflow Link Confirmation Page

Field

Description

Required Fields

The fields listed in this section represent information that you collect from
the customer.

Editable Fields

A check mark in this section means that the customer can edit the contents
of the field on the PayPal-hosted order processing forms.

Transaction Process Mode

Specify whether to conduct simulated or real transactions.

General Display Options: Enables you to configure the appearance of the order processing forms. You can display
your organization's name and logo and specify the colors to be used on the forms.
Merchant Display Name

Specify text that will be displayed in the browser title area for all forms, at
the top of all order forms (unless you specify a logo), and on email
receipts.

Configure Display

Configure the look and feel of your Web page by selecting the color,
uploading a logo, changing the background, and specifing the alignment.

Express Checkout Configuration: Specify the customer shipping address that will be used by Payflow Link. This
would either be the address passed into Payflow Link (if one is passed), or the address on file with PayPal.
You can also customize the Express Checkout page by specifying a color for the page and displaying a logo on it.
Receipt Display Options: Enables you to customize the Receipt page that customers see after a transaction has
been successfully processed.
Receipt Header Text

Specify up to 510 characters of text to be displayed at the top of the
Receipt page.

Receipt Footer Text

Specify up to 510 characters of text to be displayed at the bottom of the
Receipt page.

Receipt Button Text

Specify up to 32 characters for the Receipt button—the button that returns
your customer to your Web site.

Email Options: Enables you to send the customer email receipts for each successful transaction.
Email Receipt to Customers

Specify Yes to automatically send a confirmation email message to the
customer, confirming each successful transaction.
Specify No to not send a confirmation email.

Email from Merchant Address

Enter the email address to which successful transaction confirmation
emails should be sent.

Email to Merchant Address (copy)

If desired, enter a second email address to which successful transaction
confirmation emails should be sent.

Email Header Text

You have the option of sending order confirmation email messages to the
customer, to you, or to both.

Email Footer Text

You have the option of sending order confirmation email messages to the
customer, to you, or to both.

Security Options: Enables you to configure the AVS, card security code, and Accepted URL security features.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Configuring Payflow Link
Configuring Payflow Link Settings
TABLE 2.1

PayPal Manager Payflow Link Confirmation Page

Field

Description

AVS

The Address Verification Service (AVS) verifies the cardholder’s billing
address to combat fraud in card-not-present transactions (for example, mail
order, telephone order, Internet).

CSC

The card security code is a 3- or 4-digit number printed on the back of a
credit card (typically in the signature field). Check with your bank to
determine whether they support Card Security Code validation.

Accepted URL 1 through 5

In the Accepted URL fields, enter up to five URLs from which Payflow
Link should accept orders (that is, the URL from which the HTML Post
operation originates). These are typically your Web store address, a
specific page on your Web store, or specific servers for your Web store. If
someone attempts to post from a URL not specified in this list, Payflow
Link rejects the order.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Configuring Payflow Link
Configuring Payflow Link Settings

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating Your Web Site with
Payflow Link (Basic Integration)
IMPO RTANT: If

you currently use Payflow Link and have added a Fraud Protection
Services package, then you must change the Payflow Link URL in your HTML
code. Use: https://payflowlink.paypal.com

The examples in this chapter use the Fraud Protection Services URL.
This chapter provides full instructions for a simple integration option that enables you to begin
to process transactions using Payflow Link in about an hour.
IMPO RTANT: PayPal strongly recommends that you implement this minimum integration to

familiarize yourself with Payflow Link operation before implementing a more
customized integration.
To implement a more robust implementation that customizes the customer’s purchase
experience, you can add data fields to the Payflow Link pages or eliminate the pages by
collecting transaction data at your Web store and posting the data to the Payflow Link server.
For more information on taking advantage of Payflow Link’s advanced integration
capabilities, see Chapter 4, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Advanced
Integration).”
N O T E : Payflow Link enables your customers to process a single transaction amount. Payflow

Link does not calculate the transaction amount based on customer selections. To enable
customers to order multiple items or quantities, you must develop a solution that
calculates the total transaction amount based upon customer selections in your Web
store. Your code must then pass the total transaction amount to the Payflow Link server
as described in this chapter.

Example of a Simple Integration
To connect your Web site to Payflow Link, you enter a few lines of HTML text into your
store’s Web page. In that text, you specify your Payflow account information and the amount
and type of transaction. That’s it!
As a result, a Buy button appears on your Web page (you can specify the text that appears on
the button). When a customer clicks the button, their browser displays the PayPal-hosted
pages, from which they submit the transaction. Upon closing the Receipt page, the customer is
returned to your Web site.
Follow these steps:
1. Copy and paste the following text into a text editor. (If you are viewing this document
online, use the Adobe Acrobat Reader Text tool
to select the text and click Ctrl-C to
copy and Ctrl-V to paste it into the text editor.)

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Basic Integration)
Example of a Simple Integration

2. Replace the bold text with actual values for the LOGIN, PARTNER, AMOUNT, and TYPE
parameters, as follows:
–
–
–
–

LOGIN: The login name that you chose for your Payflow account.
PARTNER: The name of your Partner was provided to you by your reseller.
AMOUNT: Total amount of the transaction. The value must be greater than 1.00.
TYPE: A single letter that identifies the type of transaction (S: Sale or
A: Authorization). Transaction types are described on page 65.
Be sure to change only the text shown in bold in the example text. Leave the quotation
marks (“) in place.
3. Save the file and insert the HTML text into your Web page at the point where Payflow
Link should complete the transaction.
4. Your next step is to open your Web page and test the button to ensure that it opens the
PayPal transaction pages and performs the transaction properly. See Chapter 5, “Testing
Payflow Link,” for complete instructions.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating Your Web Site with
Payflow Link (Advanced
Integration)

IMPO RTANT: If

you currently use Payflow Link and added a Fraud Protection Services
package, then you must change the Payflow Link URL in your HTML code.
Use: https://payflowlink.paypal.com

The examples in this chapter use the Fraud Protection Services URL.
If you have HTML knowledge or Web development skills, you can create more customized
Payflow Link integrations by starting with the code described in this chapter.
This chapter discusses an example appropriate for a simple Web site (one used for donations,
single item purchases, and so on.) If your Web site is more complex (accommodates
functionality like multiple item purchases, taxes, shipping fees, and so on), PayPal
recommends that you get a shopping cart.
PayPal strongly recommends that before you implement the integration described in this
chapter, you familiarize yourself with Payflow Link operation by implementing the simple
integration described in Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Basic
Integration).”
N O T E : Payflow Link enables your customers to process a single transaction amount. Payflow

Example of a Custom Integration
You may choose to collect detailed transaction data on your Web store and then pass the
information to Payflow Link. Payflow Link accepts optional data fields that customize the
purchase process. This enables either of the following options:
z

Collect all billing information on your forms and pass it to PayPal. The only data left for
the customer to enter (on the secure PayPal-hosted Credit Card Information form) is the
credit card information.

Collect all billing and credit card information on your forms and pass the data to PayPal.
This enables you to disable all PayPal-hosted pages (except the required Receipt page).

Example HTML Code

The following example collects purchase data on your form. When a customer enters data and
clicks the button, the code sends the data to the Payflow Link server and opens the PayPalhosted Credit Card Information form.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Advanced Integration)
Example of a Custom Integration

Enter your Customer ID Number
Select the form of payment

N O T E : The

example code shows a representative list of fields. You can further customize the
code provided in this example by using fields described in Appendix B, “Submitting
Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server.”

Passing Transaction Data to Payflow Link

If you are collecting transaction data on your forms, you must write a script that passes the
data to the Payflow Link HTML code.
Alternatively, you can collect data by changing the fields from hidden fields to text fields.
Instead of , use . This creates
text boxes into which customers can enter information. The data is passed to PayPal when the
customer submits the order.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Testing Payflow Link

In Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link (Basic Integration),” you entered
HTML code to connect your Web site to Payflow Link. Before you activate your Web store for
customer use, you should test Payflow Link to verify proper operation. PayPal’s test server
enables you to simulate transactions on your Web site and ensure that they are submitted
correctly. Transactions are handled through a test system and no actual funds are exchanged.
This chapter describes the process that you follow to test your Payflow Link integration and to
verify that it is operating correctly.
“Testing TeleCheck Transactions” on page 32 provides guidance on simulating TeleCheck
transactions.

Testing Credit Card Transactions
Follow these steps to test the integration between your Web page and Payflow Link:

Verify that the Transaction Process Mode is set to TEST
Before you can begin simulating transactions, you must first ensure that the Transaction
Process Mode is set to TEST so that no funds are transferred. Follow these steps:
1. Open PayPal Manager and navigate to Service Settings > Payflow Link and click on the
Configuration page.
2. On the Forms Configuration section, under Shipping Information, change Transaction
Process Mode from Live to Test. Click the Save Changes button. Your account now
connects with PayPal’s test servers so that you can safely run simulated transactions.
N O T E : Test

Transactions are processed through PayPal’s simulated payment network to
enable you to test Payflow Link—no money changes hands. You must activate your
account and set Transaction Process Mode to LIVE before accepting real orders.
Refer to PayPal Manager online help for information on activating your account.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Testing Payflow Link
Testing Credit Card Transactions

Performing Test Transactions
To perform test transactions, perform the purchase process from your Web site as described
here. Verify that the transactions are approved, declined, or referred as is appropriate.
Testing Guidelines
z

PayPal provides test card numbers. Other numbers produce an error.

Expiration Date must be a valid date in the future (use the mm/yy format).

To view the credit card processor that you have selected for testing, navigate to Account
Administration > Processor & Merchant Bank Information > Processor Information
on PayPal Manager.

Credit Card Numbers Used for Testing

Use the following card numbers for testing. Any other card number produces the error
message Live card used on test system or Result 23—Invalid Account Number.
TABLE 5.1

Test credit card numbers

Credit Card

Test Number

American Express

378282246310005

American Express

371449635398431

American Express Corporate

378734493671000

Diners Club

38520000023237

Diners Club

30569309025904

Discover

6011111111111117

Discover

6011000990139424

MasterCard

5555555555554444

MasterCard

5105105105105100

Visa

4111111111111111

Visa

4012888888881881

Visa

4222222222222

Testing RESULT Code Responses

You can use the amount of the transaction to generate a particular RESULT code.
N O T E : “RESULT Values

for Transaction Declines or Errors” on page 34 describes each
transaction RESULT code.

N O T E : For

all processors except FDI: Credit (C) and Force (F) transactions will always be
approved regardless of dollar amount or card number.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Testing Payflow Link
Testing Credit Card Transactions

Table 5.2 lists the general guidelines for specifying amounts.
TABLE 5.2

Result codes resulting from amount submitted

Amount

Result

$0 – $1000

0 (Approved)

$1001 – $2000

Certain amounts in this range will return specific PayPal result codes, and can be
generated by adding $1000 to that result code. For example, for Result 13
(Referral), submit the amount 1013.
If the amount is in this range but does not correspond to a PayPal result code
supported by this testing mechanism, result 12 (Declined) is returned.

$2001+

12 – Decline

PayPal Result Codes Returned Based on Transaction Amount

This table lists the RESULT values that you can generate using the amount of the transaction.
To generate a specific code, submit an amount of 1000 plus the code number (for example,
submit an amount of 1013 for a result code of 13).

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Testing Payflow Link
Testing Credit Card Transactions

Alternative Methods for Generating Specific Result Codes
TABLE 5.3

Result values supporting the amount control

Processing Platform

RESULT Values Available for Testing

American Express Phoenix
American Express Brighton

0, 12, 13, 104, 1000

First Data Merchant Services Nashville

0, 12, 13, 104

First Data Merchant Services South

0, 12, 13, 104

Global Payments Central

0, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 23, 24, 104, 111, 114, 1000

Global Payments East

0, 4, 5, 12, 13, 23, 24, 30, 100, 104, 114, 1000

Elavon (Formerly Nova)

0, 12, 13, 104

Paymentech Salem (New Hampshire)

0, 12, 13, 104

TSYS Acquiring Solutions (Formerly
Vital Processing Services)

0, 4, 12, 13, 23, 104, 114, 1000

In some cases, you may get the results shown in Table 5.4 using the result code plus 1000 even
though this table suggests another means of obtaining the result code.
TABLE 5.4

Obtaining PayPal result code

Result

Definition

How to test using Payflow Link

Approved

Use an AMOUNT of $1000 or less. Credit (C) and Force (F)
transactions will always be approved regardless of dollar
amount or card number.

User authentication failed

Use an invalid PWD

Invalid tender

Use an invalid TENDER, such as G

Invalid transaction type

Use an invalid TRXTYPE, such as G

Invalid amount

Use an invalid AMOUNT, such as –1

Declined

Use an AMOUNT of 1012 or an AMOUNT of 2001 or more

Referral

Use an AMOUNT of 1013

Original transaction ID
not found

Submit a Delayed Capture transaction with an invalid
ORIGID

Invalid account number

Submit an invalid account number, for example,
000000000000000

Invalid expiration date

Submit an invalid expiration date, for example, 0298

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Testing Payflow Link
Testing Address Verification Service (AVS)
TABLE 5.4

Obtaining PayPal result code

Result

Definition

How to test using Payflow Link

Transaction type not
mapped to this host

Submit a transaction for a card or tender you are not
currently set up to accept, for example, a Diners card if you
aren’t set up to accept Diners.

101

Time-out value too small

Set timeout value to 1.

103

Error reading response
from host

Use an AMOUNT of 1103.

104

Timeout waiting for
processor response

Use an AMOUNT of 1104.

105

Credit error

Attempt to credit an authorization.

108

Void error

Attempt to void a captured authorization.

111

Capture error

Capture an authorization twice.

112

Failed AVS check

Use an AMOUNT of 1112. Note that in production this will
only be encountered if you are configured by customer
service to use the “AVS Deny” feature.

Testing Address Verification Service (AVS)
The PayPal testing server simulates AVS by returning a value for AVSADDR based on the
first three characters of the submitted value for STREET, as shown in Table 5.5.
The testing server returns a value for AVSZIP based on the submitted ZIP value as shown in
Table 5.6.
If STREET starts with 667-999, or begins with a non-numeric character, as anything above
999 will revert to a 3-character check. So if a merchant puts in 1111 and thinks that they will
get a X because it is “higher” than 667, then they will actually get a Y because the pilot AVS
only checks the first three digits.
TABLE 5.5

Testing AVS STREET

Submitted Value for STREET

Example STREET value

AVS Address Result

000-333

24234 Elm

334-666

49365 Main

667 or higher or begins with a nonnumeric character

79287 Maple

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Testing Payflow Link
Testing Card Security Code
TABLE 5.6

Testing AVS ZIP

Submitted Value for ZIP

Example ZIP value

AVS ZIP Result

00000-50000

00382

50001-99999

94303

Any value (if street address is 667 or
higher or begins with a non-numeric
character)

Address=79287 Maple,
ZIP=20304

Testing Card Security Code
If you submit a value for a card security code, the cardholder’s bank returns a Yes/No/Not
Supported (Y/N/X) response on whether the value matches the number on file at the bank.
N O T E : Some

processors will decline (result code 12) a transaction if the card security code
does not match without returning a CVV2MATCH value. Test the results and check
with your processor to determine whether they support card security code checking.

For testing, the first three characters of the submitted card security code value determine the
card security code result, as shown in Table 5.7.
TABLE 5.7

card security code values and results

card security code value

card security code Result

000

Null

001-300

301-600

601 or higher

If you are using card security code checking and the Silent Post feature, then you can identify
which transactions have been voided by looking for the following value:
RESPMSG=CSCDECLINED.
N O T E : Be sure to look at the response message for your transaction. Even if your result code is

0, your response message might say that the transaction has failed.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Activating Payflow Link

Once you have established your internet merchant account with a merchant bank, configured
the Payflow Link forms, linked your Web store page to Payflow Link, and tested your Web
site’s integration with Payflow Link, you are ready to activate your account to submit live
financial transactions.

Determining Whether Your Payflow Account is Currently Active
When you log in to PayPal Manager, the Account Status section on the Home page shows the
status of your Payflow account

Activating Your Payflow Account
Perform the following tasks:
z

Step 1, “Register your account”

Step 2, “Configure transactions to go to the live Payflow Link servers.”

Step 3, “Verify that live transactions are processed correctly”

Step 1 Register your account
Registration informs PayPal that you will begin performing live transactions. PayPal will now
begin billing you to use the Payflow Link service. (You may have already performed this step
when you registered for the service.)
N O T E : Registering

your account does not activate your account. Your Payflow Link
account is still in TEST mode until you perform the next step.

If you have already registered your Payflow Link account, skip to Step 2, “Configure
transactions to go to the live Payflow Link servers.” on page 26”.
Follow these steps to register:
1. Log in to PayPal Manager at https://manager.paypal.com. For information about logging on
to PayPal Manager, refer to the PayPal Manager online help on the login page.
2. On the PayPal Manager Home page, click Activate Your Account in the Your Account
Status section.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Activating Payflow Link
Activating Your Payflow Account

Step 2 Configure transactions to go to the live Payflow Link servers.
In this step, you set the Transaction Process status to LIVE.
1. Log in to PayPal Manager at https://manager.paypal.com.
2. Navigate to Service Settings > Payflow Link > Configuration. In the Form
Configuration section on the Configuration page, change Transaction Process Mode
from Test to Live. Click Save Changes.
Step 3 Verify that live transactions are processed correctly
Perform a transaction on your Web store as if you were a customer. Verify proper operation as
follows:

Forms appear correctly (colors, logos, and text).

The transaction is declined when a test credit card number is used.

The transaction is approved when a working credit card number is used. (You can use
PayPal Manager to credit the card after testing.)

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Managing Payflow Link

This chapter describes how to use PayPal Manager to manage your Payflow Link account
settings and transaction activity as well as to generate a variety of transaction reports. This
chapter also describes the reports that you use to monitor your Payflow Link account.
N O T E : Before

proceeding, learn how to get around in PayPal Manager. Refer to PayPal
Manager’s online help for information on using any page or field. To view online help,
click the Help link.

Management Tasks Available in PayPal Manager
Complete instructions for using PayPal Manager and a more detailed discussion of available
reports appear in PayPal Manager online help.
Using PayPal Manager, you can perform the following tasks:
z

Change your configuration settings.

Perform manual transactions (Sale, Credit, Void, and so on) and view transaction details.
Submit groups of automated Delayed Capture, Credit, and Void transactions.
N O T E : For manual

transactions performed from PayPal Manager, AVS responses are
returned, but the actions specified by the Payflow Link AVS setting (accept,
decline, and so on) are not taken.

Perform reference transactions. A reference transaction is an existing transaction from
which parameter (field) values are re-used to create a new transaction.

Configure recurring payments. PayPal’s Recurring Billing Service is a scheduled payment
solution that enables you to automatically bill your customers at regular intervals—for
example, a monthly fee of $42 for 36 months with an initial fee of $129.

Search for transactions, for example, by credit card number or Transaction ID.

Specify, generate, and view reports.

Generating Reports
Use the Reports tab on PayPal Manager to generate and review reports to track Payflow Link
transaction activity.
For detailed information about generating reports, refer to PayPal Manager online help.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Managing Payflow Link
Generating Reports

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating TeleCheck
Transactions
In addition to accepting credit cards, your Web site can accept TeleCheck electronic checks
using Payflow Link. This chapter describes how to implement TeleCheck payments.
N O T E : Be

sure to read Appendix B, “Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link
Server,” for information on more advanced implementations.

N O T E : If

you did not indicate that you want to accept checks during the registration process
for Payflow Link, you must contact PayPal customer service to enable this function.
For more information on TeleCheck, see the TeleCheck Web site at
http://www.telecheck.com.

Integrating Check Processing
IMPO RTANT:

Payflow Link cannot void TeleCheck transactions.

To integrate check processing with Payflow Link, you use the same HTML code that you use
for credit cards, as described in Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link
(Basic Integration).” However for check processing, the TYPE value must always be S, as
shown in this example code:

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating TeleCheck Transactions
Data That You Must Post if You Do Not Use Payflow Link’s Order Form

Enabling Customers to Specify the Payment Method
If your Web site is structured to accept both checks and credit cards, then, by default, your
customers will see the Select Payment Type page to enable them to specify the method of
payment.
FIGURE 8.1 Select Payment Type page

To hide the page

You can specify that the Payflow Link server should not display the page by specifying that
the method of payment is TeleCheck. Include the following line in your HTML code:

Data That You Must Post if You Do Not Use Payflow Link’s Order
Form
To use your custom order forms rather that the PayPal-hosted forms, set ORDERFORM to
False and Post the following name/value pairs to the Payflow Link server:
TABLE 8.1

Transaction data required if ORDERFORM=False

Field Name

Description

Max Length

ADDRESS

Billing address.

CHECKNUM

Check number.

CITY

Billing city.

DLNUM

Driver’s License Number. This value is required.

Billing email address.

The login name that you chose while enrolling for your Payflow account.

METHOD

Method of customer payment. Enter ECHECK for electronic check.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating TeleCheck Transactions
Transaction Results Returned for TeleCheck Transactions
TABLE 8.1

Transaction data required if ORDERFORM=False(Continued)

Field Name

Description

Max Length

MICR

MICR number of the check. The string appears at the bottom of the check.

NAME

Billing name.

PARTNER

The name of your Partner was provided to you by your PayPal Reseller.

PHONE

Billing phone.

STATE

Billing state.

STATEOFDL

Driver’s license state (two-letter abbreviation). This value is required.

TYPEOFCHECK

Type of check (P = Personal, B = Business). P is the default.

ZIP

Billing ZIP code.

Transaction Results Returned for TeleCheck Transactions
The HOSTCODE parameter returns the following six-digit code values:
TABLE 8.2

Values returned by HOSTCODE

Code

Description

Status

000800

Sale Approved Direct Check

Sale/ECA approved

000801

Sale Approved Direct Check

Sale approved (no ECA)

000802

Sale Approved Direct Check

Sale/ECA approved no guarantee

000803

Sale Approved Direct Check

Sale approved no ECA no guarantee

000804

Check Declined Direct Check

Sale declined negative data

000805

Check Declined Direct Check

Sale Decline Scoring

000807

Check Failure Direct Check Sale

Check Failed

N O T E : For

more information on other returned values, see Appendix B, “Submitting
Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server.”
For more information on TeleCheck responses, see the TeleCheck Web site at
http://www.telecheck.com/ica/ica.html

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Integrating TeleCheck Transactions
Testing TeleCheck Transactions

Testing TeleCheck Transactions
Use the following test data to test TeleCheck transactions:
TABLE 8.3

Test TeleCheck transaction data

Bank (MICR) Number

Check No.

Resulting HOSTCODE Value

1234567804390850001001

1001

0800 — Check Approved ECA

1234567804390850011001

1001

0801 — Check Approved No ECA

1234567804390850021001

1001

0802 — Check Approved ECA, No Guarantee

1234567804390850031001

1001

0803 — Check Approved No ECA, No Guarantee

1234567804390850041001

1001

0804 — Check Decline Negative Data

1234567804390850051001

1001

0805 — Check Decline Scoring

1234567804390850071001

1001

0807 — Check Failed

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses

When a transaction is completed, PayPal returns transaction response information. PayPal
Manager displays transaction responses on the following pages:
z

Perform Transaction Results page, returned whenever you complete a transaction using the
Perform Transaction tab.

Report pages

Transaction Detail page, which you can access using the search utilities or by clicking the
Transaction ID on most report pages

For details on these pages, refer to PayPal Manager online help.

RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
RESULT is the first value returned in the PayPal server response string. The value of the
RESULT parameter indicates the overall status of the transaction attempt.
z

A value of 0 (zero) indicates that no errors occurred and the transaction was approved.

A value less than zero indicates that a communication error occurred. In this case, no
transaction is attempted.

A value greater than zero indicates a decline or error.

The response message (RESPMSG) provides a brief description for decline or error results.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values

RESULT Values for Transaction Declines or Errors
For non-zero Results, the response string includes a RESPMSG name/value pair. The exact
wording of the RESPMSG (shown in bold) may vary. Sometimes a colon appears after the
initial RESPMSG followed by more detailed information.
TABLE A.1

Payflow transaction RESULT values and RESPMSG text

RESULT

RESPMSG and Explanation

Approved

User authentication failed. Error is caused by one or more of the following:
z Login information is incorrect. Verify that USER, VENDOR, PARTNER, and
PASSWORD have been entered correctly. VENDOR is your merchant ID and
USER is the same as VENDOR unless you created a Payflow Pro user. All fields
are case sensitive.
z Invalid Processor information entered. Contact merchant bank to verify.
z "Allowed IP Address" security feature implemented. The transaction is coming
from an unknown IP address. See PayPal Manager online help for details on how to
use Manager to update the allowed IP addresses.
z You are using a test (not active) account to submit a transaction to the live PayPal
servers. Change the host address from the test server URL to the live server URL.

Invalid tender type. Your merchant bank account does not support the following
credit card type that was submitted.

Invalid transaction type. Transaction type is not appropriate for this transaction. For
example, you cannot credit an authorization-only transaction.

Invalid amount format. Use the format: “#####.##” Do not include currency
symbols or commas.

Invalid merchant information. Processor does not recognize your merchant account
information. Contact your bank account acquirer to resolve this problem.

Invalid or unsupported currency code

Field format error. Invalid information entered. See RESPMSG.

Not a transaction server

Too many parameters or invalid stream

Too many line items

Client time-out waiting for response

Declined. Check the credit card number, expiration date, and transaction information to
make sure they were entered correctly. If this does not resolve the problem, have the
customer call their card issuing bank to resolve.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.1

Payflow transaction RESULT values and RESPMSG text (Continued)

RESULT

RESPMSG and Explanation

Referral. Transaction cannot be approved electronically but can be approved with a
verbal authorization. Contact your merchant bank to obtain an authorization and submit
a manual Voice Authorization transaction.

Invalid Client Certification ID. Check the HTTP header. If the tag, X-VPS-VITCLIENT-CERTIFICATION-ID, is missing, RESULT code 14 is returned.

Original transaction ID not found. The transaction ID you entered for this
transaction is not valid. See RESPMSG.

Cannot find the customer reference number

Invalid ABA number

Invalid account number. Check credit card number and re-submit.

Invalid expiration date. Check and re-submit.

Invalid Host Mapping. Error is caused by one or more of the following:
z You are trying to process a tender type such as Discover Card, but you are not set up
with your merchant bank to accept this card type.
z You are trying to process an Express Checkout transaction when your account is not
set up to do so. Contact your account holder to have Express Checkout added to
your account.

Invalid vendor account. Login information is incorrect. Verify that USER, VENDOR,
PARTNER, and PASSWORD have been entered correctly. VENDOR is your merchant
ID and USER is the same as VENDOR unless you created a Payflow Pro user. All
fields are case sensitive.

Insufficient partner permissions

Insufficient user permissions

Invalid XML document. This could be caused by an unrecognized XML tag or a bad
XML format that cannot be parsed by the system.

Duplicate transaction

Error in adding the recurring profile

Error in modifying the recurring profile

Error in canceling the recurring profile

Error in forcing the recurring profile

Error in reactivating the recurring profile

OLTP Transaction failed

Invalid recurring profile ID

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.1

Payflow transaction RESULT values and RESPMSG text (Continued)

RESULT

RESPMSG and Explanation

Insufficient funds available in account

Exceeds per transaction limit

General error. See RESPMSG.

100

Transaction type not supported by host

101

Time-out value too small

102

Processor not available

103

Error reading response from host

104

Timeout waiting for processor response. Try your transaction again.

105

Credit error. Make sure you have not already credited this transaction, or that this
transaction ID is for a creditable transaction. (For example, you cannot credit an
authorization.)

106

Host not available

107

Duplicate suppression time-out

108

Void error. See RESPMSG. Make sure the transaction ID entered has not already been
voided. If not, then look at the Transaction Detail screen for this transaction to see if it
has settled. (The Batch field is set to a number greater than zero if the transaction has
been settled). If the transaction has already settled, your only recourse is a reversal
(credit a payment or submit a payment for a credit).

109

Time-out waiting for host response

110

Referenced auth (against order) Error

111

Capture error. Either an attempt to capture a transaction that is not an authorization
transaction type, or an attempt to capture an authorization transaction that has already
been captured.

112

Failed AVS check. Address and ZIP code do not match. An authorization may still
exist on the cardholder’s account.

113

Merchant sale total will exceed the sales cap with current transaction. ACH
transactions only.

114

Card Security Code (CSC) Mismatch. An authorization may still exist on the
cardholder’s account.

115

System busy, try again later

116

VPS Internal error. Failed to lock terminal number

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.1

Payflow transaction RESULT values and RESPMSG text (Continued)

RESULT

RESPMSG and Explanation

117

Failed merchant rule check. One or more of the following three failures occurred:
An attempt was made to submit a transaction that failed to meet the security settings
specified on the PayPal Manager Security Settings page. If the transaction exceeded the
Maximum Amount security setting, then no values are returned for AVS or CSC.
AVS validation failed. The AVS return value should appear in the RESPMSG.
CSC validation failed. The CSC return value should appear in the RESPMSG.

118

Invalid keywords found in string fields

119

General failure within PIM Adapter

120

Attempt to reference a failed transaction

121

Not enabled for feature

122

Merchant sale total will exceed the credit cap with current transaction. ACH
transactions only.

125

Fraud Protection Services Filter — Declined by filters

126

Fraud Protection Services Filter — Flagged for review by filters
Important Note: Result code 126 indicates that a transaction triggered a fraud filter.
This is not an error, but a notice that the transaction is in a review status. The
transaction has been authorized but requires you to review and to manually accept the
transaction before it will be allowed to settle.
Result code 126 is intended to give you an idea of the kind of transaction that is
considered suspicious to enable you to evaluate whether you can benefit from using the
Fraud Protection Services.
To eliminate result 126, turn the filters off.
For more information, see the Fraud Protection Services documentation for your
payments solution. It is available on the PayPal Manager Documentation page.

127

Fraud Protection Services Filter — Not processed by filters

128

Fraud Protection Services Filter — Declined by merchant after being flagged for
review by filters

131

Version 1 Payflow Pro SDK client no longer supported. Upgrade to the most recent
version of the Payflow Pro client.

132

Card has not been submitted for update

133

Data mismatch in HTTP retry request

150

Issuing bank timed out

151

Issuing bank unavailable

200

Reauth error

201

Order error

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.1

Payflow transaction RESULT values and RESPMSG text (Continued)

RESULT

RESPMSG and Explanation

402

PIM Adapter Unavailable

403

PIM Adapter stream error

404

PIM Adapter Timeout

600

Cybercash Batch Error

601

Cybercash Query Error

1000

Generic host error. This is a generic message returned by your credit card processor.
The RESPMSG will contain more information describing the error.

1001

Buyer Authentication Service unavailable

1002

Buyer Authentication Service — Transaction timeout

1003

Buyer Authentication Service — Invalid client version

1004

Buyer Authentication Service — Invalid timeout value

1011

Buyer Authentication Service unavailable

1012

Buyer Authentication Service unavailable

1013

Buyer Authentication Service unavailable

1014

Buyer Authentication Service — Merchant is not enrolled for Buyer
Authentication Service (3-D Secure).

1016

Buyer Authentication Service — 3-D Secure error response received. Instead of
receiving a PARes response to a Validate Authentication transaction, an error response
was received.

1017

Buyer Authentication Service — 3-D Secure error response is invalid. An error
response is received and the response is not well formed for a Validate Authentication
transaction.

1021

Buyer Authentication Service — Invalid card type

1022

Buyer Authentication Service — Invalid or missing currency code

1023

Buyer Authentication Service — merchant status for 3D secure is invalid

1041

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: missing or
invalid PARES

1042

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: PARES format is
invalid

1043

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Cannot find
successful Verify Enrollment

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.1

Payflow transaction RESULT values and RESPMSG text (Continued)

RESULT

RESPMSG and Explanation

1044

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Signature
validation failed for PARES

1045

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid amount in PARES

1046

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid acquirer in PARES

1047

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid Merchant ID in PARES

1048

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid card number in PARES

1049

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid currency code in PARES

1050

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid XID in PARES

1051

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: Mismatched or
invalid order date in PARES

1052

Buyer Authentication Service — Validate Authentication failed: This PARES was
already validated for a previous Validate Authentication transaction

RESULT Values for Communications Errors
A RESULT value less than zero indicates that a communication error occurred. In this case, no
transaction is attempted.
A value of -1 or -2 usually indicates a configuration error caused by an incorrect URL or by
configuration issues with your firewall. A value of -1 or -2 can also be possible if the PayPal
servers are unavailable, or an incorrect server/socket pair has been specified. A value of -1 can
also result when there are internet connectivity errors. Contact customer support regarding any
other errors.
TABLE A.2

RESULT values for communications errors

RESULT

Description

-1

Failed to connect to host

-2

Failed to resolve hostname

-5

Failed to initialize SSL context

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.2

RESULT values for communications errors(Continued)

RESULT

Description

-6

Parameter list format error: & in name

-7

Parameter list format error: invalid [ ] name length clause

-8

SSL failed to connect to host

-9

SSL read failed

-10

SSL write failed

-11

Proxy authorization failed

-12

Timeout waiting for response

-13

Select failure

-14

Too many connections

-15

Failed to set socket options

-20

Proxy read failed

-21

Proxy write failed

-22

Failed to initialize SSL certificate

-23

Host address not specified

-24

Invalid transaction type

-25

Failed to create a socket

-26

Failed to initialize socket layer

-27

Parameter list format error: invalid [ ] name length clause

-28

Parameter list format error: name

-29

Failed to initialize SSL connection

-30

Invalid timeout value

-31

The certificate chain did not validate, no local certificate found

-32

The certificate chain did not validate, common name did not match URL

- 40

Unexpected Request ID found in request.

- 41

Required Request ID not found in request

-99

Out of memory

-100

Parameter list cannot be empty

-103

Context initialization failed

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values
TABLE A.2

RESULT values for communications errors(Continued)

RESULT

Description

-104

Unexpected transaction state

-105

Invalid name value pair request

-106

Invalid response format

-107

This XMLPay version is not supported

-108

The server certificate chain did not validate

-109

Unable to do logging

-111

The following error occurred while initializing from message file:

-113

Unable to round and truncate the currency value simultaneously

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
RESULT Codes and RESPMSG Values

AVS Result Codes
IMPO RTANT: The AVS result is for advice only. Banks do not decline transactions based on

the AVS result—you make the decision to approve or decline each transaction.
You must manually check the results of each manual transaction to view its
AVS result and to act on it appropriately.
AVS does not operate for manual transactions.
For US cardholders, the Address Verification Service (AVS) compares the submitted street
address and zip code with the values on file at the cardholder’s bank. (AVS is supported by
most US banks and by some International banks.)
The International AVS response (IAVS) indicates whether AVS response is international (Y),
USA (N), or cannot be determined (X). Payflow Pro client version 3.06 or later is required.

Processors that Support AVS
PayPal supports the AVS services as listed in the table below.
TABLE A.3

Processing platforms supporting AVS

Processing Platform

American
Express

Discover

MasterCard

Visa

American Express Phoenix

—

American Express Brighton

—

FDMS Nashville

FDMS North

FDMS South

Global Payments Central

Global Payments East

Merchant e-Solutions

Elavon (formerly Nova)

Paymentech Salem (New
Hampshire)

Paymentech Tampa

TSYS Acquiring Solutions
(formerly Vital Processing
Services)

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
AVS Results

AVS Results
Any one of the following results can appear in the AVS Street Match and AVS ZIP Match
fields on the Transaction Detail page:
TABLE A.4

AVS Result Codes

Result

Meaning

Information submitted matches information on file with cardholder's bank.

Information submitted does not match information on file with the cardholder's
bank.

Cardholder's bank does not support AVS checking for this information.

N O T E : Results

can vary on the same Transaction Detail page. In other words, AVS Street
Match = Y and AVS ZIP Match = N (and vice versa) could appear on the same
Transaction Detail page. Also note that sometimes when service is unavailable, no
code at all will be returned.

Card Security Code Result Codes
The card security code is a 3- or 4-digit number (not part of the credit card number) that
appears on the credit card. Because the card security code appears only on the card and not on
receipts or statements, the card security code provides some assurance that the physical card is
in the possession of the buyer.
N O T E : This fraud prevention tool

has various names, depending on the card type. Visa calls it
CVV2 and MasterCard calls it CVC2. To ensure that your customers see a consistent
name, PayPal recommends use of the term card security code on all end-user materials.

N O T E : Check with your acquiring bank to determine whether they support Card Security Code

validation.
On most cards, the card security code appears on the back of the card (usually in the signature
field). All or part of the card number appears before the card security code (567 in the
example). For American Express, the 4-digit number (1122 in the example) is printed on the
front of the card, above and to the right of the embossed account number.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
Card Security Code Result Codes
FIGURE A.1 Credit card security code locations

Card Security Code Results
If you submit the transaction request parameter for card security code (that is, the CVV2
parameter), the cardholder’s bank returns a Yes/No/ response in the CVV2MATCH response
parameter, as per the table below.
TABLE A.5

CVV2MATCH response values

CVV2MATCH Value

Description

The submitted value matches the data on file for the card.

The submitted value does not match the data on file for the card.

The cardholder’s bank does not support this service.

Card security code results vary depending on your processing platform, as described in the
table below.
TABLE A.6

Card security code results

Processing Platform

Results

American Express Phoenix
Global Payments – East
Global Payments – Central
Merchant e-Solutions
Nova
Vital

Card security code mismatches may cause a non-approved result
(RESULT = 112 or 114) in some cases. In other cases, the
transaction may be approved despite the card security code
mismatch.
The match or mismatch information is indicated in the
CVV2MATCH value.

FDMS Nashville
FDMS South

Transactions that have card security code mismatches can come
back as an approved transaction (RESULT = 0).
The match or mismatch information is indicated in the
CVV2MATCH value.
As with AVS, if the Authorization was successful, you must make
a decision based on the CVV2MATCH value whether or not to
proceed with the order.

Paymentech New Hampshire
Paymentech Tampa

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
Card Security Code Result Codes

Processors and Credit Cards Supporting Card Security Code
PayPal supports card security code validation as listed in the table below.
TABLE A.7

Processing platforms supporting card security code

Processing Platform

American
Express

Discover

MasterCard

Visa

Switch/Solo
Maestro

American Express Phoenix

—

American Express Brighton

—

FDMS Nashville

—

FDMS North

—

FDMS South

—

Global Payments Central

—

Global Payments East

—

Merchant e-Solutions

—

Elevon (formerly Nova)

—

Paymentech Salem (New
Hampshire)

Paymentech Tampa

—

TSYS Acquiring Solutions
(formerly Vital Processing
Services)

—

TABLE A.8

Processing platforms supporting card security code

Processing Platform

American
Express

JCB

Diners

MasteCard

Visa

American Express APAC

—

Citibank Singapore (CSIN)

—

First Data International (FDI)

American Express Card Security Code Enhancements
American Express recommends that you include the following information in your
transactions to enhance their ability to detect fraud.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Transaction Responses
Card Security Code Result Codes

Card-Not-Present Environment

In a card-not-present environment, American Express recommends that you include the
following information in your authorization message:
z

Card member billing name

Shipping information (SHIPTO* parameters) such as:
– Address
– Name
– Shipping method

Customer information such as:
–
–
–
–

Email address
IP address
Host name
Browser type

Order information (such as product SKU)

Card-Present Environment

In a card-present environment, American Express recommends that you include track 1
magnetic stripe data. The stripe includes additional data elements that increase their ability to
detect fraud when a card is swiped.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to
the Payflow Link Server
This chapter is intended for merchants with intermediate or advanced HTML knowledge or
Web development skills. It describes the options you have for sending transaction data to the
Payflow Link server.
This chapter also describes the transaction parameters that you can send to the Payflow Link
server and the data that you can choose to have returned to your Web site when a transaction is
complete.
In This Chapter
z

“About PayPal’s Transaction Database” on page 47

“Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 1” on page 48

“Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 2” on page 50

“Optional Transaction Data” on page 52

“Returning Data to Your Web Site” on page 54

“Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features” on page 56

“Parameters That Specify Payflow Link Operation” on page 59

About PayPal’s Transaction Database
All of the transaction data submitted to the Payflow Link server—whether the source is the
Payflow Link Order form or your Web page—is stored in PayPal’s transaction database. You
can search for particular transaction data using the search tools available on the PayPal
Manager.
Some transaction parameters are intended to enable you to retain session information and
other temporary data—these values are not stored in the database. See “Retaining Session
Data and other Temporary Information” on page 55.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 1

Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 1
Using the Payflow Link Order Form
You can use the Payflow Link Order form to collect transaction data from the customer. This
default configuration is described in Chapter 3, “Integrating Your Web Site with Payflow Link
(Basic Integration).” This configuration minimizes the data that you must collect at your site
and pass to PayPal.
N O T E : One

significant benefit of using this configuration is that you do not have to invest in
the security infrastructure required to accept account information (credit card number
and expiration date) at your site—PayPal performs the secure transfer of this data.

You specify the fields that appear on the Order form by selecting them in the Configuration
page.
For this case, the minimum set of data that you must Post to Payflow Link is described in
“Data That You Must Pass if You Use Payflow Link’s Order Form” on page 49. In addition,
you can pass any of the data described in “Optional Transaction Data” on page 52.
Pre-populating Order Form Fields

To improve your customer’s experience, you may wish to populate the Order form with
information that your site has already collected. You can pre-populate any Order form field by
using the HTML Post method to send the associated name/value pair to the Payflow Link
server. In this example, you populate the Total Amount (a required value), Name, Address,
and City fields:

As a result, the values appear in the Order form (the card number and expiration date values
were collected by the Credit Card Information page):

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 1

FIGURE B.1 Order form with values

Data That You Must Pass if You Use Payflow Link’s Order Form

In “Example of a Simple Integration” on page 15, we discussed the minimum data set required
by Payflow Link if you use Payflow Link’s Order form to collect transaction information from
the customer. Table B.1 lists the minimum data set.
You have the option to turn off the Confirmation page by setting SHOWCONFIRM=False.
The Confirmation page enables the customer to confirm the transaction information before
submitting the transaction. The page appears after the customer submits the Order form.
IMPO RTANT: Parameter

names are case-sensitive and must be typed exactly as shown.
Incorrectly specified parameter values are ignored.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 2

TABLE B.1

Transaction data required for all Payflow Link transactions

Field Name

Description

Max Length

The login name that you chose while enrolling for your Payflow
account.

PARTNER

The name of your Partner was provided to you by your Reseller.

AMOUNT

The total amount of the transaction.
Decimal number with two decimal places. Amount must be greater
than 1.00.
This value appears on PayPal Manager reports, on the Transaction
Confirmation page, on the Receipt page, and in email receipts to
both merchant and customer.

TYPE

Transaction type: S for Sale or A for Authorization. For more
information, see “Payflow Link Transaction Types” on page 65.

Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 2
Collecting Data on Your Web Page and Posting to the Payflow Link Server
You can bypass the Payflow Link forms by collecting all transaction data on your Web page
and passing it directly to the Payflow Link server. (A simple version of this option appears in
“Example of a Custom Integration” on page 17.) In this case, you:
1. Turn off the Payflow Link Order form and collect the transaction data at your Web site.
Optionally, you can also turn off the Confirmation page.
2. Post all transaction data to the Payflow Link server.
If you pass both the credit card number and expiration date, then the Credit Card
Information page does not appear. The required Payflow Link Receipt page still appears
when the transaction is complete.
The minimum set of data that you must Post to Payflow Link is described in Table B.2 on
page 51. In addition, you can pass any of the data described in “Optional Transaction Data”
on page 52.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Collecting Customer Transaction Data, Option 2

Data That You Must Post if You do not use Payflow Link’s Order Form

If you turn off Payflow Link’s Order form by setting ORDERFORM=False, the customer
must enter all transaction data at your Web site. Because the Order form does not collect the
transaction data, you must Post the data listed in Table B.2 to the Payflow Link server.
You also have the option to turn off Payflow Link’s Confirmation form by setting
SHOWCONFIRM=False. The Confirmation page enables the customer to confirm the
transaction information before submitting the transaction. The page appears after the customer
submits the Order form.
IMPO RTANT: Parameter

names are case-sensitive and must be typed exactly as shown.
Incorrectly specified parameter values are ignored.

If you plan to collect credit card information on your site and pass it to
PayPal over the Internet, you should use a secure server to ensure secure
transfer of this data.
TABLE B.2

Transaction data required if ORDERFORM=False

Field Name

Description

Max Length

ADDRESS

Billing address.

CARDNUM

Credit card number.
Numeric only. No spaces or dashes.

CITY

Billing city.

EXPDATE

Credit card’s expiration date.
Valid formats are: mmyy, mmyyyy, mmyy, and
mmyyyy.
You can use either backslash or period as the
separator (\ .)

The login name that you chose while enrolling for your Payflow account.

PARTNER

The name of your Partner was provided to you by your Reseller.

AMOUNT

The total amount of the transaction.
Decimal number with two decimal places. Amount must be greater than 1.00.
This value appears on PayPal Manager reports, on the Transaction Confirmation
page, on the Receipt page, and in email receipts to merchant and customer.

TYPE

Transaction type.
S for Sale or A for Authorization. See “Payflow Link Transaction Types” on
page 65.

METHOD

Method of customer payment.
C or CC for credit card.
ECHECK for electronic check.
P for Express Checkout.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Optional Transaction Data
TABLE B.2

Transaction data required if ORDERFORM=False(Continued)

Field Name

Description

Max Length

ZIP

Billing ZIP (postal) code.

Optional Transaction Data
For any transaction, you can pass the optional parameters listed in Table B.3 to the Payflow
Link server. You can also return any of these values to your Web server using the Return Post
or Silent Post method.
If you use the Payflow Link Order form, then the values that you send are populated into the
form (if the associated field appears on the form).
If you turned off the Payflow Link Order form, then some of these values are required, as
noted in the table.
N O T E : A different set of optional parameters is used to configure Payflow Link operation. See

“Parameters That Specify Payflow Link Operation” on page 59.
TABLE B.3

Optional parameters

Field Name

Description

Max Length

ADDRESS

Billing address.
Required if you use the AVS feature. Required if you turn off the
Payflow Link Order form.

ADDRESSTOSHIP

Shipping address.

120

CARDNUM

Credit card number. Numeric only. No spaces or dashes.
Appears as Account # in PayPal Manager reports.
Required if you turn off the Payflow Link Order form.

CITY

Billing city.
Required if you turn off the Payflow Link Order form.

CITYTOSHIP

Shipping city.

COUNTRY

Billing country.

COUNTRYCODE

Shipping country.

COMMENT1 and
COMMENT2

Use these parameters to pass information that appears in the PayPal
Manager Custom Report. String type.
These values are not returned by the Post or Silent Post features.

255

CSC

Card Security Code. String type. Required if you use the card security
code feature.

3 or 4

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Optional Transaction Data
TABLE B.3

Optional parameters(Continued)

Field Name

Description

Max Length

CUSTID

This string type parameter is intended to temporarily store data that you
specify (for example, a number or text name that you use to identify the
customer). This parameter enables you to return the value to your Web
server by using the Post or Silent Post feature.
Note: CUSTID is not stored in PayPal’s transaction database.

DESCRIPTION

Your (merchant’s) description of the transaction. String type.
Displayed on the Transaction Confirmation page and in email receipts to
both merchant and customer.

255

DLNUM

Driver’s License Number.
TeleCheck transactions only.

Billing email address.

EMAILTOSHIP

Shipping email address.

EXPDATE

Account expiration date. For cards that do not use an expiration date,
use the issuing date plus ten years.
Required if you turn off the Payflow Link Order form.
Valid formats are: mmyy, mmyyyy, mmyy, and
mmyyyy.
You can use any of the following separators: \ / . -

FAX

Billing fax number.

FAXTOSHIP

Shipping fax number.

INVOICE

Invoice number. If passed, the value is displayed on the Order form.
Displayed as INV NUM on the Custom Report. Alphanumeric string
type.
Displayed on the Transaction Confirmation page and in email receipts to
both merchant and customer.
Returned to your storefront if you implement either the Post or Silent
Post feature.

METHOD

Method of customer payment. C or CC for credit card. ECHECK for
electronic check.
Required if you turn off the Payflow Link Order form
(ORDERFORM=False).
The default METHOD is CC when ORDERFORM=True (the default
setting for ORDERFORM).

NAME

Billing name.

NAMETOSHIP

Shipping name.

PHONE

Billing phone.

PHONETOSHIP

Shipping phone.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Returning Data to Your Web Site
TABLE B.3

Optional parameters(Continued)

Field Name

Description

Max Length

PONUM

Purchase Order number. This alphanumeric string value cannot include
spaces.

SHIPAMOUNT

The cost of shipping. Decimal number with two decimal places.

STATE

Billing state.

STATETOSHIP

Shipping state.

TAX

The amount of tax on a transaction.

USER1
through
USER10

These ten string type parameters are intended to store temporary data
(for example, variables, session IDs, order numbers, and so on). These
parameters enable you to return the values to your server by using the
Post or Silent Post feature.
Note: USER1 through USER10 are not displayed to the customer and
are not stored in the PayPal transaction database.

255

ZIP

Billing ZIP (postal) code.
Required if you use the AVS feature. Required if you turn off the
Payflow Link Order form.

ZIPTOSHIP

Shipping ZIP (postal) code.

Returning Data to Your Web Site
You can use the Post or Silent Post feature to configure the Payflow Link server to send
transaction data to a URL that you specify. These “behind the scenes” HTTP Post operations
deliver information that you can use for purposes such as keeping a log of transactions or
updating a database.
You must create a CGI or ASP script to capture the Posted information. For outbound Post
processes, Payflow Link servers support only port 80 for HTTP and port 443 for HTTPS.
N O T E : PayPal

recommends that you use PayPal Manager reports to verify each order and the
dollar amount of each transaction when using the Silent Post and Forced Silent Post
features.

If you enable Post or Silent Post, then, for each completed transaction, PayPal sends a
response string made up of name/value pairs. The values are a combination of the results of
your transaction request and the original transaction data that was submitted. This example is a
response to a credit card Sale transaction request:

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Returning Data to Your Web Site

RESULT=0&AUTHCODE=010101&RESPMSG=Approved&AVSDATA=YNY&PNREF=V63F28770576&HO
STCODE=&INVOICE=3452345&AMOUNT=117.03&TAX=&METHOD=CC&TYPE=S&DESCRIPTION=1+f
elt+hat%2C+Model+FC&CUSTID=NT1000&NAME=Nancy+Thompson&ADDRESS=1428+Elm+Stre
et&CITY=Springwood&STATE=CA&ZIP=66666&COUNTRY=USA&PHONE=121-3254253&FAX=&EMAIL=nthompson@buyalot.com&USER1=User1+value&USER2=&USER3=&USER4
=&USER5=&USER6=&USER7=&USER8=&USER9=&USER10=&NAMETOSHIP=Nancy+Thompson&ADDR
ESSTOSHIP=1428+Elm+Street&CITYTOSHIP=Springwood&STATETOSHIP=&ZIPTOSHIP=6666
6&COUNTRYCODE=USA&PHONETOSHIP=121-3254253&FAXTOSHIP=&EMAILTOSHIP=&CSCMATCH=Y

The full list of returned data is described in “Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post
Features” on page 56.

Retaining Session Data and other Temporary Information
Because the customer’s browser is redirected to the Payflow Link pages to collect transaction
information, your Web server loses session information. PayPal provides parameters (USER1
through USER10 and CUSTID) that enable you to store such temporary information and
retrieve it when the Payflow Link server returns the results of the transaction and the customer
returns to your Web site.
If you submit values for these parameters in the transaction request, then, when the Payflow
Link server posts the transaction response back to your site, the response text echoes the
values that you submitted with the transaction. You can use User1 through User10 to store
variables, session IDs, order numbers, and so on. In addition, you might use the CUSTID
parameter to store a text name that identifies the customer, for example.
N O T E : These

values are intended to hold temporary data and are not stored in PayPal’s
transaction database.

Specifying How Data is Returned to Your Web Site
You have the following options for returning transaction data to your Web site.
Post

The Post feature returns data using the HTML Post method when the customer clicks the
Continue button on the Receipt page.
You receive posted information only on approved transactions. If the customer does not click
the Return button, or if the transaction is declined, then the transaction data is not posted to
your site. For declined transactions, the customer gets a Declined button that returns them to
your Order page.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features

Silent Post

The Silent Post feature returns data using the HTML Post method whenever a transaction
succeeds. The data is sent at the same time as when the Receipt page is displayed.
To ensure that transactions proceed only if your script actually receives the data returned by
the Silent Post, you must also select the Force Silent Post Confirmation feature.
Force Silent Post Confirmation

The Force Silent Post Confirmation feature ensures that no transactions proceed unless your
Web site receives the Silent Post data.
If you enable this feature, Payflow Link sends the Silent Post data and waits for a 200 OK
from your server (indicating the server’s receipt of the data). If Payflow Link does not receive
the success response, then the transaction is voided and the customer sees a communication
error message. In this case, PayPal Manager displays both a transaction that succeeded and a
transaction that was voided.

Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features
The Post and Silent Post features return the data described in this section. You have the option
to return either of the following lists of values:

Return a short list of values generated by PayPal and the issuing bank to provide status
information on the submitted transaction. For this option, set the optional ECHODATA
parameter to False.

Return both the short list of generated values plus all transaction data that was submitted
for the transaction. For this option, set the optional ECHODATA parameter to True. This
is the default setting.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features

Values Returned When ECHODATA is False
The values described in Table B.4 are generated by PayPal (or the cardholder’s issuing bank)
to provide status information for the transaction. The values are described in Table B.4. All
values are also stored in the PayPal database.
TABLE B.4

Transaction responses

Field

Description/Format

AUTHCODE

For Authorization and Sale credit card transactions, transactions approved by
the issuing bank receive this bank authorization code.

AVSDATA

Returns a three-character response (for example, YNY). The characters are
defined as follows:
AVS Street Match: Y (match), N (no match) or X (service not supported or not
completed)
AVS ZIP Match: Y (match), N (no match) or X (service unavailable or not
completed).
AVS OR Operation: Compares the AVS Street and AVS ZIP values. If either
or both values are Y, then the AVS OR Operation value is set to Y. Otherwise,
the AVS OR Operation field is set to N.

HOSTCODE

HOSTCODE is returned only for TeleCheck transactions. For details on the
values returned by this response parameter, see “Testing TeleCheck
Transactions” on page 32.

PNREF

Payment Network Reference ID (PNREF), a number generated by PayPal that
uniquely identifies the transaction. You can use this identifier to refer to the
original transaction when performing credit, void, or delayed capture
transactions from PayPal Manager.
This value is displayed on PayPal Manager reports as Transaction ID, on the
Receipt page as Order ID, and appears in email receipts to both merchant and
customer.

RESPMSG

The response message returned with the transaction RESULT code. Exact
wording of the RESPMSG varies. Sometimes a colon will appear after the
initial RESPMSG followed by a more detailed description.
If you are using AVS or card security code checking, PayPal voids any
transactions for which the returned value does not meet your configured
criterion. For this Void transaction, the RESPMSG is AVSDECLINED or
CSCDECLINED and RESULT=0.

Max Length

N O T E : Be sure to look at the response message for your transaction. Even if

your result code is 0, your response message might say that the
transaction has failed.
RESULT

Payflow Link User’s Guide

The outcome of the attempted transaction. RESULT=0 indicates the transaction
was approved, any other number indicates a decline or error.

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features

Values Returned When ECHODATA is True
When ECHODATA=True, all values returned for ECHODATA=False are returned plus all
transaction data that was submitted for the transaction. Here is a list of all possible values
returned when ECHODATA=True. These parameters are described in the sections on
submitting transactions.
ADDRESS
ADDRESSTOSHIP
AMOUNT
AUTHCODE
AVSDATA
CITY
CITYTOSHIP
COUNTRY
COUNTRYCODE
CSCMATCH (Card Security Code match response. The cardholder’s bank returns
a Y, N, or X response on whether the submitted CSC matches the number on
file at the bank.
CUSTID
DESCRIPTION
EMAIL
EMAILTOSHIP
FAX
FAXTOSHIP
HOSTCODE (HOSTCODE is returned only for TeleCheck transactions. See
“Testing TeleCheck Transactions” on page 32.)
INVOICE
METHOD
NAME
NAMETOSHIP
PHONE
PHONETOSHIP
PNREF
PONUM
RESPMSG
RESULT
STATE
STATETOSHIP
TYPE
USER1 through USER10
ZIP
ZIPTOSHIP

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Parameters That Specify Payflow Link Operation

Parameters That Specify Payflow Link Operation
You can use the optional parameters listed in Table B.5 to specify Payflow Link operation.
TABLE B.5

Parameters used to configure Payflow Link

Field Name

Description

Valid Entries

ECHODATA

Controls the amount of data returned to your Web site when Payflow
Link is configured to return data to your Web site using the Post or
Silent Post feature.
See “Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features” on page 56.

True, False
True is the
default.

EMAILCUSTOMER

Specifies whether or not to notify the customer by email when a
successful transaction occurs. If not specified, defaults to the value set
on the PayPal Manager Payflow Link Confirmation page.
Specifying this value in a Payflow Link transaction overwrites the
information stored in the PayPal Manager Payflow Link Confirmation
page.

True, False

ORDERFORM

Controls whether the customer’s browser is redirected to the Payflow
Link Order form, on which the customer enters transaction
information.
ORDERFORM=True displays the form.
If you set ORDERFORM to False, then you must pass the transaction
parameter values listed in Table B.2, “Transaction data required for all
Payflow Link transactions on page 51.

True, False
True is the
default.

SHOWCONFIRM

Controls whether the Payflow Link Confirmation page is displayed to
the customer.
The Confirmation page enables the customer to confirm the transaction
information before submitting the transaction The page appears after
the customer submits the Order form.

True, False
True is the
default.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Submitting Transaction Data to the Payflow Link Server
Parameters That Specify Payflow Link Operation

Payflow Link User’s Guide

About the Confirmation Email
Messages
You have the option of sending order confirmation email messages to the customer, to
yourself, or to both. The messages resemble the examples in this appendix.

Example Customer Email Message
FIGURE C.1 Example customer email message

Payflow Link User’s Guide

About the Confirmation Email Messages
Example Merchant Email Message

Example Merchant Email Message
FIGURE C.2 Example merchant email message

Fields Returned in the Confirmation Email Message
N O T E : The confirmation email messages return only those values that were submitted with the

transaction.
The customer email message includes the header and footer text that you specified on the
PayPal Manager Payflow Link Confirmation page. The merchant email message includes the
identical transaction data without the header and footer text.
The messages can include values for the following Payflow Link parameters:

Payflow Link User’s Guide

About the Confirmation Email Messages
Fields Returned in the Confirmation Email Message

Transaction Information
INVOICE
SHIPAMOUNT
TAX
AMOUNT
CUSTID

Billing Information
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY
STATE
ZIP
PHONE
FAX
EMAIL

Shipping Information
NAMETOSHIP
ADDRESSTOSHIP
CITYTOSHIP
ZIPTOSHIP
COUNTRYCODE
PHONETOSHIP
FAXTOSHIP
EMAILTOSHIP

Additional Information
DESCRIPTION

Payflow Link User’s Guide

About the Confirmation Email Messages
Fields Returned in the Confirmation Email Message

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Payflow Link Transaction Types

Payflow Link supports the following transaction types:
TABLE D.1

Transaction types

Type
Code

Transaction
Name

Sale / Payment

Charges the specified amount against the account, and marks the transaction for
immediate funds transfer (capture) during the next settlement period. PayPal
performs settlement on a daily basis.

Authorization

A request to charge a cardholder. An Authorization reduces the cardholder’s
open-to-buy (credit card limit), but does not actually capture the funds. Merchants
who do not ship goods immediately should use this transaction type.
To actually charge the account and transfer the funds (settle the Authorization),
you submit a Delayed Capture transaction using PayPal Manager. If the
Authorization is not settled within a certain period (determined by the issuing
bank), it is deleted. The cardholder’s open-to-buy is typically cleared in 5 to 7
days.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Description

Payflow Link Transaction Types

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Using Payflow Link with other Applications
Can I use Payflow Link with my existing shopping cart?

If your existing shopping cart is pre-integrated with Payflow Link, follow the instructions for
integrating and configuring your cart for Payflow Link. Otherwise, integrating will require
extensive programming.
Will I be to able use Payflow Link with my current merchant account?

Currently Payflow Link is available for Internet merchant accounts processing through FDMS
Nashville. Contact your PayPal Sales Representative to verify merchant account compatibility.
Are there browser-specific issues that I need to be aware of when using
Payflow Link?

Yes. You must have Internet Explorer 3.0+ or Netscape 4.0+ in order to access the PayPal
administrative Web site. This will enable you to get started configuring the Payflow service to
meet your needs and run test transactions to ensure everything is working satisfactorily.

How Payflow Link Works
With Payflow Link do my customers leave my site when they enter their credit
card numbers?

Yes. Your customers will leave your Web site and will notice the URL change. They will be
connected to PayPal's secure order form and use it to enter their credit card numbers.
Do I need to know how to use HTML to integrate with Payflow Link?

Yes. You will need to understand some basic principles of HTML.
How do I perform a Delayed Capture transaction for an Authorization
transaction?

You perform delayed capture transactions using the PayPal Manager Perform Transactions
tab. Refer to PayPal Manager online help for details.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Using Payflow Link
Does Payflow Link allow me to customize the display of my order form?

Yes. The General Display Options of Payflow Link enables you to customize the appearance
of the order form the customers use to fill in their personal information.
When my customers are declined, can I program the button on the decline page
to bring them back to my Web site? Currently, it returns them to the order page.

No, the BACK button on the decline page cannot currently be programmed.
In Payflow Link Manager, I've entered my Web site URL in the Return URL Field.
But, when I get to the Approval page and hit the Return button, I receive an
error.

If you are simply linking to a Web site, or to a page on a Web site, make sure the Return
Process Method is set to LINK, not to Post.
I'm receiving all declines using your test numbers in test mode. I'm using an
amount less than $100 which should receive an approval. What's causing the
declines?

It could be your AVS setting in the Payflow Link Configuration Page on PayPal Manager. If
you set AVS to Medium or Full, all test transactions are declined in test mode. AVS does not
work in test mode.
How is data returned for Post and Silent Post?

The data is returned as name=value pairs separated by the & character. The data is a
combination of the results of your transaction request and the original transaction data that was
submitted. This example is a response to a credit card Sale transaction request:
&RESULT=0&AUTHCODE=010101&RESPMSG=Approved&AVSDATA=YNY&PNREF=V63F28770576&H
OSTCODE=&INVOICE=3452345&AMOUNT=117.03&METHOD=CC&TYPE=S&DESCRIPTION=1+felt+
hat%2C+Model+FC&CUSTID=NT1000&NAME=Nancy+Thompson&ADDRESS=1428+Elm+Street&C
ITY=Springwood&STATE=CA&ZIP=66666&COUNTRY=USA&PHONE=121-325-4253 . . .

The values are described in “Data Returned by the Post and Silent Post Features” on page 56.
Can I Post or Silent Post to a secured server?

Yes, but for Silent Post you must add port number 443 to the URL. For example:
https://www.hostname.com:443/silentpostscript.asp
This does not pertain to regular return Post.
Can I use my own gif or jpg image for the Submit button that links to PayPal?
The gray Submit button doesn't fit my page design.

Yes. You must write Javascript to accomplish this. You cannot change the button on the
PayPal-hosted forms, however.
I keep getting an error when I try to upload an image in the Payflow Link
Configuration Screen.

Make sure there are no spaces in the file name. Instead of logo image.gif it should read
logoimage.gif or logo_image.gif.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm using Silent Post to retrieve transaction information. I'm also using the AVS
security options in Manager. If the AVS information doesn't match, then
Payflow Link voids the transaction. However, my Silent Post script only
receives notification of the sale. I don't get a second silent post for the void.
How will I know which transactions are voided?

You can tell by the RESPMSG. You will need to have your script call on this variable. If
RESULT=0 and RESPMSG=AVSDECLINED, then that means the transaction was
successfully voided.
N O T E : Be sure to look at the response message for your transaction. Even if your result code is

0, your response message might say that the transaction has failed.
My order forms show I accept more cards than I actually do. How can I change
the forms to reflect only the cards I accept?

Contact Customer Service by email (payflow-support@paypal.com) and we will make the
change for you.
Does Payflow Link support International Characters?

Not officially. We have included text on our Payflow Link Order Forms discouraging the use
of International Characters. If you disable our forms, we encourage you to use similar text on
your site. We also encourage you to run test transactions using the characters that you expect
your customers to use to verify that you do not run into any issues.
I'm not getting the merchant confirmation email, even though I enabled it on
the Payflow Link Configuration page.

This is a problem for AOL email accounts. If you use the same AOL account in the EMAIL
FROM MERCHANT field and the EMAIL TO MERCHANT field, you most likely will not
get an email message. For some reason, AOL does not allow the same mail account in these
two fields. To get around this problem, either set up a new AOL mail account or use another
email account.

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Payflow Link User’s Guide

Index

Index
A

account
activating Payflow Link 25
Address Verification Service 42
authorization transaction type 65
AVS result codes 42
AVS, see Address Verification Service

live operation 25

check processing 29
communications errors 39
configuring
email messages 61
Payflow Link 11
Confirmation page 5
Credit Card Information page 4
credit cards
test transactions 20
credit cards supported 8

parameters
optional 52
required 49
Partner Manager
overview viii
Payflow Link
testing 19
Payflow parameters
RESULT 39
PayPal Manager viii
processors supported 9

O
optional fields 52
Order form 5

E
email
configuring 61

F
fields
optional 52
required 49

R
Receipt page 6
RESPMSG value 34
result codes
AVS 42
RESULT value 33
RESULT values
communication errors 39
Returned Data 54

G
going live
defined 25

I
integration
custom 17
minimum 15, 17

Payflow Link User’s Guide

S
sale/payment transaction type 65
supported
credit cards 8
processors 9
tender types 8

Index

T
TeleCheck transactions, testing 32
tender types supported 8
test transactions 20
testing
transactions, credit card 19
transactions, TeleCheck 32
testing Payflow Link 19
Transaction Process Mode 19
live 26
transaction processors 9
transaction response
RESPMSG parameter 34
RESULT parameter 33
transactions
authorization 65
required data 49
sale 65
testing credit card 19
testing TeleCheck 32
type codes 65
type code 65

Payflow Link User’s Guide

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