PayPal APIs: Up and Running

Chapter 3. PayPal Website Payments Pro

PayPal’s Website Payments Pro allows you API access to two components: Express Checkout (covered in Chapter 2) and Direct Payment. Direct Payment allows you to accept debit and credit cards directly from your site. Direct Payment, unlike Express Pay, requires the buyer to enter payment, billing, and shipping information, and does not require the buyer to have a PayPal Account. In addition, Website Payments Pro accounts do not show up as “PayPal” on your customer’s credit card statements: your company’s name shows up instead.

Overview of Direct Payment

Direct Payment allows your customers to pay via credit or debit cards during your checkout flow. This gives the seller complete control over the buyer’s transaction experience. When a buyer chooses to pay with a credit or debit card, he enters his card number and other information directly on your site. This arrangement makes the seller/merchant responsible for maintaining the security of the transaction, rather than PayPal, and it is highly recommended that you provide the checkout experience under an SSL connection. After the buyer confirms his order and clicks the Pay button, you complete the transaction by invoking the DoDirectPayment API operation.

Direct Payment Workflow

Figure 3-1 shows the checkout workflow a user experiences with Direct Payment:

1. The buyer clicks the Checkout button on your website, provides shipping and billing information, and clicks Continue.

2. The buyer reviews the order for ...