This page explains how transactions work behind-the-scenes – what happens once the customer has completed their checkout session.
How payments are processed
3-D Secure (SCA)
- 3-D Secure is a protocol designed to reduce fraud and chargebacks during e-commerce transactions.
- Data from the payment session and the customer’s device is shared with the issuer to evaluate the level of risk.
- In most cases, payments are deemed low risk, and will be processed without prompting customers for authentication.
- If considered high risk, customers will be prompted to authenticate their identity before they can continue.
- Following authentication, in the event of a dispute, the issuer will usually take liability for the chargeback.
Click here to learn more about 3-D Secure.
Authorisation
- When a payment is processed, this is recorded in our system as an “AUTH” request (short for authorisation).
- The settle status is used to indicate the state of the transaction.
- When a payment has been authorised by the acquiring bank, the settle status will normally be set to “0”.
Pending settlement
- Following a successful authorisation, funds are reserved against the customer’s bank account until settlement.
- During this time, you can perform queries and updates using Portal or our Webservices API.
- Updates can only be performed when the settle status is “0” or “1”.
Completion
- Settlement typically occurs within 24 hours, but this can vary depending on the banks involved and payment method.
- Once settled, the funds will be transferred to your bank account. This updates the settle status to “100”.
- You can perform refunds by submitting a request using Portal or our Webservices API.
- For some payment types, the transaction may have status “10”, meaning settlement is in progress but not yet complete.
Handling errors
- If a transaction is cancelled or a failure occurs at any point in the process, the settle status is set to “3”.
- Further actions cannot be performed and the funds will be released back to the customer’s bank account.
- If you look at the error code, you can learn the reason for any unexpected failures.
View transactions using Portal
You can use Portal to view recent transactions processed on your Trust Payments account and perform management actions. Here’s how:
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Navigate to Portal in your web browser and sign in. From the left, click “Transactions“ to perform a search.
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Ensure the correct Site Reference is selected in the drop-down at the top of the page and adjust the date/time values as needed.
When you’re ready, click “Search“.
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All transactions processed on the selected site reference, from within the specified timeframe, will be displayed in a table on-screen.
You can click on a transaction reference to view more details about the selected transaction.
We recommend signing in to Portal regularly to stay up to date with transactions that are being processed on your site reference(s).
Stay in the loop
You can configure notifications to be sent to you whenever an AUTH is processed on your site reference using the Rule Manager.
Update transactions using Portal
When using Portal, there are certain actions that can be performed on recent transactions. Provided a payment has not yet been settled (not in settle status “100”), you can perform updates if needed by clicking the “Update” button and filling out the form presented to you.
Frequently-performed updates include:
- Updating the Settle amount to be a lower value than originally authorised.
- Updating the Settle due date to defer settlement until a later date.
- Updating the Settle status to “1” to override fraud or duplicate checks that may suspend the transaction if suspicious characteristics are identified.
- Updating the Settle status to “2” to temporarily suspend a transaction.
- Updating the Settle status to “3” to cancel a transaction (Caution: This step is final and cannot be reversed).
Processing a refund using Portal
After the funds have been settled into your bank account, you can use Portal to process a partial or full refund on a transaction. There are two methods to accomplish this:
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Enter the full transaction reference into the global search box found at the top of any page on Portal and click "Search". When you submit this, you will be taken to the relevant transaction details page.
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Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Refund”.
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Check the details displayed on-screen, and click “Refund” when you are ready to process the request.
You can lower the Amount value prior to submission in order to process a partial refund.
- Ensure a confirmation message is displayed, stating the request was processed successfully.
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Search for settled transactions using the Transaction search page.
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From the search results, tick the checkbox next to transactions that you would like to refund, and click “Refund” at the bottom of the page.
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You will be displayed information on the transactions that can be refunded. Check the details displayed on-screen, and click “Refund” when you are ready to process the request.
You can lower the Amount value prior to submission in order to process a partial refund.
- Ensure a confirmation message is displayed, stating the request was processed successfully.
Managing transactions using Webservices API
You can also configure your own system to interact directly with our API to perform back office administrative tasks, such as querying for latest information and processing updates. Click here to learn more.
