FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is the turn around time for FirstPay.Net to be integrated into my website?

A: 72 hours in most cases. This is, however, dependent upon the cooperation of the merchant's web designer and how quickly we can obtain the information necessary for installation.
Q: Does FirstPay.Net calculate shipping costs?

A: If using an existing shopping cart then, no, this information must be passed to the FirstPay.Net system as a sum total of the transaction.

If using the FirstPay.Net shopping cart and the merchant provides the pricing information, then yes.
Q: What is the difference between the Virtual Terminal and the e-commerce "consumer piece"?

A: Virtual Terminal is a web-based manual entry credit card transaction processing application. A merchant would use Virtual Terminal just like a traditional credit card terminal.

The consumer piece allows the cardholder to make a purchase online via the merchant's website.
Q: Does my web site have to been written in a certain language / format?

A: No, as long as the web server can process Perl scripts and pass through certain information such as ticket number, merchant number, and sale amount.
Q: Can several workstations at my business access the Virtual Terminal? If so, can it be at the same time?

A: Yes, to both questions.
Q: Will FirstPay.Net work with Macintosh?

A: Yes
Q: What if I need to add additional products / items to my shopping cart software? Who do I call?

A: Products can easily be added by the merchant themselves.
Q: What happens if the server goes down when the consumer is running a transaction?

A: First American has redundant web servers that ensure a continuous connection.

Q: What happens if the server goes down when I am running a transaction?

A: See above, but you could always view transactions on the Virtual Terminal as they are updated in real-time.

Q: How do you set up FirstPay.Net?

A: There is no installation once the merchant is approved. The web designer then integrates FirstPay.net into the merchant's website.

 

Q: Do you have to fill out a regular merchant application along with the FirstPay.Net Application?

A: Yes, the paperwork required includes the merchant application, New Account Entry form, Transaction Processing Agreement, Software License Agreement, Internet Addendum to Credit Policy, Setup Form, along with a voided check and payment for the Software Licensing Fee. Please refer to your representative.

 
Q: Can you run transactions not only online but at the place of business?

A: Yes, the merchant can enter transactions through the Virtual Terminal from the place of business.

 
Q: Can I look at the transactions that have been run?

A: Yes, transactions are posted in real-time. Transactions can be viewed on Virtual Terminal.

 
Q: My server isn't able to run Perl scripts, what can I do?

A: If your server is running NT 4.0 with IIS 4.0, the information on the following page can walk you through the set-up process: NT 4.0 Active Perl Set-Up

If your Apache web server isn't configured for Active Perl, click here.

Have another type of web server? Try the Perl Faq.

 

FirstPay.Net E-Commerce Specifications
In order to process transactions across the FirstPay.Net payment gateway the following fields / values must be posted to FirstPay.Net's active server script located at https://www.firstpay.net/vt/consumer_process.asp https://www.firstpay.net/vt/consumer_authenticate.asp:

  • merchant - The Visa/Mastercard merchant number assigned to each individual merchant. This is a 16 digit number starting with "415434…." char (16)
  • ticket - There needs to be a unique ticket number for each transaction. This can be an Identity field from a database on your end. This number is echoed back to you with the transaction results so you can track the transaction responses properly. varchar (10)
  • amount - The total dollar amount to be charged to the credit card. This amount needs to include any shipping, tax, handling, etc. money (2 decimal places)
  • url - This is the location of where you would like the transaction response to return to. · authenticator - The checksum number created during the "encode" method contained in auth.asp/auth.pl. This number will be regenerated again one the information is received and compared against the old to ensure data integrity.
  • card - The consumer's credit card number. varchar (20)
  • expdate - The card's expiration date. char (4) MMYY
  • cardname - The name as it is printed on the consumer's credit card. varchar (30)
  • address - The billing address of the consumer's credit card. char (20)
  • zip - The zip code of the credit card's billing address. varchar (10) Only the first 5 are necessary.
  • email - The consumer's e-mail address. (If they would like an e-mail confirmation of the transaction)

The "authenticator" is created by encoding the "merchant", "ticket", "amount", "url", and a "secret" merchant identifier located in the PerlScript. This script is provided and no modifications by the merchant are necessary. The transaction information (merchant, ticket, amount, url) needs to be passed to the authentication piece in the form of a query string. The authentication piece will then parse the information out, create the "authenticator", and then pass another query string (this time including the "authenticator") to the template page used to gather the consumers card information. Once the information is collected, all of the fields need to be passed to the FirstPay.Net active server script in the form of a post.

Once the FirstPay.Net script receives the information, it will process it and pass the response information back to the location indicated by the value of "url".

The specification information  is available in printer friendly Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf).
Click here to download the document
For more detailed information on FirstPay.Net™ please contact us with your comments or questions.