Payment instructions
A payment instruction is the instance of a payment method with the details necessary to perform payment actions. For example, if a payment method name is credit card brand X, then the payment instruction consists of credit card brand X, plus the cardholder's name, billing address, account number, and expiration date.
Payment instructions for an order can be viewed in the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator through the Payments menu. Payment instructions for pending payments or refunds can also be viewed through the Payments menu.
When payment instructions are created in the system, the Payment Rules subcomponent determines what Payment Rules should apply to the instruction, based on the configuration of the payment method. The system also determines what payment system and therefore what payment plug-in should handle the instruction.
Payment instructions are used in order of their priority. The priorities guarantee that payment instructions with high priority are used before the ones with low priority. The sequence order, once defined, is used until the whole order is processed.
For example, suppose three payment instructions exist: one for the use of credit card brand X, one for credit card brand Y, and one for a check. The priority of credit cards is low. The priority of checks is medium. The sequence of payment instructions is established as follows:
- sequence = 1 for check
- sequence = 2 for credit card brand X
- sequence = 3 for credit card brand Y
Another possible configuration is:
- sequence = 1 for check
- sequence = 2 for credit card brand Y
- sequence = 3 for credit card brand X
There is no reason that payment method credit card brand Y would come before or after credit card brand X , because they have the same priority. When payment instructions have the same priority, they are used in the order they are received from the order system.
A refund instruction is very similar to a payment instruction; however, unlike an order which can have multiple payment instructions associated with it, a return merchandise authorization (RMA) can only have a single refund instruction. Refund rules are not configurable.
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