Control of payment processing in WebSphere Commerce
WebSphere Commerce provides software components that enable sellers to control how payments are processed in a store. The following software elements provide control over how payments are processed:
- Payment Rules subcomponent
- WebSphere Commerce Payments
- Payment plug-ins
- WebSphere Commerce Payments Cassettes for compatibility
To perform payment processing with the Order function, the Payment Rules subcomponent, WebSphere Commerce Payments, and a payment plug-in must be used.
The Payment Rules subcomponent defines what financial transactions should be executed during the processing of specific times in the life cycle of orders and returns. The definition is done through Payment Rules that take into account the payment methods and the payment back-end systems that process the financial transactions for the store. The Payment Rules subcomponent requires use of the WebSphere Commerce Payments and a payment plug-in.
The WebSphere Commerce Payments handles the execution of payment actions for Payment Rules and communication with the payment plug-ins responsible for processing the financial transactions. It serves as a lightweight solution for handling payments connectivity in WebSphere Commerce. WebSphere Commerce Payments provides persistency and encryption services to payment plug-ins, and, through a payment plug-in specification, also defines how WebSphere Commerce integrates with Payment Service Providers and other payment systems. WebSphere Commerce Payments requires the use of Payment Rules.
Payment plug-ins provide payment connectivity at a protocol level. A plug-in typically implements a single payment protocol. However, multiple payment protocols can be supported by the same payment plug-in. Payment plug-ins require the use of Payment Rules and WebSphere Commerce Payments.
Combined, the Payment Rules subcomponent, WebSphere Commerce Payments, and individual payment plug-ins provide the following benefits:
- Backward compatibility - Traditional payment cassettes can be used through a WebSphere Commerce payment cassette plug-in.
- Coexistence - Multiple plug-ins can be used to communicate with various payment back-end systems.
- Easy migration - Migration is made easier because there are no database tables that need to be migrated for a payment plug-in when new versions of payment plug-ins are provided, and payment plug-ins themselves do not use the type of cassette administrative or financial objects associated with the use of the WebSphere Commerce Payments framework. An exception to this is if you are migrating from WebSphere Commerce Payments to Orders and the use of the WebSphere Commerce Payments plug-in, where information must be migrated from the WebSphere Commerce Payments database to internal Payment Rules and WebSphere Commerce Payments tables. In addition, migration is made easier because there are no PSPL files (documents that define a payment cassette's Web page) to deal with if you are writing a plug-in.
The compatible implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments component and its associated payment cassettes (such as the OfflineCard cassette or the Cassette for VisaNet, for example) were the software components traditionally available for handling payments. After WebSphere Commerce version 5.6, the Payment Rules subcomponent, the new implementation WebSphere Commerce Payments, and payment plug-ins are introduced as an alternative to the compatible implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments. The traditional use of WebSphere Commerce Payments and payment cassettes is still supported, however. the compatible implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments does not require the use of Payment Rules, the new implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments, or payment plug-ins. Likewise, the Payment Rules subcomponent does not require the use of the compatible implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments.
A bridge from the new implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments to the new implementation of WebSphere Commerce Payments component is available in a plug-in called WebSphere Commerce Payments Cassette plug-in. The WebSphere Commerce Payments Cassette plug-in is provided with WebSphere Commerce to connect to the WebSphere Commerce Payments multipayment framework. The WebSphere Commerce Payments Cassette plug-in enables you to use the following payment cassettes while being able to take full advantage of the new features of WebSphere Commerce Payments and the orders function:
- Cassette for VisaNet
- Cassette for Paymentech
- Cassette for BankServACH
- CustomOffline cassette (This one is not suggested to be used, instead SimpleOffline plug-in is suggested)
- OfflineCard cassette (This one is not suggested to be used, instead SimpleOffline plug-in is suggested)
The WebSphere Commerce Payments Cassette plug-in can also be used with third-party cassettes, assuming proper configuration and implementation of cashier profiles. When considering options for handling offline transactions, you should consider using the SimpleOffline payment plug-in rather than the offline cassettes.
The primary focus of the alternative method of using WebSphere Commerce Payments and plug-ins is to define the interaction between WebSphere Commerce and payment service providers through generic, lightweight Java interfaces that handle payment actions. This approach enables sellers to have the means to authenticate buyers and reserve and capture funds, but enables them to focus on the core business of taking orders, managing order fulfillment, and processing returns rather than on the definition of payment interfaces that are more appropriately defined by payment service providers to achieve batch processing and payment administration results.
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