Overview
As a CardPointe merchant or ISV software provider, you might be interested in adding contactless and e-commerce payment methods to your business. This guide provides an overview of the various methods for integrating contactless and e-commerce payments.
What are "Contactless" Payments?
Contactless payments, also referred to as near-field contactless or NFC, are payments made by simply hovering or tapping an NFC-capable payment card or mobile device on the payment terminal or card reader. When the customer presents their payment method, the terminal receives the payment data wirelessly, as though the card is inserted or swiped, and the payment process completes normally.
Contactless payments are often much faster than swiped or inserted payments.
Even in a "contactless" payment flow, the customer may still need to interact with the terminal (for example if their card requires a signature confirmation, or if your terminal prompts the user to accept a sale amount or add gratuity).
How Can My Customers Make Contactless Payments?
There are two primary ways that your customers can make contactless payments:
- NFC-enabled credit and debit cards
Today, most card issuers (either banks or credit card companies) provide their customers with NFC-enabled credit and debit cards. NFC-enabled cards can be identified by a radio signal icon on the card.
- NFC-enabled mobile devices with stored payment data
Many mobile devices, including mobile phones and smartwatches, support contactless payments using stored payment information. The most popular technologies in this space are Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, and each enables users to store their payment data within the application on their device. Instead of presenting a physical payment card, the customer presents their device to the payment terminal.
Regardless of which method your customer chooses, the payment is processed just as though the customer presented their physical payment card.
How do I Accept Contactless Payments?
Depending on how you already accept payments, adding support for contactless payments can be quick and easy.
If you're an independent software vendor (ISV) or enterprise partner, you have several options for integrating contactless and e-Commerce payments with your solution.
If you're a CardPointe merchant, you can leverage recent updates to the CardPointe payment products to easily add support for contactless payments.
To support contactless payments, your merchant account must be boarded to one of the following processors:
- First Data North
- First Data Rapid Connect
- Paymentech Tampa
- TSYS Sierra
Contactless Payments for ISV and Enterprise
Our range of integrated payment solutions makes integrating contactless in-person and e-commerce payments simple.
CardPointe Integrated Terminal Solution
The CardPointe Integrated Terminal solution includes support for contactless NFC payments out of the box, with no additional development work required.
If you're currently using CardPointe Integrated Terminal to accept in-person payments, your customers can tap their NFC-enabled cards or mobile devices to take advantage of quick, P2PE-validated payments. If you're interested in integrating the CardPointe Integrated Terminal solution with your application, review the CardPointe Integrated Terminal API and reach out to integrationdelivery@cardconnect.com to get started.
CardPointe Mobile SDK Solution
The new CardPointe Mobile SDK solution includes support for both e-commerce, customer-facing applications and in-person payments using the new CardPointe Mobile SDK card reader device.
Support for contactless transactions using the CardPointe Mobile SDK device is coming soon.
The CardPointe Mobile SDK solution includes SDKs for Android and iOS, giving you the flexibility to develop applications for any use case and audience.
See the CardPointe Mobile SDKs overview for more detailed information on the CardPointe Mobile SDK solution.
To take advantage of the CardPointe Mobile SDK card reader device for contactless payments, you must integrate the latest version of the CardPointe Mobile SDKs, which include support for the device. Additionally, your merchant account must be boarded to the First Data Rapid Connect platform.
Apple Pay and Google PayTM for E-commerce Applications
The CardPointe Integrated Terminal and CardPointe Mobile SDK solutions include native support for in-person Apple Pay and Google Pay payments; however you can also integrate support for Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets with your e-commerce application. Adding support for Apple Pay and Google Pay wallets to your application or website allows customers to quickly and easily checkout using their payment details saved in their Apple Pay or Google Pay account.
See the Apple Pay Developer Guide and Google Pay Developer Guide for more information.
CardPointe Gateway API and the Hosted iFrame Tokenizer for Enterprise
If you are developing an e-commerce application or payment portal, you can integrate the Hosted iFrame Tokenizer to securely capture and tokenize your customers' payment card or bank account data, and the robust CardPointe Gateway API to process and manage payments, save customer profiles, and more.
See the CardPointe Gateway API and Hosted iFrame Tokenizer Developer Guide for detailed information on integrating these solutions.
Contactless Payments for CardPointe Merchants
The CardPointe product suite includes contactless payment options for every business case. If you're a current CardPointe merchant looking to add contactless support, or a new merchant looking to get started, see the following topics to help determine which solution is right for your business.
CardPointe Integrated Terminal
The new CardPointe Integrated Terminal models (Ingenico Desk 3500 and Desk 5000) introduce support for contactless payments out of the box, with no customization needed.
If you're currently using a previous model of the CardPointe Integrated Terminal (Ingenico iCT 220 or 250), you might need to upgrade your terminal to firmware version 2.2.4 or later to support contactless payments.
See the CardPointe Integrated Terminal User Guide for more information.
CardPointe Mobile
The latest version of the CardPointe Mobile app for iOS (v3.6) includes support for secure EMV payments using the new CardPointe Mobile reader, allowing you to take fast, secure payments to the customer.
See the CardPointe Mobile User's Guide for more information on the updated iOS app and new CardPointe Mobile device.
An updated version of CardPointe Mobile for Android is coming soon.
Support for contactless transactions using the CardPointe Mobile device is also coming soon.
Your merchant account must be boarded to the First Data Rapid Connect platform to take advantage of contactless payments using the CardPointe Mobile device.
CardPointe Hosted Payment Page
The CardPointe Hosted Payment Page (HPP) provides a simple, convenient way to begin accepting payments online. This can be perfect for adjusting your business model to allow customers to order and pay online rather than in person. The HPP is simple to design and integrate with your website, but allows additional customization to seamlessly blend with your branding.
See the CardPointe Hosted Payment Page User Guide for more information.
CardPointe Virtual Terminal
Every CardPointe merchant has access to the CardPointe Virtual Terminal, free of charge. The virtual terminal allows you to manually enter the customer's payment details. This allows you to accept payments over the phone, instead of requiring the customer to pay in-person. You can also securely save the customer's information in a customer profile to allow them to check out quickly and securely in the future.
Additionally, the CardPointe Virtual Terminal can connect to a CardPointe Integrated Terminal to accept in-person contactless payments using NFC-capable payment cards or devices.
See the CardPointe Virtual Terminal User Guide for more information.
Support
For more information, or for questions about upgrading your payment solutions, contact support.