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How to do an authorization transaction, i.e. check weather a credit card is valid or not wtihout charging card and without creating customer

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jayasree

22 Mar, 2012 09:08 AM

How to do an authorization transaction, i.e. check weather a credit card is valid or not wtihout charging card and without creating customer

1. 1 Posted by adam on 22 Mar, 2012 03:10 PM

   

   Hi Jayasree,

   When CheddarGetter creates a customer, it automatically checks for a valid credit card. If the card is not valid, the customer is not created.

   Is there a case in which you would want to validate a credit card but not keep that person as a customer?

   Adam

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2. 2 Posted by jayasree on 26 Mar, 2012 03:31 AM

   

   Yes, want to validate a credit card but not keep that person as a customer.

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3. 3 Posted by adam on 26 Mar, 2012 03:42 PM

   

   We might be inclined to create some function that can do that, but we just need to understand the valid use case.

   Can you explain the reason why you would not want to create a customer if the card is valid?

   Thanks,
   Adam

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4. 4 Posted by spenn on 26 Mar, 2012 04:18 PM

   

   A use case which might be valid for us is a scenario where the first step on our side is performing a complex operation with a third party system which may fail. We only want to bill the user if it succeeds, but we also don't want to kick off the process unless we know that the card is valid.

   Since we are billing in advance, the current workflow will be something like:
   1) Subscribe the user and bill them.
   2) Kick off start up process.
   3) Check that service has started correctly.
   4) If it hasn't... retract payment, or keep payment until we've retried successfully.

   If step (1) could be a check that the card is valid and can be billed, then step (5) can be where we subscribe and bill the user and step (4) becomes much simpler.

   My understanding is that subscribing them first to a free plan would mean that their card would not be validated.

   I don't know whether that helps, or if there is a better way of doing this.

   Sam.

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5. 5 Posted by adam on 26 Mar, 2012 07:53 PM

   

   Hi Sam,

   I think there may be a better way of doing it.

   1. Subscribe user but do not bill immediately (set the plan to bill 1 year in future, or any time in future). This validates the card, email, etc. If all is well then...
   2. Kick off start up process
   3. Check that service has started
   4. When service starts successful (either first time or upon retries) then
   5. Execute the invoice with changeBillDate passed to bill the customer immediately (or any time you choose).

   This way, you keep all customers who have been validated, and don't mess with any who haven't.

   Adam

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6. Support Staff 6 Posted by Marc Guyer on 04 Apr, 2012 12:32 PM

   

   Hi guys -- Is it still a requirement for either of you to have a successful card validation which does not result in a new customer created?

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7. Support Staff 7 Posted by Marc Guyer on 12 Apr, 2012 05:15 PM

   

   Hi jayasree -- Just checking in. Do you have any questions about getting CheddarGetter setup?

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8. 8 Posted by spenn on 13 Apr, 2012 12:58 PM

   

   Hi Marc,

   Sorry for the delay, I've been away.

   I think that your work around will suffice if we need something like that.

   Thanks,
   Sam.

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9. Dean closed this discussion on 22 Jan, 2013 09:26 PM.