Paypal: Create account, customize, connect
with Ubercart, manage
PayPal is the most famous payment gateway and has obtained its reputation from
the high fraud detection and security level it provides. PayPal is ideal for medium
and large online shops, and can also accept PayPal users that handle credit card
charges internally. PayPal supports redirection with both PayPal Checkout and
web services, that is on site credit cards with PayPal Pro. The only constraint is that
PayPal Pro functionality needs a United States address and VAT number, so all of us
outside the USA cannot use it.
Furthermore, we will describe the process of setting up an account in PayPal and
configuring our online store to accept PayPal transactions step by step. If you already
have a PayPal account then go to PayPal account upgrade instructions directly and skip
the account set up instructions.
PayPal account setup instructions
Here we will set up a verified PayPal Business Account. Store owners who don't
have a PayPal account should follow these steps:
1. Go to PayPal at http://www.paypal.com.
2. Click on Sign Up.
3. Set up an account for business owners. Input your regional data and business
information. Do not forget that you should have a US-based address
associated with your credit card to go for the PayPal Pro services.
4. Follow the instructions on the PayPal site. At the end, choose a password
and two security questions for the account ownership claim. You should be
rather careful as PayPal has some strict fraud detection policies. Note down
the questions and answers you provide, to avoid headaches if one day you
lose your password and are forced to retrieve it. For those who do not have
e-mail access and security question answers, PayPal just closes the account
and sends only a balanced check.
PayPal account upgrade instructions
To upgrade your PayPal account, follow these steps:
1. Go to PayPal at http://www.paypal.com.
2 Click on Upgrade your Account link.
3. Click on the Upgrade now button.
4. Choose to upgrade to a Business Account and follow the instructions to
complete the upgrade. If you haven't already, add a bank account to become
a Verified member.
5. Follow the instructions on the PayPal site. This process is simple and PayPal
charges you with $1.5 that you will be refunded in your first transaction,
in order to provide you with a verification code. The total time to get the
transaction in your balance sheet may take two or three business days.
Therefore, it would be ideal if you have an e-banking account to monitor
your card transactions for the PayPal verification code. In the meantime you
can accept money with only the constraint that you cannot put it in a bank
account via a credit card. If your transactions exceed $750 per month then
PayPal will provide this money via check.
We have gone through an extend discussion about whether or not to accept credit
cards in our site. We will now continue and configure our online shop to accept
credit card numbers and perform the payment via PayPal's Pro web service.
Apply for Website Payments Pro
To apply for Website Payments Pro follow these steps:
1. Go to PayPal at http://www.paypal.com.
2. Click on the Merchant services tab.
3. Click on Website Payments Pro (U.S. Only).
4. Click on Sign Up now.
5. Fill in your information, and submit your application. Approval takes
between 24 and 48 hours.
6. Once approved, accept the Pro billing agreement. Check the Getting started
section on the upper left of your account overview page.
First-party authentication: Register API signature:
1. Log in to your PayPal account and click on the Profile sub-tab.
2. Click on the API Access link under the Account Information column.
3. Click on the Request API credentials link.
4. Select the API signature credential.
5. Browse to Home | Administer | Store administration | Configuration
| Payment settings | Payment gateways and fill in the API credentials
information in the PayPal Website Payments Pro settings section of
the page.

API credentials
API username:
API password:
Signature:

Your account is now set up. You should activate the security in order to be Payment
Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant. We will return to this
subject in Chapter 10, where we will discuss security issues.