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Authorize.net, GSA SmartPay cards and Magento

I'm not sure I'm posting this in the right place, but since I have a question that involves both Authorize.net AND Magento, I figured I'd start here to make sure my basic thinking and understanding about Authorize.net and GSA cards were correct before I tried digging into the Magento specific details.  (I should also mention my experience with Magento is less than one year, so I have no illusions that I still have much to learn.)

 

My client wants to accept GSA SmartPay cards through their Magento-powered website, in addition to regular credit cards.  From everything I've read about the GSA cards, I shouldn't need to make a custom payment method to handle them differently as far as the payment processing piece goes . . . because unless I'm missing something it's just like any other credit card in terms of being accepted by Authorize.net.  They'll handle it just like any other credit card, right?

 

(Please set me straight if the above assumption is incorrect.  Am I being naive and just don't understand that transactions involving GSA SmartPay cards need are somehow different as far as Authorize is concerned?)

 

So it seems to me it isn't so much a question of setting up a Custom Payment Gateway for GSA SmartPay cards, as it is putting safeguards in place to keep people with these cards from doing certain things during the checkout process  . . . like not allowing them to get charged for tax, or going above a certain monetary amount in their purchase, etc.  I'm thinking this should be handled at the User Role level-- ask them if they are eligible for GSA pricing when they register, and when they self-identify in order to take advantage of the cheaper GSA pricing, add them to a special role that gets GSA-specific rules.

 

I know, counting on the user to self-identify as a GSA card holder isn't 100% reliable.  But to my way of thinking, neither is counting on them to pick the correct payment method for their GSA card during checkout, so I'm not seeing any particular advantage with the payment method approach.

 

Or is the Custom Payment Method approach less about the handoff to the payment processor(s) in this particular case, and just a convenient "hook in" point in Magento to carry out the extra validations unique to GSA SmartPay cards?

 

Thank you for your time & help, in advance.

Imagine2014
Member
1 REPLY 1

Hello @Imagine2014 ,

 

I would recommend contacting the merchant service provider who is providing the merchant account for this project and discuss your questions with them.

 

Richard

RichardH
Administrator Administrator
Administrator