ČSOB Payment Button
Payment button offers a convenient payment for ČSOB bank customers. Contrary to the standard wire transfer, this payment method offers real-time payment guarantee (similar as cards) independent from the time of day or weekend. The merchant receives payment confirmation in the response from the payment gateway and can e.g. ship the goods immediately. Payment settlement follows then in the morning of the next bank day.
Compared to the mere provision of bank details for the payment of the order to the customer (typically account number and variable symbol), the payment button has another undeniable advantage - payment is initiated automatically and the customer does not have the opportunity to change payment details at all times (they cannot make a mistake in payment details).
Adding payment button support to your existing ČSOB eAPI implementation is very easy.
- The payment lifecycle is still the same.
- Transaction settlement and statements are identical for payment button and card transactions.
- If you prefer no implementation at all, your customers can still use payment button. We will offer them a selection of payment methods after they are redirected to the payment gateway.
- If you do not want to directly implement the payment button at your website, you do not have to do anything technically on the e-shop. All you have to do is activate the payment by a payment button by the bank (contact akceptacekaret@csob.cz) and your customers will be able to select a payment by the payment button at the payment gateway.
- The most convenient payment using the button is directly from your e-shop. Customers will "skip" the payment gateway and go directly to their internet banking to confirm the payment. For existing eAPI integrations - just use what you already have and add one new call (
button/init) as described in the API specification.
Your customer is redirected to the payment gateway (as for any other payment) and selects the button as the preferred payment method on the gateway. Clicking the payment button redirects the customer to the ČSOB Internet banking. Upon successful sign-in, the internet banking system allows only for one operation - confirmation of the payment. It is neither possible to change the payment data (except for adding e.g. a note), nor to perform any other actions in internet banking. Upon payment confirmation, the customer returns back to the payment gateway. Meanwhile, the payment is processed in the background and the merchant receives the result of the payment as soon as the customer returns to the shop. Should the payment fail (i.e. due to insufficient funds), we offer alternative payment methods on the gateway (instead of a direct return to the shop).
The customer logs in to electronic banking (using a username and password according to the rules of a specific system with confirmation by an SMS code or application ČSOB Smart key. After logging in, a pre-filled order opens directly to the customer. In this order the customer can change only unimportant data (e.g. they can write a note about the payment.) The customer signs the payment with an SMS code, chip card or application ČSOB Smart key and then it is automatically redirected back to the payment gateway. After evaluating the transaction, which takes a few seconds, the customer is redirected back to the e-shop. If the payment by the button fails, the customer remains at the payment gateway, where they can pay in another way (by payment card, Apple Pay, Google Pay).
Direct integration offers a faster and more convenient way to pay. The payment confirmation itself is the same as described above, however there is just one redirect - from the shop directly to the internet banking. The payment gateway is not visible for the customer, acting only as an intermediary and communicating only to the shop and banking backends. To use this direct link, you will need to implement new button/init API method (as described in the API specification). The necessary payment button assets ("button images") are available here.
Users of ČSOB Smart app have payment button payments a bit easier. When shopping on a smartphone or tablet, the transaction can be confirmed (authorised) by the customer in the ČSOB Smart application. Payment gateway recognises the mobile device and offers payment confirmation either in the Internet banking or in the ČSOB Smart app. The payment process for you (as an e-shop) doesn't change, the mobile payment process is fully managed by the gateway.
Payment button transactions are settled to your merchant account once a day, usually in the morning of the next bank day. Transactions will be included in one statement (alongside the credit card transactions). Pairing and internal reconciliation of payments in your e-shop can, therefore, use the very same logic for cards and payment button.
Refunds are settled to the current account used by the customer for the payment. You shall not transfer the refund back to the customer's account using a standard wire transfer - use the refund API function payment/refund, or initiate the refund manually in ČSOB POS Merchant system. Refunds work in the same way as for cards - you can send multiple refunds for one payment, however the sum of refunds may never exceed the value of the original payment.
We refer to the payment using the ČSOB payment button directly from the e-shop without being redirected to the payment gateway as pt@shop. After clicking on the payment button in the e-shop, the customer is redirected to ČSOB Internet banking. The customer then logs in to IB and confirms the payment. After that, they are redirected to the ČSOB payment gateway where the payment is completed, the result is displayed and afterwards redirected back to the merchant's e-shop.
For mobile devices, the behaviour described above is somewhat different: after clicking on the payment button, the customer is first redirected to the signpost at the payment gateway where they have the option to choose whether to use ČSOB Internet banking or to open ČSOB Smart mobile application.
The payment button is operated by three API operations:
| operation | description |
|---|---|
button/init |
obtaining parameters for redirection to ČSOB IB or to the signpost for choosing between ČSOB Smart application or ČSOB Internet banking |
Warning: authorised transactions with the payment button are automatically settled, it is not possible to call the operation payment/reverse, for return it is only possible to use the operation payment/refund.
In the relevant part of the html page of the e-shop, it is necessary to insert link to the ČSOB payment button. The example below show the linking of the Czech version of the ČSOB button in dimensions 160x36. A more detailed description is given in the article on branding of payment methods.
<a href="/my-eshop/payment-button-handler-csob">
<img src="https://platebnibrana.csob.cz/images/pay-csob-cz-160x36.png" alt="Okamžitá platba ČSOB">
</a>
The merchant implements the operation of clicking on the appropriate payment button on the e-shop side, in the example above it is the endpoint for GET /my-eshop/payment-button-handler-csob and the endpoint for GET /my-eshop/payment-button-handler-era.
The merchant calls the operation button/init - the merchant is responsible for compiling the necessary parameters, signing the request, sending the request to the payment gateway, then receiving the response, signature verification and redirect via the customer's browser.