Merchant Login

VirtueMart / Joomla!

Integration manual
Sofort

1. Introduction to ''Direct Bank Transfer''

Customers (end customers) do not have to register for 'Direct Bank Transfer'': They make a fast and easy payment using their online banking details. Thanks to real time acknowledgement of the transfer order, you as a merchant can immediately ship the goods or provide services. Furthermore, you can optionally offer buyer protection, providing additional security for your customers.

From your customer's perspective, a ''Direct Bank Transfer'' transaction consists of the following steps:

As soon as payment by 'Direct Bank Transfer'' is requested, the customer is redirected to a ''Direct Bank Transfer'' page.

Below the overview of the transfer data (recipient, reason, amount), your customer is requested to enter the sort code.

Subsequently, your customer is asked to log on by entering the online banking details.

After successful logon, the customer has to confirm and release the transfer by entering a valid confirmation code.

If a valid confirmation code has been entered, the transfer is authorized and your customer will receive a summary of the executed transaction.

Finally, the customer is redirected to your online shop with one click.

2. Integration steps

The following steps are required to integrate  SOFORT  in VirtueMart SOFORT  :

  1. Register as a merchant on our website https://www.sofort.com/register
  2. Create a new SOFORT project and configure it
  3. Install the SOFORT module in the shop
  4. Set up the SOFORT module in the administration backend of your shop

3. VirtueMart project setup

3.1. Registration at ''Direct Bank Transfer''

In order to be able to offer ''Direct Bank Transfer'' in your shop, a customer account with ''Direct Bank Transfer'' is required.

If you do not have such an account you may register at https://www.sofort.com/register.

After your registration, you have to be logged on in the merchant area and have to create a project for your system / online shop. If you do not use  ''Direct Bank Transfer'', you have to activate the desired product. Go to "My account > Product activation" in the left navigation bar.

3.2. Create new SOFORT project

To set up a project, click "New project" in the left column and create a SOFORT Gateway project. If you already us another SOFORT payment method in your shop, you may activate  VirtueMart in the project that already exists.

Attention: Please create a "SOFORT Gateway" project

Functions such as automatic refunds and buyer protection are only available if you provide a Deutsche Handelsbank account. You will have the possibility to apply for a Deutsche Handelsbank account during project setup.

Complete your project data now. The most important settings are:

General settings

  • Project name: Enter the name of your shop here.
  • Shop system: Select your shop system.
  • Industry: Select your industry.
  • Website: Enter the URL of your online shop.

Address

The address entered here will be displayed to your customer on our payment wizard.

Bank account information

Enter your bank information here for the receipt of payments. Please keep in mind that international transactions in other currencies require a corresponding currency account. After you have created the project, you may store additional bank information for foreign currencies (e.g. a Złoty currency account for transactions from Poland) in the "Extended settings".

Settings for all payment methods

Select your merchant profile first:

  • Merchant/Shop provider: Select this profile if you offer goods for sale.
  • Content provider: Select this profile if you offer digital goods (downloads, credits, etc.) or services for sale.

Automatic redirection: Please activate this option

Please do not change the other settings as they are determined by the module.

Buyer protection

If you have a Deutsche Handelsbank account, you may activate buyer protection. Your account must be activated for this feature; please check with Deutsche Handelsbank for this purpose. More information on Deutsche Handelsbank and buyer protection can be found at https://www.handelsbank.com/

Payment methods

Activate  VirtueMart here by enabling the checkbox.

  • Test mode: By activating this option, you can test VirtueMart . More information can be found in the "Testing" chapter. Test transactions and real transactions are possible in parallel. However, we recommend to deactivate the test mode for productive operation.
  • Block sender country: Leave this option disabled.

Configuration key

After you have created the project, you can view the configuration key in your project. Please store this key with your module.

Project logo

After you have created the project, you can upload a logo of your shop or company in the "Extended settings". This logo will be displayed on our payment wizard instead of the registered address.

4. Payment method activation

It is recommended to make a backup copy of your shop and database before you make any changes in your shop system.

As VirtueMart already integrates SOFORT  you only need to activate the payment method:

  1. Navigate in the VirtueMart shop backend to "Components > VirtueMart > Payment Methods".
  2. Click "New" in the icon bar and insert the text "SOFORT" as "Payment Name" (keep in mind that the name needs to be inserted for each language).
  3. Choose for "Published": "Yes".
  4. Choose "SOFORT" in the dropdown "Payment Method".
  5. Configure the position of the payment method for the payment method selection in the checkout at "List Order" (Default: 0).
  6. Click "Save" in the icon bar.
Modul Aktivierung VirtueMart/Joomla (SÜ)

5. Payment method configuration

After successful activation of the payment method the configuration follows:

  1. Open the Tab "Configuration" (in your backend at "Components > VirtueMart > Payment Methods > SOFORT").
  2. Insert the configuration key of your SOFORT  project at "Configuration key" (you can find this key in your project settings in the SOFORT merchant area).
  3. Click "Save" in the icon bar. Your shop is now ready to accept payments via SOFORT  .
Modul Konfiguration VirtueMart/Joomla (SÜ)

Integration of a logo for the payment method:

  1. You first need to download the current logos/banners from the SOFORT website: https://www.sofort.com/integrationCenter-eng-DE/werbemittel/
  2. Extract the ZIP-File and choose the desired images (we recommend the logos "100x38.png" or "200x75.png" or the banner "banner_300x100.png" that can be found in the respective language-specific folder)
  3. In your VirtueMart backend, go to Content, and then choose Media Manager from the list. You will see a list of images, and folders that are already in the Media manager.
  4. Select the folder stories, and then virtuemart, and then payment
  5. Go in the Upload files area, and click on Browse files
  6. Select on your computer the logo
  7. Press Start upload. The file will be transferred to the selected folder.
  8. Go to "Components > VirtueMart > Payment Methods > SOFORT > Configuration" and add the desired image at "Logos".

If you want to configure further settings you can use the fields described in the following:

  • Buyer protection activated: activate this option only if you use buyer protection with SOFORT. Otherwise, you must not offer buyer protection to your customers.
  • Order status: in the following dropdowns you define the order status in VirtueMart that is set according to the status at SOFORT.
    • For Pending transactions: is set if the payment via SOFORT  has not been finished yet.
    • For Received transactions: is set if the payment has been successful.
    • For Loss transactions: is set if the receipt of the money could not be determined (only for merchants with Deutsche Handelsbank account).
    • For Refunded transactions: is set if the payment has been prepared and consolidated for a (partial) refund at SOFORT.
  • Currencies: here you can configure the accepted currencies
    • Payment Currency: the currency that is used for the payment (default: Default Vendor Currency)
    • Email Currency: the currency that is used for the email (default: Vendor currency)
  • Restrictions:
    • Countries: select the countries in which you want to offer  SOFORT  (empty: no restriction) (default: empty)
    • Minimum Amount: minimum amount of a cart so that the customer can pay via SOFORT  . (default: empty)
    • Maximum Amount: maximum amount of a cart so that the customer can pay via SOFORT  . (default: empty)
    • Fee per transaction: fixed fee that a customer has to pay for the use of SOFORT  . (default: empty)
    • Percent of the total product amount: variable fee that a customer has to pay for the use of SOFORT  according to the amount of the cart. (default: leer)
    • Tax
  • Debug?: if activated, interface calls of the SOFORT  API will be logged. (default: no)

Information on orders, that have been payed with SOFORT  can be found in the order summary "Orders & Shoppers > Orders".

6. Testing

In order to check the correct integration in your shopsystem please perform a test transaction by placing an order directly in your shop. The single steps are:

  1. Activate the test mode in the desired project in the SOFORT merchant area.
  2. Place an order in your shop / system and choose SOFORT  as the payment method.
  3. In order to simulate German sender bank accounts use "88888888" (8x "8") on our payment form, for Belgium choose "Others" and "999" (3x "9") and for all other countries "00000" (5x "0") or select "Demo Bank". The following requested data can be chosen randomly with at least 4 digits. (Instead of the test bank code a country specific test BIC will shortly be available: "SFRT{ISO-country code}20XXX", e.g. "SFRTDE20XXX" for Germany)
  4. Please check if the redirect works properly:
    1. Redirect after successful payment to success page?
    2. Are all notifications sent properly?
    3. Order in your shopsystem is created correctly and status is updated accordingly?

Note: After successfully testing SOFORT please deactivate the test mode in the project settings in the SOFORT merchant area to prevent customers to simulate payments with the test data.

7. Support & Contact

The ''Direct Bank Transfer'' team will be available if you need help.

You may send us an email at service@sofort.com.

We are also glad to assist you in case of technical issues:

Technical support:
Phone: +49 (0)89 24 88 37 691
Email: integration@sofort.com

Business hours:
Monday to Thursday: 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

8. Legal Notice

SOFORT GmbH
Theresienhöhe 12
80339 Munich
Germany

Support for customers
Phone: +49 (0)89 24 88 37 690

Support for merchants
Phone: +49 (0)89 24 88 37 692

info@sofort.com
www.sofort.com

Directors

Felix Würtenberger
Wilhelmus Geerling Klaassen

External Data Protection Officer
Mr. Michael Schramm, LL.M. 
For privacy questions please contact us at: datenschutz@sofort.com

Registered at the District Court Munich
HRB 218675
VAT-ID: DE248376956

© SOFORT GmbH. All rights reserved, including the translation.

The documentation including all published content is protected by copyright. Reprints or reproduction of any kind and processing, duplication, and distribution using electronic systems of any kind shall only be permitted with prior written consent of SOFORT GmbH.

The contents of this documentation and the implementation of the information contained therein may only be used at your own risk. SOFORT GmbH assumes no responsibility for the function of individual programmes or of parts of them. In particular, SOFORT GmbH assumes no responsibility for possible damages resulting from the use.