HSBC CPI FoamCow integration working, BUT...

[-Jc.]

Hi Zenners!

We've recently gone live having got the foamcow and HSBC CPI integration code all working -after a bit of a struggle, so a big thanks to eveyone who's posted and contributed along the way.

One big question to enyone else who's using foamcow and HSBC CPI:

How are you ensuring that conrtol returns to your site after the payment is taken? We've had a customer who has reached the final HSBC page but then just closed the browser. We got paid, but there was no record of the order!

We have added some code that runs on the last checkout page before control passes to HSBC which saves the cart to a separate table so that we can get it back if we need to, but it's far from elegant.

Anyone done anything to fix this?

This is my first Zen Cart experience, so please be gentle -thanks!

-Jc.

[stevesh]

We used to have the same problem with Payflow Link, and never did figure out an answer. Ended up switching processors.

[icezippo]

good new, at least i saw you can use hsbc module in zencart now,
is it possible upload your fixed hsbc cpi module for us? i think alot people need it!

[kuroi]

This is a common problem with UK bank systems which tend to be first generation payment processors relying on customers manually acknowledging the completion of the transaction in order to return control to the Zen Cart. We've suffered from it also with Barclays ePDQ and also with the French ATOS system.

There is usually another message returned to the Zen Cart behind the scenes prior to this final return to confirm that the transaction has taken place. But this isn't always reliable and in any case is a sticky plaster type approach.

Our solution, similar to stevesh is to move clients to a more modern payment gateway. In the UK, Sagepay is extremely reliable, inexpensive and well-supported for Zen Cart.

[-Jc.]

Thanks, stevesh and kuroi - the client's slightly reluctant to use an intermediary, because of the extra cost per month/transaction, but we may end up having to go that way.

@icezippo:
I'm not sure I'd recommend the CPI as we have it. You just can't guarantee that control will ever come back to your site, meaning that customer payments can be made and you'll have no record of the order! Our little extra DB hack works, but it's not part of Zen Cart.

I'm going to have one last try with HSBC's support (who try to be helpful, but just don't have technical expertise) to see if we can open that 'back door'. It must be something to do with the two return urls: CpiDirectResultUrl and CpiReturnUrl.

I'll post the code in a couple of weeks, when we know if we can get around the problem.

[BeachBen]

Hi,

In exaclty the same position - got it all working but no orders in the database - any help would be greatly appreciated!

Ben