Understanding Electronic Check Procedures

Understanding Electronic Check Procedures

The table below describes where you can perform the tasks available for checks.

Business Center

Simple Order API

Processing a debit

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Virtual Terminal. See Processing an Order with the Virtual Terminal.

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Hosted Order Page. See the Business Center Hosted Order Page User’s Guide.

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Payment Tokenization. See the CyberSource Payment Tokenization With the Business Center for CyberSource Essentials.

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Recurring Billing. See the CyberSource Recurring Billing With the Business Center for CyberSource Essentials.

For merchants with high volume. See the Business Center Simple Order API User’s Guide.

Processing a partial or total credit

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Follow-on credits from the Transaction Detail Page.

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Stand-alone credits in the Virtual Terminal.

For instructions, see the online help.

Standard follow-on and stand-alone credits for merchants with high volume

Reconciling transactions with the reports (and with your processor’s information) so that you know when to ship your orders

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Exportable Search Results

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Order Detail Report

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Payment Events Report if your processor is TeleCheck

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On-demand Order Detail Report with the Query API

For information on reports, see the Business Center Reporting User’s Guide.

The following steps occur when your customer places an order:

Step 1

Your customer places an order.

Step 2

You use CyberSource Electronic Check Services to request an electronic check debit. You provide CyberSource with the customer’s account information.

Step 3

CyberSource sends the customer’s account information and other information about the transaction to the check processor.

Step 4

The check processor validates the information and performs basic fraud screening.

All check processors validate a debit transaction before the money is deposited in your account. Validation consists of format tests, bank routing number tests, and a comparison with the check processing partner’s internal negative file. The processor does not contact the customer’s bank to verify the existence of the customer’s account; it only makes sure that the information provided by the customer is reasonable, and that the account is not a known source of fraud. Validation does not occur when you request a credit.


	Validation is different from authorization. Because the bank against which the check is drawn does not participate in the validation process, a transaction can be validated but later rejected by the bank if the account has insufficient funds or if the account number is invalid.

Depending on the processor that you use, if problems occur with the account that prevent the transaction from being completed, the processor may charge you a returned check fee.


	If you use the Paymentech verification feature, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires that you notify your customer when an electronic check transaction is declined as a result of the verification process.

Step 5

The payment processor sends a reply to CyberSource indicating whether the debit will be processed.

Step 6

CyberSource sends a reply to you.

Step 7

You display an appropriate message to your customer.

Step 8

The processor sends the request for clearing.

The processor processes the information through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system, which is a secure bank-controlled electronic funds transfer system.

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If the customer has sufficient funds to pay for the purchase, the money is deposited in your account generally within 2 to 3 business days.

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If the customer does not have sufficient funds, the processor re-presents the check for payment for the initial amount, along with a returned item fee of up to the maximum allowed in your state of residence. If, upon re-presentment, the customer still does not have enough funds to cover the purchase, you are notified. Under U.S. law, the customer is liable for the original amount, plus the returned item fees, which you or the processor may collect.

The method that you choose to process a credit in the Business Center depends on the time elapsed after the debit. Credits are discussed in Crediting Orders.

Account Reconciliation

When you request a debit or credit, CyberSource generates a unique transaction reference number that appears in the reply and in both your CyberSource reports and your payment processor’s reports. To reconcile the amount in your bank account with the orders you have processed, use this number and the reports available in the Business Center and from your bank or payment processor.