Bluesnap

Your step by step guide to set up online payments with Bluesnap for your SchoolsBuddy portal.

BlueSnap is a global payments company offering an online and mobile checkout platform that gives you the power to process payments using a single system and supports 100+ currencies, 110 of the world’s preferred payment types and 29 languages. For more information you can visit their website: go to “Our platform” and visit “products” and “features”.

We chose BlueSnap as they offer seamless 24 hour onboarding with excellent responsive Merchant Support available via chat, email or phone. BlueSnap offer Credit/Debit card, SEPA & SOFORT, Paypal and Apple & GooglePay solutions plus many others. They also offer competitive rates and have education experience in terms of client applications and identification checks - offering a superior experience.

The commission rate will have been agreed with your SchoolsBuddy Sales Consultant and you will not pay any other/additional fees for using BlueSnap. If you visit the BlueSnap website - please ignore any comments regarding monthly/annual fees and minimum monthly processing amounts as this does not apply to SchoolsBuddy customers.

A great benefit is that BlueSnap takes on the PCI responsibility for SchoolsBuddy and their clients. The All-in-One Payment Platform is compliant with Level 1 PCI-DSS, the highest standard of PCI compliance. Schools processing payments with SchoolsBuddy on BlueSnap do not have to worry about PCI compliance, and SchoolsBuddy can be confident that every precaution is being taken to protect customer data.

 

There are 4 steps to BlueSnap Account creation:

1. Merchant Account Application 
2. Implementation 
3. Testing & Authentication 
4. Launch and get paid

Merchant Account Application

Complete the online application. Supply any documents required for KYC - you will be advised by email if any further information is required.

The BlueSnap underwriting team will review the application and then when approved, the BlueSnap and SchoolsBuddy teams need to complete the integration at both ends in the respective databases.

 

If the BlueSnap underwriting team requires further documentation they will contact you directly via email to ask for it and will then follow up. 

PLEASE NOTE: if BlueSnap ask for subsequent documentation and it is not provided this may affect payouts to you. You can use your BlueSnap account for taking payments as soon as it is set up i.e when you have a notification of your live account. However, if you have not fully completed all KYC criteria (e.g. you have not sent BlueSnap all the documentation required to complete the verification) you will “not be cleared for payout”. This means that although you may have funds due to you, you will not be paid to the account of your choice until this is resolved. 

 

SchoolsBuddy will then complete a test payment and confirm to you what payments are live and ready for processing. 

 

Test Account

Once you have completed your application BlueSnap will create your "Sandbox" (Test) account. You can if you wish use this for testing payments etc.

To log in to your Sandbox/test account - use this link - BlueSnap Test Account Login

Live Account

Once your account is fully set up BlueSnap will send you an automated email with the login information and you should always use your "Production" (Live) account. 

To log in to your Production/live account - use this link - BlueSnap Production/Live Account login

Once you are logged in, you will be able to tell which environment you are logged into. If you are logged into Sandbox it will show up on the left-hand side of your dashboard. 

Implementation - Payment API & Settings

BlueSnap Payment API has easy implementation and out-of-the-box global payment processing. It supports credit and debit card payments, ACH/ECP, SEPA Direct Debit, digital wallets, and Paypal. You can design your own checkout form and use BlueSnap  Hosted Payment Fields to securely capture your parents  data, or use our Embedded Checkout to streamline your development so you can start accepting payments quickly. We will not need to request your credentials from you - this will all be handled automatically by BlueSnap. 

Testing & Authentication 

Once your account has been approved we will be informed and will carry out a test payment and confirm success. 

Launch and get paid

Once all the KYC checks are complete and we have run a test payment you will be ready to take payments. You will need to add various settings before launch. 

NB: You can use your existing PayPal to integrate with BlueSnap see below for more details.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE - if you are moving to BlueSnap from another payment provider and BlueSnap will be your only provider you will need to cancel the account with the other provider - SchoolsBuddy cannot do this for you. We advise downloading any transaction history that you may need for reconciliation purposes before closing your account with your previous provider. 

 

Apply for Merchant Account with BlueSnap

The first step is to complete your merchant application so you can get your Merchant Account set up and get ready to receive payments. To begin the process for Online Payments you will receive an email from us with details on how to apply for a merchant account with our payment provider BlueSnap. Click on the link in the email we sent you to begin your application.

Initially you will create a sandbox account (test account). 

Choose the email address and user name you wish to sign up with.  Please note: Your user name cannot contain any spaces. Your password must include: Minimum 8 characters, Upper & lower case letters and at least one number. Depending on the browser you are using you may also be asked to verify images. 

Click Start in the Account Application box

Complete the requested details and click next. 

 

You will receive an email to verify your email address - click on the link to confirm and log in using your username and password. You will see the business details that you previously entered. Click continue to complete your “processing information”.

 

For non-profit / UK Government State schools select

1. Business Type = Non-profit and
2. Business Category = Education.

 

NB :

1. If you don’t have a VAT ID, you should enter any other business registration number or tax ID  you have, such as your DfE registration number, URN or Companies House registration number.
2. When you get to the text box for product/services description, for example, you could also enter:
   “xxxx Ltd" was started in August 2020 (e.g.) as a Non Profit, and as such is not required to be VAT registered.” 

Click Next to move to Ownership Info

Add Company ownership details if there is more than one owner (this is anyone who has more than a 25% share) simply fill in the information for them also - you will need their Passport Number and home address for this. 

If your application is for a State-Funded School you should use the designated account holder e.g. the Headteacher or School Business Manager and select “0” owners in the bottom left-hand corner.  

 

Click Next to move to Banking Info and click complete when done.

 

You will be taken back to the home screen where you will see that the Account Application option has now gone.

You will receive instructions regarding the next steps directly from BlueSnap to the email address you used to create the account. 

You may be asked for further information to complete your account set up (depending on your type of organisation):-

Implementation 

Application processing time - Using the onboarding API you will typically get a response within an hour with the status of the application. Often you will be able to process transactions while KYC (Know Your Customer) is verified. Verifying KYC depends on how quickly you can provide requested information/documents.

3DS Authentication is automatically enabled on your account set up.

Testing & Authentication 

As we have automatic integration via an API you do not need to supply any payment credentials to us. Once we have been informed that your account is live and ready to take payments we will carry out a test payment.

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) Compliance 

Anyone who accepts credit card payments must comply with PCI DSS rules. SchoolsBuddy (as part of the Faria Education Group) are PCI SAQ-A compliant and this covers any school/customer - you will not have to complete PCI Compliance separately.

Website Compliance

When using the BlueSnap hosted pages, the page will automatically display the required disclosures for each payment method. (ex. SEPA mandate or consent to store card for future purchases)

Launch & Get Paid  

Setting up your payout method

You need to choose which bank account to receive your payments. Once your payout method is set up, any future changes require an inquiry to Merchant Support.

Go to  Settings > Payout Method in the Merchant Console

Bank Account Country: Select the bank account country to which funds are sent.

Payment methods available are debit/credit cards, Mastercard/Visa.

Payment Reference: Customise the reference text that appears on your bank statement for BlueSnap deposits. If left blank, the text is the standard message (i.e., "BlueSnap Payment for Merchant {Merchant ID}"). Note: Payment Reference is not applicable to CAD payouts using EFT/ACH.

Minimal Payout Amount: This is the minimum amount for a payout. If any payout due is below the specified value, a payout is not created and the next payout includes the transactions that were not paid out. You can increase the minimum payout amount if necessary.

Note: The default value is 35.00 in USD for USD and for any currency not listed below. For the currencies listed below, the default value is specified in that currency.

• AUD, CAD, NZD, and SGD: 50.00
• CHF, EUR, and GBP: 35.00
• CZK: 800.00
• DKK: 250.00
• HKD, NOK, and SEK: 300.00
• HUF: 10,000.00
• JPY: 3,700.00
• PLN: 135.00

Please note: Weekly payout is the default - if you wish to change this you need to contact BlueSnap merchant support and quote your Merchant ID. Payout dates are based on business days. If the business day falls on a bank holiday, then the payout will be made the following business day.

Payout Methods by Region

• 7 days
• Payouts are made seven business days after the payment occurs.
• Payouts are made in CAD via domestic ACH, or in USD via international ACH. It normally takes 1–2 business days for funds to reach your account.

Refund Reserve

To process a refund in BlueSnap you will first need to set the refund reserve in your BlueSnap account. 

A reserve is account funds that are set aside (not paid out) to enable you to issue refunds even when your account balance is low. Your Refund Reserve balance accrues from sales, and once the amount is met, all additional funds are applied to your next payout. You may modify your Refund Reserve amount at any time. If you increase the amount, a portion of your available payout funds are held to increase the Refund Reserve balance to the newly defined amount. If you decrease the amount, the leftover balance is added to your next payout.

Note: If your Refund Reserve results in insufficient funds to generate a payout, you do not receive a payout and no payout notification is sent. You may need to contact the BlueSnap support team so you can fund your reserve account via a bank transfer.

Setting the reserve is very simple to do:-

• Login to your BlueSnap account
• Go to settings
• Select payout method
• Scroll down to Refund Reserve and set the value 
• Click submit on the bottom RHS

Please note  - refunds will take 3-5 working days to be returned to the payee

You might also find this link useful - https://support.bluesnap.com/docs/issuing-a-refund

There are no fees for refunds. Only 0.10 when a card is declined by the payer’s bank. 

There is also a fee for chargeback and rejected bank transfers. 

 

Declined Transactions - please note that these can take approximately 3 hours to be displayed in your BlueSnap portal -where you can download the Declined Transactions Report

 

Using PayPal with BlueSnap

To connect your existing Paypal account to your BlueSnap account please click here and follow the instructions. 

Support

BlueSnap Merchant Support - for help please click here or email merchants@BlueSnap.com and quote your Company Name and/or Merchant Account ID. You can also call  +1 866 312 7733 or +972 2 372 1234. Or use live chat from any BlueSnap production account.

FAQ’s

Please click here to visit BlueSnap’s Merchant FAQ portal