PayPal Checkout

Overview

PayPal Checkout is a payment system that you can use to accept online payments on your WildApricot website. You can use it for one-time payments as well as recurring payments.

After you've integrated a PayPal account with your WildApricot site, visitors to your site can pay online for membership fees, event registrations, and donations.

Important note: If you enable a payment system other than WildApricot Payments, such as PayPal, and your organization is based in the US or Canada, a 20% Payment System Servicing Fee will be applied to your account's billing plan on your next renewal date. 

Paying using PayPal Checkout

With PayPal Checkout as your payment system, your members and other contacts will be redirected to a PayPal site when they choose to pay online. They will have the option of paying by credit card, debit card, or using PayPal. 

After they have completed the payment, they will be returned to your WildApricot website.

Note: If you choose PayPal Checkout as your payment system, then members who want to use recurring payments for their membership fees or donations must do so using their PayPal account. Members cannot sign up for recurring payments using a credit card.

Setting up a PayPal account

To accept online payments using PayPal Checkout, you must have a PayPal account. You can set up your PayPal account during the integration process below, or you can sign up through PayPal's website.

• WildApricot recommends a PayPal Business or PayPal Enterprise account to ensure optimal performance of your account integration. Personal PayPal accounts do not permit full functionality when integrating with WildApricot.

Important Note: You must have a PayPal Business or PayPal Enterprise account, with reference transactions enabled, in order to process recurring payments with PayPal Checkout.

• PayPal must approve your account before they will enable reference transactions. WildApricot communicates with PayPal on your behalf to obtain approval for reference transactions when you connect PayPal as a payment system on your website. In the event that you experience difficulties with this process, you can also contact PayPal Customer Service directly.

Integrating your PayPal account with your WildApricot website

Follow these steps to integrate your PayPal account with your WildApricot website:

1. Select Settings from the sidebar menu in the Admin view of your WildApricot account.
2. In Global settings, select Payment settings.
3. On the WildApricot Payments screen, click the link for another payment gateway.
4. At the very top of the Payment settings screen, click Edit.
   
5. Select PayPal Checkout from the Payment system drop-down options, then click Connect to PayPal.
6. You will be redirected to PayPal, where you can authorize WildApricot to process payments with your PayPal account. Verify that the email address displayed is the one associated with your WildApricot account, then click Next.
7. Log in to (or create) your Business Account for PayPal. For help setting up your PayPal account, please see PayPal's Help Center.
8. After you've configured your PayPal account, click Go back to WildApricot.
9. Verify that PayPal Checkout is selected as the Payment system.
10. Review the settings for Default country and Currency and add any (optional) Payment instructions. The country and currency settings should match those in your PayPal account. Make any changes as needed, then click Save changes at the very top of the screen. 

Important note: Do not change the currency after your WildApricot website has already begun accepting online payments. If you change the currency, existing payment records will not be recalculated and will no longer display the correct amounts.

Disconnecting from PayPal Checkout

Note: Instructions for third-party payment systems are provided as a courtesy and may contain outdated information. For the most updated and accurate instructions, please consult PayPal's Help Center.

To disconnect your PayPal Checkout account from your WildApricot account, you will need to remove WildApricot from the list of connected providers in your settings on PayPal. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Log into your PayPal account, then click the API access option under Operations.
2. On the screen that appears, click the Manage API permission option. 
3. On the Manage permissions screen, check the WildApricot option, then click the Yes, revoke button to confirm.

Troubleshooting

Unable to process transactions

If you encounter problems using PayPal Checkout to process transactions on your WildApricot site, check the following:

• Verify that WildApricot is authorized to process payments for your PayPal account. To do this, check the list of connected providers in your PalPal account. In PayPal, navigate to API Access > Manage API Permissions. Make sure the box for Wild Apricot (WA_Marketplace) is checked. For more information, see PayPal's Help Center. 
• Contact PayPal support directly regarding possible issues with your PayPal account. 

IPN error notifications

If you receive an IPN error notification from PayPal, make sure that IPN is disabled within your PayPal account settings.

REFUSED_MARK_REF_TXN_NOT_ENABLED

If your members see this error message when they try to make a payment on your site, you need to contact PayPal support directly to enable reference transactions for your PayPal Business account.