What is PayPal Pro Integration?
PayPal Pro integration allows you to securely charge credit cards and collect order form payments. PayPal handles all the credit card information, providing full PCI compliance.
Requirements
The PayPal Pro integration feature requires a Professional level Formsite account and a PayPal Pro account.
This integration processes payments, so your form needs Order Form Items with prices. But you don't need any items to collect credit card information — this will be handled by PayPal.
Create a New Payment Integration
The PayPal Pro integration supports two PayPal APIs: Payflow and Website Payments Pro. If you're not sure which one to use with your PayPal account, contact PayPal.
Payflow
On your form's "Payments" page, click the integration for "PayPal Pro". Then, set "API" to "Payflow" and enter your PayPal Manager credentials. Adjust the "Currency" and "Cards supported" settings to match your PayPal account. When you're finished, click the "Save" button.
Website Payments Pro
First, get your PayPal API credentials (API username, API password, and API signature) by following their instructions. Note your API credentials for the next step.
On your form's "Payments" page, click the integration for "PayPal Pro". Then, set "API" to "Website Payments Pro" and enter your API credentials. Adjust the "Currency" and "Cards supported" settings to match your PayPal account. When you're finished, click the "Save" button.
Recurring Billing (Subscriptions)
The recurring billing settings can be used to create recurring subscription charges with PayPal's Recurring Billing Service. The recurring charge amount can be either the order total from the form user or a predefined fixed amount. You can additionally charge a one-time fee, such as a setup fee.
When a form user submits a recurring payment, the one-time fee (if you've set one) will be charged immediately. Then, a recurring billing profile will be created inside your PayPal account for the recurring charges. The profile will continue until all the charges have been made or there's a billing failure. You can further manage recurring payment profiles inside your PayPal account.
Collecting PayPal Pro Payments
After a form user completes the last page of your form, they'll proceed to its payment page. Your form will securely collect the billing information and send it to PayPal for processing. For PCI compliance, Formsite doesn't store any of the credit card number information, it only sends it directly to PayPal.
Viewing PayPal Pro Results
On your form's "Results" page, you can view the status of each PayPal transaction in the Payment column. Each row will have a status icon and a "History" link for full transaction history.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Successful payment. |
 |
Successful payment, but with additional information. For example, a duplicate payment or refund. |
 |
Waiting for payment attempt. |
 |
Failed payment or unexpected error. |
Note: Your PayPal account is the final record of all payments and refunds. There shouldn't be a discrepancy between PayPal and Formsite, but if this situation arises, PayPal takes precedence.
PayPal Pro Common Error Messages
In some error situations, PayPal may show only an error code number or generic message.
- 10002: "Internal error."
- There was an unexpected problem on PayPal's end.
- 10008: "Security header is not valid."
- Verify your API credentials are correct.
For more information about PayPal's error messages, see their API Error Codes page.