CCAvenue®: FAQ - Technical & Other Integration Details

What is CCAvenue?
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CCAvenue is a leading Payment Gateway Service Provider, authorized by Indian financial institutions, to appoint Sub Merchants. We accept and validate Internet payments via Credit Card, Debit Card, Net banking, ATM-cum-Debit Card, Digital and Mobile Wallets, Mobile Payment and Cash Card modes from the end customers in real-time. We provide a secure link between your website, various issuing institutions, acquiring Banks and the payment gateway providers.

Note:At present, CCAvenue offers these payment services, exclusively for websites owned by Indian entities only.

What does CCAvenue do? What are the types of interfaces offered by CCAvenue?

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CCAvenue provides complete, simple and secure online payment gateway services, with a real-time Credit Card, Debit Card, Net Banking, Digital and Mobile Wallet, Cash Card and Mobile Payment transaction validation process. This enables eCommerce websites to sell products and services online, and accept payments in real time.

CCAvenue offers two interfaces you can choose from:

	Variable Amount Interface
	Shopping Cart Interface

a) Variable Amount Interface:
If you have developed your shopping cart and you need CCAvenue.com exclusively for final amount authorization you can use Variable Amount Interface. Once the customer finishes shopping on your site, you forward the final amount to the CCAvenue 'secure server final payment check out' page. Your customer then selects his desired payment mode and enters his/her payment details and shipping information to complete the sale. The full transaction flow from your site to the CCAvenue site to the payment gateway is explained in detail through the following formats: - flash, demolink, livelink) & flowchart (below)

b) Shopping Cart Interface:
If you do not have a shopping cart developed yet or don't want to spend your precious resources on designing one, then this interface is just right for you. Use the readymade Shopping cart provided by CCAvenue; which can be customized to match the look and feel of your site. At the top of the shopping cart, simply put up your industry standard 468 x 68 banner, customize the background colour to match that of your website, add the links and give it a total look and feel same as your website.

On your site, list your product or services and insert an 'Add To Cart' button next to this list. We provide these buttons along with snippets of HTML code. Once your customer clicks on the 'Add to Cart' button, he is seamlessly taken to your customized Shopping Cart hosted on CCAvenue's secure server. Here, he has the option of paying up and finishing the transaction OR adding more items from your site. Customers can select products for purchase and add them to a virtual "Shopping Cart" on our secure server. When he has finished shopping, the customer clicks the 'Checkout' button, enters his/her Payment details and shipping information to complete the sale.

The full transaction flow from your site to the CCAvenue site to the payment gateway is explained in detail through the following formats: - flash demolink, livelink & flowchart (below).

What are the businesses that are not accepted by CCAvenue?
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*CCAvenue reserves all rights to approve or disapprove any merchant at its sole discretion.

Why CCAvenue?
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Founded in 2001, CCAvenue is the largest Payment Gateway in India today. It currently powers more than 85% of the e-commerce merchants in the country. CCAvenue offers the widest range of payment options which includes all the major Credit Cards, Net Banking options, Debit Cards, ATM PIN Debit Cards, Prepaid Instruments, and Bank EMI - a bouquet that enables customer choice. CCAvenue is empowered by its cutting edge, scalable IT platform and advanced technology that processes millions of transactions daily and has the capacity to process 10X more!

CCAvenue 'Smart Analytics' offers you a comprehensive statistical online report and a transparent view of all your transactions in real-time. CCAvenue transaction enhancing features includes 'CCAvenue PhonePay' (a Fully hosted, customized and ready-to-use IVRS), CCAvenue Invoice Payments, 'Mobile Checkout Page' which works with all mobile operating systems, 'CCAvenue In-built Advanced Shopping Cart', CCAvenue S.N.I.P. ( Social Network In-stream Payments), one of India's first genuine Social Commerce facilities, iFrame Integration and Smart Dynamic Routing.

Which payment options can my customers use?
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CCAvenue offers a huge bouquet of 200+ payment options including the major Credit Cards, Debit Cards (All MasterCard /Visa /Maestro /RuPay Cards), Amex EzeClick, Net Banking, Prepaid Instruments, and up to Multi Bank EMI options.

For a detailed list of our payment options,Click here

By when can I expect my CCAvenue account to get activated?
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Your account will be evaluated and activated within 1 hour of your registration.

* Terms & Conditions applicable as below:
- Registrations received from 9 AM to 6 PM (Monday to Saturday) will be activated in an hour.
- Registrations received post 6 PM on Weekdays, Sundays and Public Holidays will be evaluated on the next working day. Public holiday list
When can I start my online business?
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You can start your online business immediately after you are activated, irrespective of whether your website is live or not, but please ensure the below website compliance is taken into account for accepting online payments via website integration or through other modes as specified below.

On submission of your KYC documentation you can start receiving your payouts.

Website Compliance :
- Business Description - Online registration & Product/Service details with pricing structure,
- About Us & Contact Us - Explains what the company does
- Delivery and Shipping policy - T&C related to shipping & expected delivery timeframe
- Refund and Cancellation - Provides clear guidelines on how a return is handled
- Privacy and Terms & Conditions Policy - Describes how the company treats and protects customer's information
- Contact Information - Makes it easy for customers to get in touch with the merchant via different communication channels
If your website is live

Immediately start your integrations from the merchant admin panel and start your online business. For assistance you can write to us at service@ccavenue.com

You can use our additional features like Storefront, Invoicing and S.N.I.P (Social Network In-stream Payments)

You will be allocated payment options as approved. Net Banking payment options like HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak and Federal bank's is subject to bank approval

International cards will be allocated subject to bank approval

Payout will be released only after you have completed the KYC documentation process.

If your website is not live

For Web integration you can write to us at MerchantUnderwriting@ccavenue.com once your website is live.

You can start your online business only using our Storefront, Invoicing or S.N.I.P (Social Network In-stream Payments) features. Once your website is live, you can do other integrations as well.

You will be allocated with limited payment options as approved. For All payment options website should be live with all policies

International cards will be allocated subject to bank approval

If you have started your business using Storefront, Invoicing or S.N.I.P., your payout will be released only after you have completed the KYC documentation process.

Is it possible to sell my product and service in more than one currency?
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Yes, multi-currency payment processing is available with CCAvenue. We process transactions in 27 major foreign currencies, allowing merchants to target and sell at a global level.
What name will appear in my customer's Credit Card statement?
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Your customer's Credit Card statement will be billed as CCAvenue.com or Infibeam Avenues Limited. During the transaction and after successful payment, we make it amply evident to your customer (on the pay page and by a confirmation e-mail) that his Credit Card statement will reflect the charge with this name.

What is a Chargeback? What is CCAvenue's chargeback policy?

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A refund that is forced by the Card company, as requested or disputed by the cardholder is known as chargeback. Chargebacks usually occur due to fraudulent activity on the card (real or perceived) or due to the customer disputes with respect to faulty products or services or from other authorization issues.

As per the Card Network companies' rules, any online transaction can/may also be revoked or refuted by a customer to a Sub-Merchant via his card-issuing bank for the following reasons. This is normally allowable for up to 6 months from date of the transaction. However, in some cases, this period may extend even beyond 6 months depending on the policies of certain banks.

Chargeback Process:
Chargeback can be raised by the cardholder/s on any of the mentioned reasons in the list of chargeback reasons and documentation. Merchants have to represent the case within 5 days of the date of transaction with signed proof of delivery (Mandatory)/customer acceptance mail/merchant explanation letter, etc. to defend the chargeback. Also, as per Visa/Mastercard rules, merchants have to preserve the proof of delivery at least for a year to deal with the chargeback/dispute.

Chargeback Process

The customer raises a chargeback by contacting his/her card issuing bank.
The card issuing bank forwards the chargeback request to the concerned acquiring bank.
The acquiring bank checks from which payment gateway the disputed transaction is performed, and then they forward the customer's chargeback request to CCAvenue.
CCAvenue checks the identity of the sub-merchant and informs them that their customer has raised a chargeback for the selected reason.
Once the chargeback intimation is received from the CCAvenue chargeback team, the merchant has to share the delivery proof with CCAvenue OR if the product is not delivered to the card member then the merchant has to accept the chargeback and need to inform CCAvenue within 5 days from the date of chargeback mail so CCAvenue can forward supporting documents provided by the sub-merchant to the acquiring bank The sub-merchant can directly call/send mail to the customer who has raised a chargeback to understand the actual reason of chargeback If the card member recognized the transaction and is willing to withdraw the chargeback then the merchant has to collect chargeback withdrawal mail from the customer So, the same mail will be forwarded to the bank which will help the sub-merchant to close the chargeback on priority
CCAvenue has to forward the invoice copy with supporting documents provided by the merchant to the acquiring bank within TAT.
Acquiring bank forwards the same details to the customer's card issuing bank. The customer's bank reviews the documents carefully and takes the decisions accordingly.
If the documents are sufficient to decline the customer's claim then the card issuing bank closes the chargeback in the merchant's favor and re-bills the card member. OR, if the requested documents are not submitted within stipulated timeframe then bank may close the chargeback in the customer's favor with a permanent debit to the sub-merchant.

Pre-arb/Second chargeback is raised by the customer within 45-50 days of the chargeback represented. Resolution on chargeback case arrives within 75-120 days of the date of chargeback, which may not be lesser than the mentioned time but gets extended to 120-180 days in rare crucial cases. Additional documents like customer authorization letter/mail, customer acceptance letter are requested by the bank if the provided documents do not suffice their requirements or are insufficient.

Chargeback received will reflect as "Dispute" in the CCAvenue platform, which when represented and declared in Merchant Favor within the stated timeline will reflect as "Closed", and if lost due to no representment or acceptance by the merchant, it will reflect as "Chargeback" that is permanent debit of the chargeback amount, which cannot be retained/reversed.

Additionally, it is mandatory to build an "I Accept policy" on the Checkout page of the Merchant website and this policy should cover all the Terms & Conditions and Refund & Cancellation policies of the services/products being purchased. It should be built in such a way that after scroll down on the small screen of this policy, the "TICK" option should work. This is required to prevent chargebacks for reasons including - credit is due/defective goods/goods not as described/service not rendered. This policy is a mandatory requirement of the Associations (Visa/Mastercard).

Reasons for Chargeback:

According to the customer, he/she paid by other means
This is copy request received from acquiring bank
According to the customer, he/she has not received the service ordered
According to the customer, he/she did not engage in this transaction, did not purchase anything via CCAvenue, and did not authorize this transaction
Refunded Order
According to the customer, the merchandise received were either defective, damaged, or not as advertised
According to the customer, he/she has not received the merchandise ordered
According to the customer, the transaction amount differs
Cancelled Order
According to the customer, he/she is not in possession of the card
According to the customer, they returned the merchandise, or that you agreed to issue a refund on this order
This is a fraud investigation received from acquiring bank
According to the customer, he/she has been charged multiple charges for order nos.
Incorrect Currency or Transaction Code or Domestic Transaction Processing Violation

Reason of Chargeback: Documents required for chargeback by reason are as follows:

REASONS OF CHARGEBACK	DOCUMENTS REQUIRED
Credit Not Processed/Refund is Due	Transaction receipt, ME Letter, Terms & Conditions of transaction/Policy of cancellation
Duplicate Processing	Transaction receipt & Invoice/Proof Of Delivery (POD) for both cases
Transaction Not Recognized/No Authorization	Transaction receipt & Invoice/Bill copy, Customer acceptance mail/authorization letter/Transaction receipt signed by cardholder
Retrieval Request	Invoice copy and POD, Customer acceptance mail
Not As Described Or Defective Merchandise	Transaction receipt copy, Invoice/Bill, POD and ME explanation letter, Terms & Conditions of transaction/Policy of cancellation, Product features
Services Not Provided Or Merchandise Not Received	Transaction receipt, Invoice/Bill copy, Signed POD, Proof of receipt

Credit Not Processed/Refund is Due
Documents required: Transaction receipt, ME Letter, Terms & Conditions of transaction/Policy of cancellation

Duplicate Processing:
Documents required:Transaction receipt & Invoice/Proof Of Delivery (POD) for both cases

Transaction Not Recognized/No Authorization:
Documents required:Transaction receipt & Invoice/Bill copy, Customer acceptance mail/authorization letter/Transaction receipt signed by cardholder

Retrieval Request:
Documents required:Invoice copy and POD, Customer acceptance mail

Not As Described Or Defective Merchandise:
Documents required:Transaction receipt copy, Invoice/Bill, POD and ME explanation letter, Terms & Conditions of transaction/Policy of cancellation, Product features

Services Not Provided Or Merchandise Not Received:
Documents required:Transaction receipt, Invoice/Bill copy, Signed POD, Proof of receipt

How to control chargeback from the merchants' end:
The merchant has to deliver the goods or services as promised to the consumer.

For any reason, if a merchant is unable to deliver the services, then he/she has to refund the transaction using our MCPG panel. Merchant has 90 days to refund the transaction from the date of the transaction.

As per the merchant's service profile, they need to set velocity check to avoid fraudulent transactions.

If any order is marked as high risk by risk management team and customer is not known to the merchant, then merchant has to follow the manual authorization process instead of taking the responsibility on highly suspicious transactions.

Merchant has to offer either chat support or email communication on their website. This allows customers to request information from merchants regarding their queries instead of directly contacting their card-issuing bank for raising a chargeback.

Suggested Risk/Precautionary Measures:
1. "I accept the transaction policy" statement on 'Merchant/s' payment page, as recommended by Visa/Mastercard.
2. Preserving proof of deliveries for one year as per rules by Visa/Mastercard.
3. Cancellation on fraud orders within 48 hours of the transaction time to prevent the fraud to transaction ratio as per rules by Visa/Mastercard.

CCAvenue's payment gateway service providers (ICICI Bank, Citibank, Axis Bank, SBI and American Express) have state-of-the-art fraud screening capabilities to reduce risks.

However, if any chargeback is reported by the cardholder, you (sub-merchant) will be liable to pay the amount back to CCAvenue or it will be adjusted with the current balance of your account with CCAvenue. You will be liable to refund the disputed amount to CCAvenue/cardholder. Please note that this practice is universal and is followed by all payment gateway service providers world over. CCAvenue also has an in-house team, which screens all the transactions. Please see the section on fraud reduction tips for more information.

The chargeback disputes are normally less than 0.01% of the total transactions in a year.
Basic Documents required from submerchant :
a)Sub-Merchant should keep complete proof of goods being shipped. This could be in the form of a Courier consignment note or signed receipt from the final consignee (POD).
b) The Sub-Merchant can prove that the customer was informed in advance about refunds/return of goods/replacement of faulty goods.

A CHARGEBACK CAN ONLY BE REVERSED IF THE CARDHOLDER FORMALLY INFORMS HIS/HER BANK OR CARD ISSUING INSTITUTION THAT HE/SHE WILL ACCEPT THE DISPUTED CHARGE.

What is "Authorise and Capture" facility? Why should merchants ship the products within 12 days and capture their order amounts from their CCAvenue account backend?
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Authorization is a process by which the amount is blocked in the Credit Card holder's Credit limit, i.e. the credit limit reduces by the Authorized amount. The period for which the amount can be blocked is 12 days. After which, if the transaction is not captured the amount is released to the customer's credit limit.

Capture is the process where the blocked amount is debited from the customer's credit card. Only after you capture the order will the debit be reflected in your customer's Credit Card statement and the order amount less the transaction discount will be credited to your CCAvenue® account statement.

It is advised that the merchant must ship the order within 12 days and capture the amounts from CCAvenue® MARS account. If the business model requires that you capture the amount before you actually ship the order and your customer is agreeable to the same, then you may do so. If you do not capture within 12 days, the transaction automatically evaporates from the payment gateway system on the 12th day and the Credit Card limit is restored to your customer's Credit Card. You cannot block your customer's card forever. If you want to cancel or make a partial capture within 12 days of the receipt of the order, then you are not liable to pay any cancellation charges on the cancelled amounts.

Before the introduction of this facility, merchants had to pay cancellation charges for orders they could not fulfil. The CCAvenue® system requires that you view the details of orders placed by your customers and capture the orders within 12 days so that the order amounts can be credited to your account.

Note: When the customer selects the net banking option for payment, the transaction amount is immediately debited from his account, in case of a successful transaction.

The steps to be followed 'To Capture an Order' are as outlined below:

STEP 1: Click on the 'Pending Orders' link.
STEP 2: Select the orders you wish to view the details of. Click the 'View Selected Orders' button.
STEP 3: Select the Delivery Mode from the dropdown menu of delivery options for each order that you capture. Enter the Delivery Details in the box provided and select the 'Shipped/Executed' radio button.
STEP 4: Click on the 'Update Orders' button.

CCAvenue recommends that you access the 'Pending Orders' section regularly (at least 4 times a day) and capture orders as orders are kept pending for only 12 days inclusive of the date of placement of the order. At the end of the 12th day, the order is automatically cancelled by the system.

Note: In case an order paid through Credit Cards is cancelled within the 12 day period of capture, the transaction charges will not be applied to that order. However, in case of transactions paid using the net banking option, the TDR will still be applicable as the cancellation of that order amounts to a refund.
What are CCAvenu's refund and end-customer dispute policies?
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CCAvenue maintains a customer-friendly refund policy. This keeps our administrative costs under control in two ways: First, it reduces the amount of time spent researching customer inquiries; and secondly, it reduces the occurrence of chargeback disputes. (A chargeback dispute is a refund that is forced by the customer's Credit Card company.)

Granting Refund to customer:-
In most situations when a customer asks for a refund, we want to try our best to grant that refund. Here are some guidelines on our refund and dispute policies:

The Seller sets a time limit: The sub-merchant is required to set the refund time limit on his/her site depending on the goods sold on his/her site. If a customer is dissatisfied with a product that he/she has ordered, the client should accept the product back and grant a refund. If desired, a client may specify that shipping charges are not refundable; however we would prefer to refund the shipping charges as well.
Can I cancel an order that I have received from my customer? Will I be liable to pay any cancellation fees?
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A Sub-Merchant can cancel an order without any Service fees being charged only as long as the order is cancelled in the window period (this period is fixed by CCAvenue as twelve days). If the sub merchant fails to either capture/cancel in the window period, transaction becomes invalid.

Note: This option is not available for payment by Direct Debit cards. In case of debit in ICICI net banking account, a refund will be made only if the order is cancelled within 10 days, from the date when the order is placed.

When is a successful transaction eligible for payment? What action is required by a sub-merchant to enable CCAvenue to process a scheduled payout? What payout schedule does CCAvenue currently follow?
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Transactions processed by Credit Card through CCAvenue are always presented to the sub-merchant in the "pending" mode. The sub-merchant is guaranteed that the customer's card is good/credit worthy for the amount of that transaction for the next 12 days. During this period of 12 days the sub-merchant has to perform any one of the following actions.

a) He may decide not to fulfil the order and mark it as cancelled.
b) After arriving at a consensus with the buyer decide to ship part of the ordered goods and claim only an amount equal to the shipped order.
c) Ship all of the ordered goods and claim the entire value of the transaction.

If the sub-merchant is confident of shipping the goods after a period of 12 days (and has the agreement of the customer for this) he may go ahead and capture the amount, and subsequently ship the goods as per their agreement. Should the sub-merchant subsequently fail to do this and wish to refund the amount, depending upon the account type a transaction charge + taxes will have to be borne for the gateway usage. Once the capture/fulfilment process has been completed by the sub-merchant CCAvenue's accounts department will process all such "captures" undertaken till mid-night of Thursday and process payments to reach the sub-merchants' account by direct credit/office by an at par cheque on the following Monday.
What level of encryption does CCAvenue use?
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CCAvenue uses the latest version of TLS, a robust data security protocol that enables digital devices to communicate securely over the internet.

I received a letter from CCAvenue regarding 18% GST? What is this?
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The Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has levied a Goods & Services Tax of 18% on the value of taxable goods & services. As a result, the service tax of 15% (inclusive of 0.5% Swachh Bharat Cess + 0.5% Krishi Kalyan Cess) will be replaced with a GST of 18% on the Setup Fee, ASUC and TDR charged by CCAvenue. The GST thus collected will be deposited with the government and we will include this amount on the payout statements and invoices issued to you.
Why are you charging this to me and not absorbing it yourself?
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This tax has been levied by the government. As part of our services, CCAvenue will be deducting the charge from the amount payable to you and depositing it with the government.
Can I claim a refund from the authority?
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There are certain provisions in the legislation that may enable you to seek credit for taxes paid on certain services. However, we are not in a position to advise you on this issue. We suggest you consult a professional tax advisor who will be able to advise you appropriately based on your individual circumstances.
How will I get to know about the amount deducted?
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The amount of GST levied will be conveyed to you as a part of the periodic statements/invoices issued.
Is the amount deducted on each transaction or on a lump sum?
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The GST will be charged on every transaction.

Can I offer the products on my site with INR as well as USD pricing while maintaining a single CCAvenue account. If yes, should I use two different shopping cart links for this purpose?
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You may represent your product pricing in any number of currencies. Your customers can check-out on the CCAvenue payment option page using their desired currency, as we now allow our Merchants a Multi-Currency payment Gateway that supports 27 foreign currencies. And no, you do not have to create a separate shopping cart link for the various currencies.
With the exchange rate fluctuating on a daily basis, how can I ensure a comfortable deal for the customers and myself?
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No one can predict what exchange rate the end customer is going to get on his Credit Card bill, as this fluctuates by the minute. So to play safe, you must ensure that, no matter what happens, the end customer should not see any amount over US$10/- on his Credit Card billing statement. For this, you need to work with a benchmark.

Let's assume, the US$ rate today for INR is INR 48.50 = US$ 1. You should take a benchmark of INR 48.0 = US$ 1. Which means that even if the clients' bank is actually using the exchange rate INR is INR 48.50 = US$1, the client will only be billed US$9.89; as against US$10/- which he agreed to pay you. (This is arrived at by US$10 x 48.0 = INR 480/48.5 = 9.89) To ensure the best deal for both you and the customer, you will have to regularly monitor the INR >< US$ rate of exchange, and maintain an optimum difference parameter. While small corrections in the exchange rate do not affect your customer's price negatively, you must also be careful not to underprice yourself on the exchange rate too much. Do upwardly revise your INR calculation if there is a huge jump in the exchange rates, so that this jump can add to your profitability.

How can I check the amount payable to me by CCAvenue?
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To confirm your current balance payable, log in to your CCAvenue.com account by using your user name and password. You can check the amount payable to you on the screen that follows, click "View Account Statement" option.
Do I have to maintain any minimum balance in my CCAvenue.com Account?
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Yes, just as you are required to maintain a minimum amount in your savings account in a nationalized bank; you (sub-merchant) need to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 1000/- in your online CCAvenue.com Account.(Please refer the clause of 17 in the agreement.)
How often will I receive my payouts?
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CCAvenue settles payments on a weekly basis or as per the terms in your agreement. CCAvenue will remit all amounts over & above of Rs. 1000/- according to our weekly payment basis. That is, for the transactions shipped/executed by you until the Wednesday midnight cut-off, you will receive the payout settlement in the bank on Friday.
What is the procedure to change my business filing status or Legal Entity Name and Promoter Details?
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Please send a request to: compliance@ccavenue.com along with the documents as per your changed business filing status Click Here
What is the procedure to change my registered website URL/services?
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Please send a request to: MerchantUnderwriting@ccavenue.com along with the 'Change URL Letter' - (Click Here) on your company letter head signed and stamped by the Authorized Signatory.
Is it possible to change my bank account details while retaining the same Pay to name mentioned in the existing agreement?
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Yes. Please send a request to compliance@ccavenue.com along with the 'Change Bank Details Letter' (Click Here) on your company letter head signed and stamped by the Authorized Signatory along with a cancelled cheque.

For any other queries with regards to the documentation and account updation, please send a request to compliance@ccavenue.com along with the details to be changed. The additional procedures/ requirements, if any will be intimated to you. Please quote your website URL while communicating with us, to help us serve you better.