Before you start
Please download the suggested API integration process flow document and use it as a reference when developing.
Kindly adhere to the Netcash brand guidelines when developing.
Programmers Guide
Refer to our Programmers guide for more detail on how to apply the required methodology in this document.
Ensure that the settings for developers are adhered to before you proceed with your implementation.
Web Service Methods
The list of Netcash web service methods can be found here.
Quick Start Guides
Quick Start Guides will help you understand this service and get you started.
Overview
The Netcash web service ‘NIWS_NIF’ sends batched files of previously settled Pay Now Credit Card transaction ID’s for refund. *see note
Data submitted in the file will be displayed on the Merchant site for authorisation by a user before they are submitted to the credit card switch for a refund
The service is asynchronous and requires polling or postback to retrieve the load report:
- BatchFileUpload (NIF file containing a list of transaction Ids and refund amounts)
- RequestFileUploadReport (Returns the result of the NIF file upload including any errors encountered while parsing the file)
Contact Netcash for more information.
Technical Information
NIWS_NIF is an asynchronous web service that exposes multiple methods. The method BatchFileUpload allows an external system to upload a batch file of transactions to be refunded.
Once you have built the file call:
Web service: https://ws.netcash.co.za/niws/niws_nif.svc
- Method: BatchFileUpload
- Service key: Pay Now service key
Input
Requests to the web service are sent as strings
Example:
public string BatchFileUpload(string ServiceKey, string File)
Output
Successful request
If the method call was successful and the file is being processed, the web service will return a file token which is used to retrieve the load report
Example:
20000000.2550236530.0483.2.2
Unsuccessful request
If the method call fails, the web service will return an error code:
Code |
Description |
100 |
Authentication failure. Ensure that the service key in the method call is correct |
102 |
Parameter error. One or more of the parameters in the string is incorrect |
200 |
General code exception. Please contact Netcash Technical Support. |
Input File Structure
Each file has the following mandatory records:
H – Header record identifies the upload and passes instructions to the Netcash server to determine the purpose of the file.
K – Key record must follow the header record. The key record describes the transaction records which follow. The format defined in the key record is used to validate the record structure and content.
T – Transaction records follow the key record. These fields must conform to the layout defined in the key.
F – Footer record must be the last record in the file and confirms that the file is complete.
Header record (H)
Every file must contain a header record, being the first record in the file.
Record Structure
Field | Name | Type | Value |
1 | Record Identifier | AN | H |
2 | Service Key | AN | Pay Now Service Key |
3 | Version | AN | 1 |
4 | Instruction | AN | Purpose of the file |
5 | Batch name | AN | Your identifier |
6 | Action date | N | CCYYMMDD |
7 | Software vendor key | AN | The key issued by Netcash to identify the software origin of transactions. (only used by Netcash ISV‘s else use the default value: 24ade73c-98cf-47b3-99be-cc7b867b3080) |
Field explanations
Field | Explanation |
Record Id | “H” – Identifies the record as a header |
Service key | Pay Now Service Key |
Version | “1” – This is the Netcash version of the file specification |
Instruction | CreditCardRefund |
Batch name | Use this field as an identifier of your batch. |
Action date | The date on which the payments are to be made to the beneficiary. |
Software vendor key | The key issued by Netcash to identify the software origin of transactions. (only used by Netcash ISV‘s else use the default value: 24ade73c-98cf-47b3-99be-cc7b867b3080) |
Example
H C74EF975-aa36-0000-XXXX-dcd68866XXXX 1 CreditCardRefund Refund batch 20201030 24ade73c-98cf-47b3-99be-cc7b867b3080
Key record (K)
- The key record is mandatory and must appear in the file between the header and transaction records.
- It defines the content, order and length of the transactions records in the file. It can be likened to the column headings in a spreadsheet.
- All the possible fields contained in the subsequent transaction records are listed, even if not every transaction record contains data in all the fields listed.
- It is good practice to list keys in ascending order to assist where debugging and support are required.
Example
K 270 162
Transaction record (T)
There must be at least one transaction record in the file.
The transaction records must conform to the order of the fields as described in the key record.
IMPORTANT:
- The transaction ID is the Netcash statement transaction ID of the original Pay Now transaction to be refunded.
- You may refund a partial amount or full amount value for the transaction, but the refund amount may not exceed the original transaction value on the Netcash Statement.
- ALL refunds submitted via NIWS_NIF will require manual authorisation by the user before the transaction/s will be processed.
Record structure
Field | Name | Type | Value |
270 | Transaction ID | N | Netcash statement transaction ID of the original Pay Now transaction to be refunded |
162 | Amount | N | The value of this refund (in cents). May not exceed the value of the original transaction |
Example
T 100235689 15000
Footer record (F)
The footer record indicates that the complete file has been received. It must be the last record in the file. If the record is not present, the system will fail the file without processing any transaction records.
Structure
Field |
Name |
Type |
Value |
1 |
Record Identifier |
AN |
F |
2 |
No of transactions |
N |
A count of the transaction records |
3 |
Sum of amounts |
N |
The sum of the amount fields (in cents) |
4 |
End-of-file indicator |
N |
9999 |
Field explanations
Field | Explanation |
Record Identifier | “F” – Identifies the record as a footer |
No of transactions | This is the count of all the ‘T’ records in the file. |
Sum of amounts | This is the sum of all the values in the 162 field. |
End-of-file indicator | ‘9999’ – Indicates there are no more records. |
Example
F 1 15000 9999
Example of input file
H C74EF975-aa36-0000-XXXX-dcd68866XXXX 1 CreditCardRefund Refund batch 20201030 24ade73c-98cf-47b3-99be-cc7b867b3080 K 270 162 T 100235689 15000 F 1 15000 9999
Example of string file (C#)
string fl = "H\C74EF975-aa36-0000-XXXX-dcd68866XXXX\t1\tCreditCardRefund\tRefund Batch\t20131204\t24ade73c-98cf-XXXX-XXXX-cc7b867b3080" + Environment.NewLine + "K\t270\t162" + Environment.NewLine + "T\t100235689\t15000" + Environment.NewLine + "F\t2\t15000\t9999"; string FileToken = BatchFileUpload("78e30d1e-aa36-0000-XXXX-dcd68866XXXX", fl);
See note regarding the processing of refunds
Retrieving the Load Report
Postback option
Where the postback option in your NetConnector profile is utilised, the load report is automatically posted back to the URL specified.
Polling option
You will need to request the load report using the file token received from the BatchFileUpload method call.
Using the file token, call:
- Web service: https://ws.netcash.co.za/NIWS/niws_nif.svc
- Method: RequestFileUploadReport
- Service key: Pay Now Service Key
Requests to the web service are sent as strings
Example:
Example public string RequestFileUploadReport(string ServiceKey,string FileToken) { // initialise client NIWS_NIF.NIWS_NIFClient client = new NIWS_NIF.NIWS_NIFClient(); // call the RequestFileUploadReport method equal to a string variable // the same service key used for the bactch file upload string Request = client.RequestFileUploadReport(ServiceKey, FileToken); // close client after response is received client.Close(); // use response to output to UI // service will respond with the result of the file uploaded return Request; }
Output file
File content
Only errors are reported in the file. If all the entries in the file are successfully validated, the Load report header will contain “SUCCESSFUL” and there will be no detail messages.
File structure
The report is tab delimited with a linefeed character as line terminator.
Load report header (occurs once at the start of each load report)
Field |
Name |
Type |
Value |
1 |
Record identifier |
AN8 |
###BEGIN |
2 |
Batch name |
AN |
{your batch name} |
3 |
Result of upload |
A13 |
SUCCESSFUL / UNSUCCESSFUL / SUCCESSFUL WITH ERRORS |
4 |
Start time of report |
AN8 |
HH:MM AM/PM |
5 |
Batch Value |
AN15 |
TOTAL OF BATCH |
6 |
Action Date |
AN8 |
CCYYMMDD |
Load report message (occurs multiple times – once per error record)
Field |
Name |
Type |
Value |
1 |
Unique reference |
AN25 |
The unique reference you supplied in (p2) |
2 |
Line number |
AN |
Line :{line in your file where error was found} |
3 |
Error message |
AN |
The error message |
OR |
|||
1 |
Record identifier |
AN8 |
###ERROR |
2 |
Error message |
AN |
The error message |
Load report trailer (occurs once – the last line in the report)
Field |
Name |
Type |
Value |
1 |
Record identifier |
AN6 |
###END |
2 |
End time of report |
AN8 |
HH:MM AM/PM |
Upload report example (successful):
###BEGIN MY TEST BATCH SUCCESSFUL 01:59 PM R1.00 20160410 ###END 01:59 PM
Upload report example (successful with errors):
###BEGIN MY TEST BATCH SUCCESSFUL WITH ERRORS 01:29 PM R1.00 20160410 Acc Ref :100235689 Line :3 Invalid Amount ###END 01:29 PM
Upload report example (unsuccessful):
###BEGIN MY TEST BATCH UNSUCCESSFUL 01:23 PM R1.00 20160410 ###ERROR: A system error occurred. Please contact Netcash R0.00 20160410 ###END 01:23 PM
Netcash brand guidelines
Please refer to the Netcash brand guidelines here when using any logos, images, icons, labels, descriptions, and references to Netcash in your software.
Testing
See Testing section for more details. If you require any integration assistance contact our technical support team