This guide is provided as a technical resource for CCBill merchants. It is written for programmers, technicians, and other individuals with advanced programming skills.
The guide will outline the processes and procedures involved in configuring the CCBill Traffic Manager functionality. For a fast setup, refer to the Traffic Manager Quick Start Guide.
CCBill Traffic Manager uses cascading payment options to allow consumers additional options when the first payment attempt is declined. This functionality can incorporate multiple payment methods as well as payment processors. For example, if a transaction is declined when the consumer attempts to pay using a credit card with CCBill, the consumer can be presented with an option to pay using CCBill online check or a credit card through SegPay. These are only a few examples of the many different ways to configure Traffic Manager.
The goal of Traffic Manager is to increase sales opportunities for CCBill merchants. If limited payment options are given to consumers, they may be blocked from making a purchase on your site due to a declined transaction. Traffic Manager attempts to alleviate this issue by offering additional payment options while offering merchants the flexibility of using multiple payment processors to handle the transactions.
Each payment option is known as a Configuration, and multiple Configurations make up a Traffic Flow. Traffic Flows allow configurations to cascade to one another when a payment option is declined. Configurations and traffic flows are explained in later in this guide.
Access Traffic Manager using the following steps:
1. Log in to the CCBill Admin Portal at https://admin.ccbill.com.
2. Click the Account Info menu.
3. Click Account Admin.
4. Click the Traffic Manager link on the left. You will be taken to the Traffic Manager Start page.
The Traffic Manager Start page lists the components of Traffic Manager, each of which is explained in detail below.
This section discusses the creation, use, and maintenance of Price Points to be used within Traffic Manager. Price points are the pricing amounts that consumers will pay when making a purchase on your site. Price Points will be used in the creation of Configurations, explained later in this guide.
To create a new Price Point, click the Create New Price Point button on the Traffic Manager home page or click the Price Points tab at the top of the browser window. You will be taken to the price point creation screen.
Fill out the following fields on the form to create a Price Point:
Click the Save Price Point button to save your price point. When the save is complete, you will see a confirmation dialog box confirming the save. Click OK. You may now choose to create additional price points or continue configuring Traffic Manager.
Regional Pricing is a feature that allows you to utilize the international currency market to increase sales opportunities. Pricing values can be converted to different forms of currency at custom or pre-determined rates, allowing customized pricing options in the native currency of consumers. This also enables you to charge a flat base amount that stays consistent in all regions. For example:
Suppose that without using Regional Pricing, you charge $19.95 USD for a monthly subscription. A consumer from Europe views the signup form, is presented with the $19.95 USD pricing, and signs up. You earn $19.95 (gross) for that transaction.
Now, suppose that with Regional Pricing, you charge $19.95 USD monthly for all subscriptions that originate from countries that use the US dollar for their currency. You charge €19.95 to consumers that originate from European Union countries. When consumers from the US subscribe, you earn a gross total of $19.95 USD for that transaction. But when a consumer from the EU subscribes you earn a gross total of $22.32 USD (figure based on the currency exchange rate as of October, 2016).
Several different options are available for Regional Pricing currency conversion rates, explained in the following sections. Two setup modes are also available: Basic and Advanced.
Regional Pricing can be enabled in Basic Mode without going through Traffic Manager. From the Account Admin screen, simply click the Accept Regional Pricing button. This will automatically update your pricing options to reflect Regional Pricing using the CCBill Recommended currency conversion rates, explained in greater detail below. This is the only required step to enable Regional Pricing.
Optionally, you may choose to automatically update your rates when the CCBill Recommended rates are updated. To do this, click the Opt In box prior to clicking the Accept Regional Pricing button. You will see the Status field change to Enabled, signifying that Regional Pricing is enabled on the account. The CCBill Recommended rates are updated frequently.
If you choose to accept Regional Pricing but not Opt In for automatic updates, you will receive an email notifying you when the CCBill Recommended rates are updated. The email will also contain additional instructions on how to accept the new rates. If you prefer to keep the current rates and not accept the update, you may do so.
You may also view the result of the updated rates prior to accepting them. From the Account Admin page, select a pricing option from the drop-down menu. The table will update to show the new prices. Note that changes have not yet been made at this time. Changes will go into effect only after clicking the Accept Regional Pricing button.
Regional Pricing can be fine-tuned through Traffic Manager by using the Advanced Mode features. To begin, click the Regional Pricing tab from the Traffic Manager Start page.
After clicking the Regional Pricing tab from the Traffic Manager Start page, you will be taken to the Regional Pricing setup page.
In the Create Regional Pricing field, enter a name for your Regional Pricing profile. Profiles can be edited later by selecting them from the Edit Regional Pricing menu on this page.
Select a Base Currency and Price Point from the list. This will be the Price Point for which the advanced options are configured. You may also choose to apply a Blanket Rule Set that will affect all price points on the subaccount; this feature will be explained in an upcoming section.
After selecting a Price Point, the Initial Price section will appear for you to define currency conversion settings on the Initial Price. The tables that appear are organized as follows:
CCBill Recommended Rates are currency conversion rates recommended by CCBill. These rates are considered by CCBill to be stable in an ever-changing currency market. The table shows a flag representing each region’s currency, with the first row showing the equivalent conversion to the US dollar. The second row shows the inverse, meaning the equivalent US dollar value of a single unit of that region’s currency. Click the Apply button next to the CCBill Recommended Rates table header to apply the rates to the selected Price Point. This will enter the CCBill Recommended Rates into the Custom Conversion Price fields in the Regional Pricing table, explained in greater detail below.
Because the CCBill Recommended rates are updated on occasion, you can choose to automatically update your currency conversion rates whenever the CCBill Recommended rates are updated. To do so, return to the Account Admin screen, check the box to Opt In, and click Accept Regional Pricing. See the Basic Mode section above for more information.
If Regional Pricing is already enabled but you have not opted in for automatic updates and would like to do so, click Decline Regional Pricing. Once the Status has changed to Disabled, click Opt In, and then click the Accept Regional Pricing button. (Regional Pricing must be declined and re-accepted for the Opt In to take effect.)
Daily Dynamic Rates change dynamically throughout the day depending on the current state of the currency market. Values are updated automatically by CCBill as new rates become available. Click the Apply button next to the Daily Dynamic Rates table header to apply these rates to the selected Price Point.
Currency conversion rates can be customized by using the Regional Pricing table. The columns are organized as follows:
You may also choose to round values using the options at the top of the Regional Pricing table. Values can be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number, or the nearest value ending in .00, .95, or .99. This option is typically used to make prices look more familiar or aesthetically-pleasing on the form.
The same options are available for the Recurring Price section as the Initial Price section. You can enter custom values or click the Apply same settings as above check box to keep your settings consistent with the Initial Price.
This option is used to apply settings to all Price Points on an account. When the radio button is clicked, different sections will appear for each currency to be fine-tuned. The options work primarily the same way, with some subtle differences. In a Blanket Rule Set, options are set for each individual base currency, rather than just the base currency for a selected Price Point. Because Blanket Rule Sets apply to all Price Points, no individual Price Point will be selected.
In the Regional Pricing table, use the radio buttons in the Custom Conversion Metho field to set each form of currency to use the Daily Dynamic or Custom Conversion rate. Clicking the Apply button in the Daily Dynamic Rates table will apply that rate to each form of currency in that region, while clicking Apply in the CCBill Recommended table will apply those rates to the Custom Conversion setting. You may also enter a custom value in the box.
The Alert Values field applies to Daily Dynamic Rates. Because these values fluctuate, sudden drops in the value of a currency can potentially result in a substantial loss of revenue. Alert Values are used to alert you via email if a currency value changes to go above or below a specified threshold. Values are calculated by percentage.
To receive these alerts, click the left radio button and enter your preferred minimum and maximum percentages in the appropriate boxes. This will allow you to be alerted when a value increases or decreases by your specified percentage; for example, if you enter a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 10%, you will be alerted when the value of that currency decreases by 5% or increases by 10%. Note that when alerts are sent, no changes to your settings will be made; any desired updates must be made manually.
You may also choose not to receive alerts by clicking the Stop Alerts radio button.
Click the Save Regional Pricing button to save your changes. (You may also click the Reset button to undo the changes you have made.) When the save is complete, a confirmation dialog will appear. Click OK to continue and return to Regional Pricing. You can now continue setting up Traffic Manager.
For ease of reference, a currency conversion calculator is available at the bottom of the Regional Pricing page. Enter the amount in the field, select a currency to convert from, select a currency to convert to, and click the Go button. The new value will appear in the table. Note that using this tool will not cause any changes to be made to your Regional Pricing settings.
This section will discuss the use of Multi-Currency within Traffic Manger. Multi-Currency is a method of localizing payment options for consumers in various geographical regions of the world. This means displaying the payment form in the consumer’s local language and currency. Multi-Currency is optional and not required to use Traffic Manager, but is required to use Regional Pricing. Multi-Currency can, however, be used without Traffic Manager. For more information about using Multi-Currency outside Traffic Manager, please consult the ((Multi-Currency|Multi-Currency) page.
To use Multi-Currency within Traffic Manager, a Multi-Currency profile must be created; this profile will later be applied to Configurations. To begin, click the Multi-Currency tab at the top of the screen. This will take you to the Multi-Currency setup screen.
Enter a name for the profile in the Create field. You may optionally set the current profile to be the Subaccount Default by selecting the Yes option in that field. If No s selected, the profile can still be used, but must be selected manually when creating Configurations.
The Multi-Currency Display Options table shows which forms of currency are available to each geographical region. The first column, labeled Currency Regions, shows the applicable regions. Each row shows the currencies available for those regions. Forms of currency that are checked are available for that region.
To enable or disable a form of currency for that region, simply click the corresponding check box. Checked means the currency is available and unchecked means it is not. When the consumer views the payment form, only the enabled currencies for the consumer’s region will be available.
When finished, click the Save Multi-Currency button. When the save is complete, a dialog box will appear, confirming the save. Click OK to continue.You may edit your Multi-Currency options by selecting a profile from the list in the Edit field. You may also, at any time during the creation or editing process, restore your changes back to the previous saved settings by clicking the Reset button. No changes will be confirmed until the Save Multi-Currency button is clicked.
Configurations are the individual payment options available to consumers and form each step in the cascading traffic flow process. To begin, click the Configurations tab from the Traffic Manager Start page.
Click the Create New Configuration button to create a new Configuration. You will be taken to the Configuration setup screen. Several sections will need to be completed, as described below.
Fill in the following fields:
Next, you will need to create the form that consumers will use to make purchases using this configuration.
This section designs the form in which the consumer will enter payment information. This section is only shown when using CCBill as a processor; using other processors will use the default form configured on your account with that processor. To configure a form, make the following selections from each list:
Next, pricing options must be selected for the Configuration.
This section of the setup process defines which pricing options will be displayed on the form. Two pricing types are available:
Below the Pricing field, two lists are shown. The Available Pricing list shows each Price Point available under the selected pricing type, while the Selected Pricing list shows each Price Point that is currently showing on the form.
Click and drag Price Points from the Available list to the Selected list to add them to the form. Consumers will be able to select from each option shown in the Selected list.
At this time, you may optionally choose to create additional Price Points by clicking the Create New Pricing button. A window will appear for you to enter the new pricing information; when finished, click the Submit button in the popup window. The pricing option will appear in the list. Note that Price Points created this way will only appear when Standard Pricing is selected. If you would like to use Regional Pricing with this Price Point, you will need to configure that Price Point in the Regional Pricing section of Traffic Manager.
Select a Multi-Currency profile from the list. This profile was created in the Multi-Currency section of Traffic Manager. If you are using Regional Pricing, Multi-Currency must be used. If you intend to use Regional Pricing and have not yet created a Multi-Currency profile, you must do so before continuing.
Advanced Parameters are optional additional tracking parameters. These are used by merchants who wish to use additional tracking mechanisms. These values may be required by other processors, or optional to allow additional functionality. The value will be passed through to the processor’s tracking system whenever that particular Configuration is loaded, or comes up in the cascade. The value will still be passed even if the consumer chooses not to pay and closes the form. CCBill does not require the use of this feature, however, other processors may require additional parameters. If you are not sure whether or not you should use this feature, consult the company who will be processing the transaction.
To configure an Advanced Parameter, enter the following values:
Click the Add button to add the Advanced Parameter. You may edit a parameter by clicking the Edit button next to that parameter, or delete it by clicking the ‘X’
When finished creating the Configuration, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen. When the save is complete, a dialog box will appear to confirm the save. Click OK. You may now create additional Configurations by clicking the Create New Configuration button, if desired.
To begin using your Configurations, you must now set up a Traffic Flow.
A Traffic Flow is comprised of one or more Configurations, each cascading to the next when a consumer’s payment is declined. To begin, click the Traffic Flows tab from the Traffic Manager Start page.
Traffic Flows are created in a similar fashion as Configurations. Complete the following sections:
Next you will define which configurations will be used for the Traffic Flow.
This area allows you to define the cascade sequence of your Traffic Flow.
In this section, two lists are shown. The Available list shows each Configuration you have created, and the Selected list shows each Configuration currently used in the Traffic Flow (the Selected list will be empty when the Traffic Flow is first created).
Click and drag a Configuration from the Available list to the Selected list. You can change the order in which the Configurations cascade by dragging them up or down in the list. The cascade will begin with the Configuration at the top of the list and continue downward.
When finished creating the Traffic Flow, click the Save button. When the save is complete, a confirmation dialog will appear to confirm the save. Click OK. You now have the option of creating additional Traffic Flows by clicking the Create New Traffic Flow button, or implementing the one you just finished.
To implement a Traffic Flow on your site, you must first generate HTML code for the Traffic Flow.
Utilizing a Traffic Flow is as simple as pasting a line of HTML link code on your website. The code will appear in the Generate Code field once the Traffic Flow is saved, but you can also click the Generate Code button to get the code if the field is currently empty. Clicking the Copy Code button will copy the code directly to your computer’s clipboard. The code can now be pasted on your site.
The HTML code is an URL that takes the consumer to the payment form and can be used anywhere you would post a “Join” link. The following HTML would be one example of how to use the code:
<a href=”https://bill.ccbill.com/jpost/billingCascade.cgi?clientAccnum=900100&clientSubacc=0002&cascadeId=571” title=”Join Today!”>Join Today!</a>
Once the code has been placed on your site and the Traffic Flow’s Status has been set to Active, the Traffic Flow is enabled on your site. The rest of the process is handled automatically. Additionally, once the code is generated, you will never have to re-generate the code when changes are made to the Traffic Flow. Any changes you make will be handled automatically.
Traffic Flows can be edited at any time by returning to the Traffic Flows tab and clicking the Edit button next to the Traffic Flow you wish to modify. You may also create a Traffic Flow similar to an existing one by clicking the Copy button; this will create a new Traffic Flow identical to the one copied. The new Traffic Flow can then be changed and saved with a new name while keeping the original Traffic Flow intact.