Accepting American Express
This document describes the procedure and requirements for passing Line Item Detail information to TransactDirect for American Express cards.
This requirement is deprecated if using the new Basket feature of TransactDirect
Before a merchant can begin to process American Express transactions they must have been issued with a Merchant ID from American Express and Monek must have completed the necessary set-up procedures for that Amex MID.
Implementation
In addition to the standard fields passed as part of a normal transaction, a number of extra fields are required for American Express transactions.
A transaction may consist of between one and six items, with optional information to describe tax or discount changes that have been made to the total value. A transaction must contain the quantity, description and gross value of at least one item.
The contents of the purchase detail fields are scrutinised by the card issuer to ensure that the card member's statement is detailed and meaningful enough to the card member to meet American Express standards.
Purchase Detail Fields
| Field Name | Description | Req'd | Size | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIDItem1Quantity | Quantity of item 1 | M | 3 max. | N |
| LIDItem1Description | Description of item 1 | M | 15 max. | A |
| LIDItem1GrossValue | Gross value of item 1 in minor currency units | M | 10 max. | N |
| LIDItem2Quantity | Quantity of item 2 | O | 3 max. | N |
| LIDItem2Description | Description of item 2 | O | 15 max. | A |
| LIDItem2GrossValue | Gross value of item 2 in minor currency units | O | 10 max. | N |
| LIDItem3Quantity | Quantity of item 3 | O | 3 max. | N |
| LIDItem3Description | Description of item 3 | O | 15 max. | A |
| LIDItem3GrossValue | Gross value of item 3 in minor currency units | O | 10 max. | N |
| LIDItem4Quantity | Quantity of item 4 | O | 3 max. | N |
| LIDItem4Description | Description of item 4 | O | 15 max. | A |
| LIDItem4GrossValue | Gross value of item 4 in minor currency units | O | 10 max. | N |
| LIDItem5Quantity | Quantity of item 5 | O | 3 max. | N |
| LIDItem5Description | Description of item 5 | O | 15 max. | A |
| LIDItem5GrossValue | Gross value of item 5 in minor currency units | O | 10 max. | N |
| LIDItem6Quantity | Quantity of item 6 | O | 3 max. | N |
| LIDItem6Description | Description of item 6 | O | 15 max. | A |
| LIDItem6GrossValue | Gross value of item 6 in minor currency units | O | 10 max. | N |
M = Mandatory, O = Optional, V = Variable Length, A = Alpha-Numeric, N = Numeric
Tax / Discount Fields
In addition, the following optional fields may be used to provide details of tax or discount changes to the total value. If used, either discount or tax value may be present, but not both. The description field must be provided if either the tax or discount value fields are used.
These fields appear on the American Express or Diners Club card member's statement, enabling them to view net tax and discount on items bought.
| Field Name | Description | Req'd | Size | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIDTaxValue | Value of tax change to total value in minor currency units. | O | 9 max. | N |
| LIDTaxDiscountDescription | Explanation of tax change to total value. | O | 20 max. | A |
Or
| Field Name | Description | Req'd | Size | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIDDiscountValue | Value of discount change to total value in minor currency units. | O | 9 max. | N |
| LIDTaxDiscountDescription | Explanation of discount change to total value. | O | 20 max. | A |
M = Mandatory, O = Optional, V = Variable Length, A = Alpha-Numeric, N = Numeric
Examples
The following examples show the additional fields that may be passed to the gateway to describe the Line Item Detail information.
A one item transaction with no tax or discount changes
| Field Name | Value |
|---|---|
| LIDItem1Quantity | 1 |
| LIDItem1Description | RING BINDER |
| LIDItem1GrossValue | 299 |
A one item transaction with tax changes
| Field Name | Value |
|---|---|
| LIDItem1Quantity | 1 |
| LIDItem1Description | RING BINDER |
| LIDItem1GrossValue | 299 |
| LIDTaxValue | 13 |
| LIDTaxDiscountDescription | TAX ADJUSTMENT |
A one item transaction with discount changes
| Field Name | Value |
|---|---|
| LIDItem1Quantity | 1 |
| LIDItem1Description | RING BINDER |
| LIDItem1GrossValue | 299 |
| LIDDiscountValue | 100 |
| LIDTaxDiscountDescription | MANAGER DISCOUNT |
A two item transaction with no tax or discount changes
| Field Name | Value |
|---|---|
| LIDItem1Quantity | 1 |
| LIDItem1Description | RING BINDER |
| LIDItem1GrossValue | 299 |
| LIDItem2Quantity | 2 |
| LIDItem2Description | STAPLER |
| LIDItem2GrossValue | 1598 |