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Use the Import Customers page to import a list of Customers in .csv or .txt file formats.

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Info

If you are not already signed up for this feature, please get in touch with your Merchant Service Provider or PayTrace Support at Support@PayTrace.com.

MOST COMMON ISSUES

  1. Microsoft Excel is not designed to handle numbers greater than 15 digits in length. Credit card numbers are 16 digits (AmEx not included), so this will result in one or two things:

    1. Excel formats the number as Scientific Notation

    2. Excel drops the last digit and changes the second to last digit to 0.
      Example: '5454545454545454' becomes '545454545454540'

    3. Microsoft Excel removes leading zeros on any numeric input.
      Example: ZIP codes like 01339 will save as 1339, resulting in an Invalid ZIP error.

  2. Commas in ANY input will offset the .csv layout, shifting data to neighboring columns.
    Example: If a customer's name is "Michael James, Jr", the comma between "James" and "Jr" will be treated as a delimiter, as .csv is a comma-separated-values format.
    Example: If using the default template, this will shift "Jr" from “Billing Name” into the next column, "Billing Address", and shift everything else over one column as well.

TIPS

  • Use the template file available on the Help documentation for Import Customers.

  • Set the entire document to TEXT formatting for every cell.

  • Remove any commas from any cell. Use a space instead:
    Example: “Michael James, Jr” would become “Michael James Jr”

  • Save - but do not close! - the Excel file

  • Closing and reopening the file can cause Excel to interpret those credit card numbers, ZIP codes, and other number columns as NUMBER and revert to the problematic formatting the user would like to avoid.

  • Start small. Ten or so customer records in a single file until the user is comfortable with how Excel handles the data.

  • It is much easier to see what inputs are causing errors in a file of 10 records than in a file of 3,000. After successfully uploading a small file, the user can start importing larger files.

  • We do not recommend exceeding 2,000 customers in one file as it could take long enough to process the import on the back end that the user will be signed out for inactivity.

  • After running the import, even if errors are encountered, check “Delete Customers” in the Customers menu to see if any records were were imported in the last attempt.

How to Use This Page

  1. Select either Comma-delimited or Tab delimited for Data Delimiter. The file that is being uploaded must be in one of these formats.

  2. If the column positions in your file match the order of the Data Values listed, leave the Data Values in the order listed. If the column positions in your file are in a different order, change the Data Values to match the order in your file.

  3. Click the Choose File button.

  4. Navigate to and select your file.

  5. Click the Open button.

  6. Click the Upload button.


Detailed Help

Download the default customer import template

To download a customer template in .csv format to upload customers, click here.use the file below.

View file
nameDefault_Import_Template.zip

View the customer import data definitions

To View a .pdf file that lists the data definitions for each field, click here.

Data Definitions

Name

Description

Format

Length

Required

Customer_ID

Unique identifier for this customer. Each customer must have their own unique ID.

Alpha-numeric

1-25

YES

Customer_Password

Password that customer uses to log in to customer profile in shopping cart. Only required if you are using the PayTrace shopping cart.

Alpha-numeric 1

6-25

YES 2

Billing_Name

Name that appears on the credit card.

Alphabetic

1-50

YES

Billing_Address

Address that the credit card statement is delivered to.

Alpha-Numeric

1-50

NO

Billing_Address_2

Second line of the address the credit card statement is delivered to.

Alpha-Numeric

1-50

NO

Billing_City

City to which the credit card statement is delivered.

Alphabetic

1-50

NO

Billing_State

The state to which the credit card statement is delivered.

Alphabetic

2

NO

Billing_Zip

The ZIP Code to which the credit card statement is delivered.

Numeric

5, 9

NO

Shipping_Name

Name of the person to which the product will be delivered.

Alphabetic

1-50

NO

Shipping_Address

The Address to which the product will be delivered.

Alpha-numeric

1-50

NO

Shipping_Address_2

Second line of the Address to which the product will be delivered.

Alpha-numeric

1-50

NO

Shipping_City

City to which the product will be delivered.

Alphabetic

1-50

NO

Shipping_County

County to which the product will be delivered.

Alphabetic

1-50

NO

Shipping_State

The state to which the product will be delivered.

Alphabetic

2

NO

Shipping_ZIP

ZIP Code to which the product will be delivered.

Numeric

5, 9

NO

Phone

Customer's phone number (i.e., (555)555-5555, 555-555-5555, or 5555555555).

Alpha-numeric

10, 12, 13

NO

Fax

Customer's fax number (i.e., (555)555-5555, 555-555-5555, or 5555555555).

Alpha-numeric

10, 12, 13

NO

Email

Customer's email address to where the sales receipt may be sent.

Alpha-numeric

7-50

YES

Credit_Card_Number

Customer's credit card number must be a valid credit card number that your PayTrace account is set up to accept.

Numeric

15, 16

YES

Expiration_Month

Expiration month must be the two-digit month of the credit card's expiration date.

Numeric

2

YES

Expiration_Year

Expiration year must be the two-digit year of the credit card's expiration date.

Numeric

2

YES

Customer_Field1

Value of the first customer discretionary data type.

Customer_Field2

Value of the second customer discretionary data type.

Customer_Field3

Value of the third customer discretionary data type.

Customer_Field4

Value of the fourth customer discretionary data type.

1 Passwords must contain a mix of letters and numbers
2 At least one uppercase and one lowercase letter is required
3 Passwords must be at least eight characters.

Other Information

Comma Delimited file

Comma Delimited definition Wikipedia Definition of Comma Delimited

Tab Delimited file

Tab Delimited definition Wikipedia Definition of Tab-Delimited


Need more help?

Our support team will be happy to assist you.

If you are unsure where to go, try the search bar on the top right of any page.

If you cannot find the documentation you are looking for, please let our support team know so we can continue to improve this documentation.