Common Questions

How do I log in to my account

Two emails will be sent out once your PayTrace account is set up.

1. The first will be a welcome email that contains resource information for PayTrace and your account.

2. The second email will be titled “PayTrace Credentials.”

   1. Within the body of this email will be a hyperlink. When this link is clicked, you will be taken to PayTrace and shown your username. You will then be prompted to enter a password for your user account. Passwords must be at least seven characters, contain at least one alpha and numeric character, and are case-sensitive. This initial user setup email is good for one week. After this time frame expires, you must perform a password reset request outlined in the below paragraph.

I forgot my password | How do I unlock my user account?

If you have forgotten your password or locked up your user account, you will want to click on the “Lost/Forgot Password” link right next to the login section of the PayTrace home page.

1. You will then enter your username and email address.

   1. That will trigger an email to go to your email address. Within the body of this email will be a hyperlink. When this link is clicked, you will be taken to PayTrace and prompted to enter a NEW password for your user account and confirm the new password.

   2. You will also select a site validation key.

How do I process a transaction?

This can be done in a couple of ways. You will be taken to the dashboard once you log in to your account.

1. From the dashboard, you can click the icon to process a swiped or keyed (card not present) transaction.

2. You may also click to open the Virtual Terminal menu, which will provide links to process swiped or keyed (card not present) transactions.

How do I void a transaction?

1. Click on Void Transactions from the Virtual Terminal Menu.

2. Select the start and end dates of transactions you want to void and click the Search button; usually, Voids are for "same day" transactions.

3. Select the transaction you want to void by checking the corresponding check box.

4. Click the Process button and click to verify that you want to process the void(s).

How do I process a refund?

A referenced refund allows you to refund a transaction you processed in PayTrace.

1. Open the Virtual Terminal menu.

2. Click the link to Refund Transactions.

3. Set your date range back to when you originally ran the transaction and click Search.

   1. The results of that search will be shown to you on the screen.

   2. You may then select the checkbox to the left of any transaction you wish to process a refund.

   3. You may also adjust the dollar amount of the transaction to an equal or lesser amount than the original transaction.

4. Click the Process button at the bottom of the page to process the refund(s).

How do I access my transaction history?

From the dashboard, you may click the icon to View Transactions. You may also open the Virtual Terminal menu and click the link to View Transactions.

1. Once a date range is set, click the Search button.

   1. The results will appear in a display box towards the bottom of the page.

How do I access a receipt for a previous transaction?

1. Search from the View Transactions page.

2. Click the receipt link on the left-hand side next to the transaction.

3. A pop-up window will appear with the transaction receipt.

How do I add/remove/change email addresses on my account?

1. Open the Users menu.

2. Select the Manage Email link.

3. Type in an email address.

4. Use your Control or Apple key to select the multiple reports or notifications you want that email address to receive.

5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

6. The screen will refresh with a confirmation, and you will see the email address as you scroll down the page.

   1. You may then adjust/delete the email addresses as you add more.

What is level 2 and level 3 data, and why must I enter it?

Level 2 and 3 data is additional information that can be sent through with your transactions to help qualify certain types of credit cards, keeping your processing rates low. Level 2 and 3 data typically can help when accepting Business Cards, Purchasing Cards, Corporate Cards, or Government (GSA) Cards.

In most cases, when you accept these types of cards, the dollar amount of the transaction is larger than if you were to accept a consumer/personal credit card. When the dollar amounts of the transactions increase, the risk associated with the card brands funding them increases. This results in a higher processing rate due to the higher risk. However, level 2 and 3 data help provide additional information about the merchant, customer, and transaction to help meet the card brand's criteria for reaching a lower processing rate. This additional information is not required to process or get funded for your transactions. However, providing this information helps reduce the risk associated with the funding of the transactions by the card brands, which results in lower processing rates. For more information about specific level 2 and 3 information, click here.

Where is my deposit for my transactions?

PayTrace is the payment gateway (your processing method), and we do not make deposits for your transactions. You were set up with PayTrace through a merchant service provider (MSP) that controls your transactions' funding. They can provide more information about when or where your deposits might be. They will also be the ones to change where your deposits are being made.

You can find your merchant service provider contact information by clicking on the Support link at the bottom of any page when logging into your PayTrace account.

Why did my transaction decline?

Transactions are approved/not approved by the card issuing bank, not PayTrace. PayTrace works with various processing networks, each providing various reasons for declined responses. Sometimes they can be specific and provide responses such as Activity Limit Exceeded or Insufficient Funds. Other times their responses can be very generic such as Do Not Honor. The best way to help understand what is causing the non-approval would be to have your customer contact their card issuing bank for further clarification on why their card is being declined.