How to enable recurring payments from BBMS into NXT

Karen Turner
Karen Turner
Eighth Anniversary Facilitator 1 Loyalty Badge
in Merchant Services APIs
Hi. I'm a complete newbie to all this. We recently started a telephone campaign, and the company doing this for us have connected to our NXT/BBMS accounts via the Payments API. However, although we get the initial instalment into BBMS, we can't work out how to connect a record in NXT to the ALI/BBMS in order to call down recurring transactions. We are subscribed to the Gift API, but looking at the documentation it seems as if we may need to be subscribed to the Payments API to be able achieve this? When I try to subscribe, I'm faced with a lot of questions which I don't know how to answer.


Does anyone have an idiot's guide on how to achieve this, step by step? All suggestions welcome, TIA.

Comments

  • Mina Mistry
    Mina Mistry Blackbaud Employee
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant
    Hi Karen


    Thanks for posting your question. I can help you navigate the APIs to get up and running. At a high level:
    • The Payments API is used to process transactions with BBMS. The Payments API does not interact at all with RE NXT.
    • The Gift API is used to query and send data to RE NXT, including the ability to add automated recurring gifts.
    The typical workflow is usually something like this (using your telephone campaign use case):
    1. The application used in the telephone campaign integrates with the Payments API to capture and process the payment in BBMS while the cardholder is on the phone. In the case of recurring gifts, the Payments API can also give you a card token that represents the payment method provided by the cardholder.
    2. The application can then call the Gift API to set up the recurring gift in RE NXT. Here is the specific endpoint to add a new automated recurring gift. It will accept the same card token generated in #1 to link the payment method to the recurring gift. There are also endpoints to help locate existing constituents or create new ones.
    It sounds like you already have #1 done using the Payments API. You are correct that the Payments API requires a separate SKY API subscription. The Gift API is included in the Standard subscription (there are no fees for either of these).


    Let me know what other questions you have.


    Thanks.

  • Warren Sherliker
    Warren Sherliker
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant
    Hi Mina,


    There are a few issues around how to add the recurring gift payment you have already taken when using the Gift API.


    You have to add the Recurring Gift with today's date but then with the recurrence to start from the SECOND instalment date. You then add a recurring gift payment linked to this RG for the payemnt you have taken online.


    I have asked a few times now - how about an end to end example of this on your GitHub or something. It is not trivial and the documentation is a bit vague when it comes to the use case of taking both Single and Recurring Payments using Checkout and then feeding them into RE as gifts. We managed it in the end but then as Jarod Bonino‍ mentions in another post about this even he is not sure the above is the right process.


    Cheers


    Warren
  • Karen Turner
    Karen Turner
    Eighth Anniversary Facilitator 1 Loyalty Badge
    Thanks Mina


    In that endpoint, when I try it, I have made a guess and added the name of the donor and the amount, and then in the header fields, have selected to add authorisation and then added the token (which we have been sent by the initiating company). I've added authorisation code Blackbaud OAuth 2.0 The return tells me that it is a 400 bad request and the table 'Gift Subtypes' does not contain an active entry named 'Annuity'. In the request body, line 44 has automatically set teh subtype as 'Annuity@.


    What is an annuity? I interpret that as an annual gift - does it mean something else here?


    Many thanks

    Karen

  • Mina Mistry
    Mina Mistry Blackbaud Employee
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant
    Hi Karen


    The frequency of the gift should be included in the recurring gift schedule parameter and not in the Gift subtype.


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