Wirecard Documentation

The purpose of reconciliation is to compare transaction records and verify that payments have been processed correctly. By reconciling transaction information regularly, merchants will gain a better understanding of their business transaction life cycle - from initial authorization, to settlements, transaction disputes (returns), and refunds.

Reconciliation is currently available for alternative payment methods (i.e. all payment methods but credit card) within Wirecard Payment Gateway.

The reconciliation files must be downloaded from an SFTP server on the Wirecard Payment Gateway. The download process is described in File Download. Although it is possible to download files manually, we recommend to automate the process for the sake of consistency and convenience. Likewise, it is recommended to run a program to facilitate the reconciliation process of the downloaded files. The program used must be able to handle the CSV file format.

To reconcile your transactions, compare the reference transaction ID in the reconciliation file with a transaction ID that is already available in your system. You will be able to see if another transaction has been created updating the current status of your payment. Should you notice inexplicable discrepancies between the reconciled data and your records that you cannot resolve internally, please contact Merchant Support

The Wirecard Payment Gateway generates transaction reports which are very similar to a typical bank account statement. Merchants are recommended to match and reconcile these report files regularly (daily) with the data recorded in their system. When matching transaction data it is important to remember how the payment total is calculated and also that the data does not represent a complete payment history but only the account activities that have been recorded over the previous 24 hours.

The Wirecard Payment Gateway is configured to generate daily transaction reports containing sequential data sets for each of your transaction requests processed by the system. These records are called reconciliation files and are saved in CSV format on the Wirecard SFTP server. When opened and read in a spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel, the data entries are divided in columns and rows. Opened as plain text in any standard text editor program, however, the field entries are separated by a semicolon (;).

The files contain transaction data processed over the previous 24 hours. They do not present a complete payment flow per payment (from authorization, to settlement with possible rejections and disputes) but only those transactions which have been processed by the Wirecard Payment Gateway within the time period for which the report has been created.

The reconciliation files are stored on the Wirecard server in the following format:

<identifier>_<ip>_<date>_<merchant account id>.csv

where

Transactions processed on the Wirecard Payment Gateway are recorded in a file named EngineAPTransactions.csv. This file encompasses all transaction types for the alternative payments currently available in the Wirecard Payment Gateway processed over the previous 24 hours (currently get-url, check-signature, pending-debit, pending-credit, credit, debit, deposit, credit return, and debit return).

The file EngineAPTransactions*.csv currently comprises transfer transaction requests for the alternative payment methods that have been posted or modified by the system over the past 24 hours. If a column does not apply to a payment method, the column will contain NULL. The data is recorded in the following columns/fields:

The following is an example of the file layout for the AP Data Reconciliation for Wirecard Payment Gateway, displayed with a spreadsheet application:

Here you can download a full compilation of samples of possible values within the reconciliation file also displayed with a spreadsheet application.

If any of the transaction types deposit, debit-return or credit-return enters the Wirecard Payment Gateway and cannot be matched to an existing payment, this transaction is created as unmatched transaction. It appears in the reconciliation file without a reference transaction ID.

If this unmatched transaction is manually matched to an existing payment on the same day as it has entered the Wirecard Payment Gateway, it appears as a transaction within the payment to which it has been matched. There will be no record of an unmatched payment in the reconciliation file.

If, however, this unmatched transaction is manually matched to an existing payment more than a day after it has entered the Wirecard Payment Gateway, it will not appear in the reconciliation file. If it appeared in the reconciliation file, there would be two entries in the reconciliation file for one transaction referring to two different payments, thereby resulting in a duplicate.

To be able to connect to the Wirecard SFTP server you must have an SFTP client and an internet connection supporting SSH-2 and the necessary network security policies.

Please contact your system administrator to ensure that SFTP traffic is permitted from your machine.

In a Windows environment, the reconciliation files can be downloaded using any graphical SFTP application (like WinSCP) or command line SFTP download.

To download files with a graphical application, enter the host name sftp.wirecard.com and your username and password. If you do not know your personalized access information, please contact Merchant Support.

You may also use a command line SFTP download from a Unix workstation or MacOS.

To connect to your location on the Wirecard host server (sftp.wirecard.com), enter:

followed by the password when prompted.

When you log on, you are automatically connected by username/customer number/partner number (e.g. C0001 or P0001) to your file repository. In the root window of the remote SFTP server site (Wirecard server) you see the following subdirectories: