Gateway Documentation Introduction

This section contains information and reference materials to help you to understand how to maximize your use of the AGMS Gateway to benefit your business.

Getting Started

Transaction Types provides an essential understanding of the different transaction types and how they interact with the lifecycle of a processed transaction. The Before You Begin section contains information and techniques to assist you in performing thorough testing of your payments workflow.

Gateway Features

Articles in the Gateway Features section are high level overviews that focus on major gateway features and functions, such as Hosted Payment Pages and Recurring Billing. The intent of these articles are not to get into the specifics of usage or technical details, but to provide a foundational understanding of what these features are, what they can do, and some ideas for how they can be used.

Best Practices

Behind payment processing is a very complex and difficult-to-grasp system of rules and regulations. For many businesses, a lack of understanding just a few basic concepts can result in an abundance of excess fees, penalties, delayed deposits, security breaches, and even financial losses. Our hope is that with transparent and direct education, these risks can be significantly minimized! This section summarizes vital information into bite-sized chunks to help bring you up to speed and navigate sophisticated industry guidelines to avoid their major pitfalls. We've outlined Best Practices into:

  • PCI Awareness: While securing your transactions can be an immense topic, some basic tips can go a long way to minimizing your risk and ensuring your PCI compliance.
  • Minimizing Chargebacks and Disputes: Recommendations and red flags to help reduce your risk of disputes and chargebacks.
  • Authorization and Shipping Timeframes: Advice in using Authorizations and Captures effectively to minimize avoidable fees when shipping your product or providing your service more than a day after the sale has been made.
  • Signature Requirements: For face-to-face transactions, guidelines on when a signature is necessary to defend yourself in the event of a chargeback.
  • Avoiding Downgrades: Tips to maximize your ability to qualify at the lowest processing rates possible by following proper protocol in submitting transactions.

AGMS Code Library

Reference documentation on how to use our production-ready AGMS Code Libaries to expedite integrating your app, system, or service with the AGMS Gateway as quickly and easily as possible. The reference documentation will dynamically change to use examples in your coding language of choice according to your selection in the top right corner of this section.

SOAP API Reference

Interact at an API level with features and functions of the AGMS Gateway by accessing our Transaction API and Hosted Payment Page API to submit transactions, pull reports and details, and generate HPP hashes. These sections contain all the specifications for requests, responses, and error codes necessary for a developer to code their own integrations from scratch.

Express Portals

Express Portals are custom mini-portals developed to meet the specific and individual needs of your business. These extensions enhance the utlity of the gateway by offering a lightweight, pinpointed solution that can perfectly streamline a specific billing, reporting, or bookkeeping operation.

Apps and Tools

Our final section documents use of additional apps and tools that are part of the AGMS Gateway. Examples include a QuickBooks® Plugin to allow QuickBooks® users to efficiently initiate and reconcile payments from within their accounting software, and our PC Desktop App which allows for card swiping and printing from any modern Windows computer.