FOIAXpress PAL Pay.gov Configuration

1.1 Pay.gov Connection

Users must now complete the required Pay.gov configurations and select applicable request types under PAL Configuration. Users can perform the required action via two methods:  Within the PAL Database Server:

1. Run the query below on the PAL database to enable the Pay.gov payment option in PAL:

UPDATE tblConfig SET vcValue='Pay.gov' WHERE vckey='PAYMENT_OPTION'  

1. Navigate to PAL Configuration > Online Payment

2. Enter the Pay.gov URL used to redirect application to the Pay.gov payment screen. Example: https://qa.tcs.pay.gov:443/services/TCSOnlineService/3.2/

3. Enter the organization key that authorizes the action to be performed. Example: TCSOCCFOIA

1.2 Pay.gov Configuration

The following subsections provide steps to configure FX/PAL for the Pay.gov integration, via the PAL Configuration.

1.2.1 PAL Online Payment Configuration

To configure the Online Payment Integration, the Online Payment option needs to be enabled at the PAL Configuration URL. Upon purchase of the Online Payment integration, your project manager will assist you when coordinating with your internal Pay.gov representative to request certificates for the test and production environments, the TCS App ID, and the Agency ID that is required to allow communication between PAL and Pay.gov.

1. Within PAL Configuration, navigate to the Online Payment configuration page and select Pay.gov from the Payment Option drop down list. The Online Payment workspace appears

2. Within the Online Payment workspace, enter the TCS App ID and TCS Agency ID into the configuration fields

1. Complete the Root and PFX License Paths

2. Enter the PFX License Password, and the required Success/Cancel URLs

3. Click Save

NOTE: Once configured, the above fields in the Online Payment section should not be altered as they directly affect the integration and transaction processing.

All request types configured to Show in PAL are displayed along with any custom fields that are customized to integrate with the online payment solution. The following fields are configurable:

• Applicable Request Types: The request types selected in this field require advance payment before the request is submitted (synced) to FOIAXpress

• Application Fee: Enter the amount a requester must pay for advance payment of request submission

• Payment Receipt: The options checked in this field appear on the online payment receipt that the requester receives after a payment transaction occurs in Pay.gov

• Comments: Comments entered in this text editor are displayed at the bottom of the online payment receipt

1.2.2 PAL Status Notifications

PAL automates the delivery of request status notifications to the requester. Notifications selected here are sent to the requester as the request status updates during each sync cycle. For the purpose of Pay.gov integration, the Send Email Notification of Payment Due to Requester notification is triggered as soon as an invoice is generated that has a balance due.

To configure the email template that is delivered:  

1. Login to the PAL Configuration URL and click Email Templates

2. Select Payment Pending Status Notification Email from the Template drop down list

3. Configure the message text to contain the information the organization wants to provide to the requester. Remember that this is an automated message

4. Click Save to save the configured email template

1.2.3 Email Template Configuration

The following email templates must be configured, and they are used to automatically notify the requester and FOIA Office of online payment transactions. These email templates are configured under PAL Configuration > Email Templates. All emails sent from PAL are also automatically added to the correspondence log of the request in FOIAXpress.

1.2.3.1 Online Payment Notification Email

When a requester makes a payment in PAL, this email notification is delivered to the requester’s email address, as shown in the following example:

1.2.3.2 Online Payment Notification Email to FOIA Office

When a requester makes a payment in PAL, this email notification is delivered to the email address configured in PAL Configuration > Enterprise Configuration, as shown in the following example:

1.2.3.3 Online Refund Notification Email

When the FOIA Office initiates a refund to the requester, a refund processing email notification is delivered to the requester’s email address, as shown in the following example:

1.2.3.4 Online Refund Notification Email to FOIA Office

When a refund is initiated by the FOIA Office, a refund processing email notification is delivered to the email address configured in PAL Configuration in Enterprise configuration.  

1.2.3.5 Payment Pending Status Notification Email

When an invoice is generated in FOIAXpress that results in a balance due from the requester, this email notification is delivered to the requester’s email address.  

1.3 Email Templates

Users need to configure the following email templates as part of Pay.gov configuration. This is done through PAL Configuration. To customize the email templates, click Email Templates within the left hand menu.

NOTE: The examples below are standard templates which already exist in the system; however, users can customize these to best suit organizational needs.

1.3.1 Customizing Email Templates

The Email Templates Configuration page features a text editor in which you can edit the email template.

1.3.2 Online Payment Notification Email.

1.3.3 Online Payment Notification Email to FOIA Office

1.3.4 Online Refund Notification Email

1.3.5 Online Refund Notification Email to FOIA Office

1.4 Audit Log

FX PAL features a log tracking information for requests where payments are made and requests are not submitted through sync. The Audit Log allows authorized users to complete audit queries based on desired criteria, displayed in the images below:

Pay.gov Payments

2 Refund Configuration and Procedures

Consult the subsections below for information about the required Pay.gov Configuration Scripts, and procedure for performing a refund using Pay.gov Procedures.  

2.1 Refund Configuration Scripts

To perform pay.gov refunds in FX, you must complete the required pay.gov configuration using the following scripts:

2.1.1 Script 1

NOTE: For the script below, replace “'http://localhost/PayGovService/Service1.svc” with the service URL used for pay.gov service.

IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT vcKey FROM tblConfig WHERE vcKey='PG_WCFSERVICE') begin insert into tblConfig (vcSection,vcKey,vcValue,vcDescription)  

values ('Billing','PG_WCFSERVICE','http://localhost/PayGovService/Service1.svc','Enter the

Service url used to connect to Pay.gov.') end

2.1.2 Script 2

NOTE: Enter the organization key that authorizes transaction to be performed.

IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT vcKey FROM tblConfig WHERE vcKey='tcs_app_id') begin insert into tblConfig (vcSection,vcKey,vcValue,vcDescription)  values ('Billing','tcs_app_id','TCSOCCFOIA','Enter organization key that authorizes transaction to be performed.') end

2.1.3 Script 3

NOTE: Enter AgencyTrackingId that authorizes transaction to be performed.

IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT vcKey FROM tblConfig WHERE vcKey='Agency_TrackingId')

begin insert into tblConfig (vcSection,vcKey,vcValue,vcDescription) values

('Billing','Agency_TrackingId','','Enter organization ID that authorizes transaction to be performed.')  

2.2 Refund Using Pay.gov Procedures

Consult the subsections below for procedures that assist you while seeking a refund using Pay.gov:

2.2.1 Pay.gov refund workflow  

To recoup a Pay.gov refund, gather information about your payment and contact the agency you paid to request a refund. Pay.gov cannot issue refunds.  

2.2.2 You have a receipt  

The receipt for the payment contains the information needed by the agency to dispense a refund.  

2.2.3 You do not have the receipt  

To recoup a pay.gov refund if you were signed in when you made a payment:  

1. Sign In to Pay.gov. The My Account window appears

2. Click View Payment Activity

3. Click the Completed tab

4. Locate your payment and copy or print the payment information

5. Contact the agency to request the refund

If you were not signed in when you make the payment:  

1. You must know the following information:  

   1. The agency paid

   2. What was paid for (the agency form)

   3. The date you paid

   4. Amount paid

2. If you cannot locate this information, contact Pay.gov Customer Support for assistance  

Pay.gov Configuration

1. After collecting the details, directly contact the agency to request a refund

2.2.4 Manual Refund Workflow in FOIAXpress  

Refunds for online transactions are handled in FX and require no additional interactions outside the application.  

NOTE: 24 hours must pass between the original transaction and the refund request. Neither requesters nor FX users can initiate a refund until 24 hours after submitting the request. In the event 24 hours has not passed, the system will notify users when the refund request can be submitted.  

To request a refund:  

1. Sign into FX and open the desired request.  

1. Click Fees/Billing

2. Click the checkbox adjacent the Invoice to be refunded

3. Click the checkbox adjacent the Payment to be refunded, and then click Refund

NOTE: The Refund button is activated only after Invoice and Payment checkboxes have been selected.

1. The Refund pop up window appears. Enter the Amount in the Refund Amount Details fields.  

NOTE: FX cannot issue a Cash/Money order refund on a card transaction.  

1. Upload a Copy of Payment Attachment by clicking Attach File or Add from Scan to upload a local file or scan a copy of the payment, respectively.

2. Enter any Notes in the field.  

3. Click Save

3 Pay.gov Payments  

Pay.gov requires additional configuration beyond standard FX and PAL Configuration. The following subsection contains:

• Payment and Refunds: Consult this subsection for information about rendering payments and issuing refunds within FX

• Payment Information: This subsection provides guidance on viewing the payment information for payments that have been rendered

• Refund Using Pay.gov: Consult this subsection for instructions on how to issue a refund using Pay.gov

• Testing: This subsection provides instructions on how to test payments after application configuration

3.1 Payments and Refunds

The following subsections provide steps to complete payment processes in the integrated FX PAL – Pay.gov environment.

3.1.1 Payment Due

If fees are invoiced, the requester receives an email notification (Email template name: Payment Pending Status Notification Email) containing directions to log in to PAL and make the additional payment. To complete a payment:  

1. The requester must login and click Check Request Status

2. Within the Request Details workspace, the requester select a request featuring the $ icon. Clicking the $ icon redirects the requester directly to the Payment Information section

a. Alternatively, clicking the Request ID opens the request, where they can scroll down to locate the Payment Information section

3. In the Payment Information section, the balance due contains a Make Payment hyperlink under the Invoice Action column. To make the additional payment, the requester clicks the Make Payment, link and is redirected to Pay.gov to submit payment:

4. Once redirected to Pay.gov the requester must complete the automated prompts to submit payment:

NOTE: The Payment Options displayed in the image above are customer selected and may not reflect your application.  

5. Once payment is processed, the requester is taken to an onscreen payment receipt that reflects an Approved or Declined status. In addition, the requester and the FOIA Office receive email notifications with the receipt details

3.1.2 Issuing Refunds in FOIAXpress

Refunds for online transactions are resolved entirely within FOIAXpress. You cannot request a refund until 24 hours after the request submission, and Pay.gov only allows refunds of credit card payments online. Any other payment method needs to be handled manually.

Follow the steps below to request a refund in FOIAXpress:

1. Open FOIAXpress and navigate to the desired request

2. Navigate to Fees/Billing and adjust the invoice so that the balance due by the requester reflects an overpayment. Once complete, click Save.

   1. When the adjustment is made the adjusted Fee Due is also seen on the requester’s side in PAL

1. Navigate to the Payments/Fees section. Select the payment you want to issue a refund against and click Electronic Refund

2. In the Payment screen, the Refund Type is preselected. Verify the Invoice Balance Due. It should reflect a negative balance due

3. Enter the amount of the refund due to the requester in any of the Amount Details fields (regardless of the field selected, the refund will be issued in the original method of payment)

4. Enter any Notes regarding the refund in the field provided

5. Click Save. A confirmation message appears asking if you are sure you want to process the online refund. Select Yes, No, or Cancel

• 1. Yes: Submit the refund transaction to Pay.gov and, upon successful completion, FOIAXpress updates the refund payment with the refund transaction number and attaches a refund receipt for the payment. There is no manual intervention required to process the refund

NOTE: 24 hours must have elapsed between the original transaction and the refund request. In the event 24 hours has not passed, the system indicates the refund request can be submitted.  

• 1. No: Applies the refund in FOIAXpress only and does not submit the transaction to Pay.gov; the balance updates in PAL, and the requester sees that the refund was applied

  2. Cancel: Return to the Payment screen where you can adjust payment details or cancel the action

8. After clicking Yes, the refund transaction is processed. Pay.gov returns a transaction number for the refund, at which time a copy of the refund receipt is auto populated as an attachment in the Upload Copy of the Payment section. Also, the requester will receive a Refund Processing Notification Email notifying him/her that the FOIA Office has submitted a refund request to Pay.gov

9. All transaction details can be viewed by opening the payment or refund and clicking View Online Transaction Details

3.1.3 Payment Information

After a payment is made, the Fees/Billing tab displays all relevant payment information. Within this screen you can view the payment information associated with the transaction. Click the Invoice # to expand the payment information.  

The Electronic Refund button is activated when an online payment is completed. The View Online Transaction Details button is activated when an online payment solution is enabled.

NOTE: Online payment solutions like Pay.gov only offer electronic refunds for credit card payments, and refunds can only be issued 24 hours after transaction.

3.1.4 Test

After all configurations are complete, users can see the controls displayed below when creating a request.  

On submission, the system navigates to the pay.gov payment screen. Within this screen, enter the payment details. After a successful payment, the system displays the receipt screen.