Setting Up Paypal Express Checkout

  • Sign up to a Paypal business account first, if you do not already have one.
    Important: Ensure you enable Paypal Express Checkout.

  • Once logged in, sign up for Paypal Express Checkout (normally under Tools > Paypal Business Set Up)

  • You will be provided with the required user credentials (user, password and signature) which can also be found in:

    Login to PayPal > Click the cog to the top right of the screen > Account Settings
    > Account access > API Access > Update or Grant
    > Custom checkout experience > NVP/SOAP API integration (Classic) > Manage API credentials

    It might not show the text in orange.
    (In an older version of PayPal this was available in: PayPal > Profile > Profile and Settings > My selling preferences > API access > NVP/SOAP API integration > Request API Signature) 

  • If you need telephone numbers to be collected with orders, go to your paypal account > Profile (top right) > Profile & settings > My selling preferences > Under "Selling online" you should find "Website preferences", click Update > On here you should find "Contact Telephone Number", which you can set to required. 

  • Sign in to REC Admin > Connect > Payment Processor Manager

  • In the Paypal Express Checkout section, enter the user credentials given by Paypal

  • Set the Action dropdown to Sale

  • Do not mark to show on cart/checkout/register yet, we will come back to this later once the payment process is live.

  • Go into Payment Processors, scroll down to Paypal Express Checkout and click EDIT

  • Set the status to ON and the mode to STAGE and tick the regions who can use this service

  • Test a transaction on your site using your admin login (you are in STAGE mode so visitors won't see Paypal Express Checkout yet).

  • Once tested successfully, go back into edit and set the mode to LIVE 

  • Then return to Admin > Connect > Payment Processors > Paypal Express Checkout and tick the boxes where you want the Paypal Checkout button to display i.e.Cart, Checkout and Registration pages. We advise you tick all three. 

  • If you are replacing the standard Paypal payment method with Paypal Express Checkout then go into Payment Processor Manager and set the "Paypal Or Credit Cards" status to "off".

  • Test an order through your checkout process to make sure it works successfully and only offers Paypal Express Checkout as the Paypal payment option.

    Security Header Is Not Valid error? The API credentials are entered incorrectly or the sandbox setting (or credentials) is being used instead of the live setting (or credentials).


Help Setting Up Express Checkout In Paypal


If you have any difficulty setting up your Paypal Express Checkout account, please contact Paypal directly as we will not be authorised to help you.


Forcing Users To Enter Telephone Numbers 


You can also force users to enter a phone number when using PayPal Express as by default this is not usually enabled. 

To do so, view your PayPal account > Profile (top right) > Profile & settings > My selling preferences > Under "Selling online" you should find "Website preferences", click Update > On here you should find "Contact Telephone Number", which you can set to required. 


Payment Action Types


There are 3 Action types you can now use:

  • Sale - immediately take the full payment for the product in one go. This is the one most merchants use to receive money before shipping product. 
  • Authorization - take multiple payments up to 115% of the order value after shipping the goods (please note: 3 day honor and 29 day valid periods apply)
  • Order - take multiple payments as products are shipped, useful for back orders, split order or dropshipping.


Click here to read more on these payment action types