Westpac

Batch Advantage
Getting Started with Batch Advantage

Using Batch Advantage is easy. This guide provides basic information to merchants to get you
started using Batch Advantage. We recommend that you also refer to the Batch Advantage User
Guide (available from the Batch Advantage portal Main menu Download) which provides
detailed assistance for every screen.
As a Batch Advantage customer, you obviously want to process credit card (MasterCard, Visa,
Bankcard) and charge card (American Express and Diners Club) payments. Batch Advantage
provides a few options to do this. After you have logged on, you will see a menu on the left.
Under the heading Create are the options: Upload File, New Batch, Ad-hoc Payment. The
following table explains these options and provides guidance on which option is right for you.
Option

Description

Upload File

This option allows a file containing credit and/or charge card payments to be uploaded
into Batch Advantage for processing. You would use this option if you wanted to
work offline in collecting payment details and then submit all of them at once for
processing. This is often used by merchants collecting recurring payments.
There are a number of upload formats including:

Microsoft Excel template available via the Download menu.

Westpac MTS (Merchant Transmission Service) format
Other Batch Format 1
Many customers will opt to use the Microsoft Excel template as it is very easy to use for
people with basic spreadsheet skills. You simply download the template, enter transactions,
save the spreadsheet in a secure place, login to Batch Advantage and upload the spreadsheet.
If the upload is successful, the batch should then be submitted for processing.
Specifications for the other two formats are available via the Download menu
(viaDownload the Batch Advantage User Guide and other Product Documentation link).
Remember: if you are choosing to record credit and/or charge card details in a file stored on
your hard disk that it is your responsibility to keep those details safe and to ensure that they
are not misused.
New Batch

This option allows a batch of recurring credit and/or charge card payments to be
entereddirectly online into Batch Advantage rather than stored in a separate file outside of
Batch Advantage.
For many customers working entirely online, the Ad-hoc Payment option may be more
appropriate. However, the New Batch option would be best if you want to submit a
batch of recurring payments and do not want to store the card details on your hard
disk. After a batch has been processed, you may use the Create Copy feature (under
Processed Batches) to create a copy of the batch and then make any modifications
required before submitting the batch copy for processing on the next date.

Ad-hoc
Payment

This option allows for the processing of a single credit and/or charge card payment
in real-time. That is, after submitting an ad-hoc payment, you will receive a response
in a few seconds telling you whether the transaction has been successful or not.
You would use this option if you want an immediate response for a single
transaction. Customers with a permanent Internet connection may find this option
is the best for them if receiving one-off instead of recurring payments.

You should decide which option works the best for your situation and then refer to the Batch Advantage User
Guide for detailed help on the associated screens. Remember: you can also access online help for any screen
by clicking on the question mark symbol in the top right of every screen with the text Help underneath.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section provides answers to some of the Frequently Asked Questions received by our help desk.

1. Do I pay the Merchant

Service Fee for declined
transactions?

3. After submitting a batch,

when will I see the money
in my account?

No. You will only pay the

Merchant Service Fee for
approved transactions.

For any transactions processed

before 6:00pm AEST (Australian
Eastern Standard) time on a
banking day merchants settling
to a Westpac bank account will
see the funds in their account on
the next days bank statement.
For example, if a file is
processed on a Wednesday, the
funds will appear on the bank
statement on Thursday morning,
dated with Wednesdays date.

2. I want to accept Amex/

Diners. How do I do this?
To accept charge cards such
as Amex or Diners through
Batch Advantage, you must
first arrange a merchant
facility directly with the charge
card company. This cannot
be arranged via Westpac.
You will receive a 10-digit
merchant ID from Amex or
Diners. If you have multiple
Westpac merchant IDs in Batch
Advantage, you will require a
separate Amex or Diners facility
for each Westpac merchant ID.
To register your Amex/Diners
facility in Batch Advantage,
click on Set Preferences
in the main menu and
then click on the Register
to accept Amex or Diners
through Batch Advantage
link. Follow the instructions
to complete the process.
Remember: Although Batch
Advantage provides a channel
for accepting Amex and Diners
transactions, any settlement or
fee related questions for Amex/
Diners transactions should be
directed to the charge card
company and not Westpac.

If processing on a non-banking
day, you will receive the funds
after the next banking days. For
example, if a file is processed
on a Saturday, the funds will
appear on the bank statement
on Tuesday morning, dated
with Mondays date (Monday
being the next banking day).
Please note the following:
For large batches or during
business periods, there may
be some time between the
submitting of a batch and
then transactions being
processed. Merchants are
advised to submit batches
before 5pm to ensure that the
transactions are processed
before the 6pm cut-off.
Merchants settling funds
to other banks may
experience delays in
settlement depending on
the other bank systems.

Settlement for Amex/

Diners transactions will be
determined by your direct
merchant relationship with
the charge card company and
is not determined by WBC.

4. I have uploaded
my file, but it contains
errors or warnings.
What do I do now?
Errors fall into 2 categories:
Whole file meaning the
file could not be read at all.
Transaction only meaning
that the file format is ok,
but there are errors for
individual transactions.
Both types of error must be
corrected before the file can
be submitted for processing.
Errors related to the whole
file will be reported on the
Uploaded File Details page. The
status will be reported as File
Format Error, and a description
of the error will be provided.
You must correct the file as
indicated and upload it again.
You should also ensure that you
have the correct format selected
on the Set Preferences page.
Transaction level errors will
be reported on the Batch
Details page. A message will
appear stating the number
of errors in the file eg This
batch contains 1 error. You
should press the View Errors
button and step through the

(FAQs)
individual transaction errors.
The Transaction Details Error
page will display the transaction
that contains the error, along
with a description of the error.
You may either correct the error
for this transaction and press
Next, or press the Delete
button to delete this transaction
from the batch. If you delete
the transaction, it will not be
present in the reject report
after the batch is processed.
Warnings will also be reported
on the Batch Details page.
Warnings do not prevent you
from submitting the batch
they are for your information
only. You can step through
them in a similar fashion to
errors by pressing the View
Warnings button. The most
common warning is that the
card expiry date is in the past,
meaning that the transaction
will almost certainly be declined.
You may wish to correct the
expiry date before submitting
the batch for processing.

5. Ive accidentally
uploaded a batch twice.
What do I do?
If you have accidentally
uploaded a batch twice, go to
Unsent Batches and locate
the duplicate batch on the
List of Batches. Select the
unwanted batch by clicking
on the radio button (open
circle) to the left of the Batch
Name and click on Delete. You

will be asked to confirm this

action, after which the batch
will be removed completely.
Note:
After deleting a batch, you
must upload again to bring it
back into Batch Advantage.
You cannot delete a batch that
has been processed. If you
have processed a second copy
of a batch, cardholders will be
debited twice. You will need
to refund these cardholders
for the extra amounts
debited from their card.

6. My Internet connection
died whilst uploading a
file. Did it work?
If your Internet connection
dies whilst uploading a file,
re-establish your Internet
connection and log back into
Batch Advantage. You can go
to the View Recent Uploads
menu to then check whether
the upload was completed or
not. If so, you may proceed
with correcting any errors and
submitting the batch. Otherwise,
you should upload the file again.

7. My Internet connection
died whilst submitting a
batch. Did it work?
If your Internet connection
dies whilst submitting a
batch, re-establish your
Internet connection and log

back into Batch Advantage

to check the following:
If the batch is on the Unsent
Batches page, it has not
been submitted and you
can now submit it.
If the batch is on the
Scheduled Batches page,
it has been submitted for
a future date and will be
processed on that date.
If the batch is on the
Processed Batches page,
it has been submitted and
you may view the batch to
see the processing results.

8. Ive submitted a batch

for a future date. What will
happen with this?
If you submit a batch for a
future date, Batch Advantage
will display this batch on the
Scheduled Batches page. You
may cancel a scheduled batch
before it is processed to return
it to the Unsent Batches page.
A scheduled batch will be
processed after 3am on the
scheduled date. Your customers
card account will be debited
on that date and not before.
Funds will be credited to your
account on the scheduled date
in the same way as normal.

9. I want to process a sales

refund transaction. How
do I do this?
You may process sales refund
transactions by transferring
the amount of the refund
from your account to a card
account. The refund amount
can be up to the original sales
amount but not exceed. You
shall not process any refund
to a card account unless the
original transaction between
you and that cardholder was
paid for by the cardholder
using the relevant card.
Batch Advantage provides 2
options to do this: 
Ad-hoc Payment or Batch
file. They are as follows:
Ad-hoc Payment You
would use this option only
if you have previously used
the Ad-hoc Payment to
process your original sales
transaction. Batch Advantage
will search for the original
sales transaction. Once it
is found, you can press
the Refund Transaction
button to proceed.

Batch file you would use

this option if have previously
submitted the original sales
transaction via a batch file.
You can choose to prepare
the batch file online (ie New
Batch) or offline (ie Upload
File), which ever option is
right for you. The offline
contains 3 file formats:
Microsoft Excel, Westpac MTS
and Other Batch Format 1.

10. Merchants whom enter

the card payments directly
online into Batch Advantage
do not have to store the
credit card data on their
PC, and worry about the
security of data. How long
is this data stored on Batch
Advantage?
Batch Advantage stored data
up to 220 days from the
date of the transaction.

11. The CVN (Card

Verification Number) field
which displays under 
Ad-hoc Payment. 
What is it?
CVN (also known as CVVCard Verification Value) is a 3
digit number that is printed in
reverse italics on the signature
panel on the rear of the card.
This tool is only used
for MOTO (Mail Order,
Telephone Order) and IVR
(Integrated Voice Response)
based transactions. Each
transaction must carry the
correct MOTO indicator.
The use of CVN is
recommended when
merchants ultilise Ad-hoc
Payment to process MOTO
transactions. By supplying the
CVN, it enables the issuing
bank to better validate the
card that it is present at the
time of the transaction.

 2006 Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141.

GD6718 (3/06)