Forte and Salesforce - Chargent by AppFrontier

Integrating Forte and Salesforce using Chargent

Connect Forte and Salesforce with Chargent

See all Forte transactions, manage refunds, send payment links and more, all inside Salesforce with Chargent, the top rated payments app on the Salesforce AppExchange.

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Overview

Forte is a merchant acquirer and global processor that offers unique and scalable enterprise-class solutions. Forte helps organizations of all sizes build, manage, and perfect the way they take payments.

Integrating Forte with Chargent gives you the ability to easily build a seamless process for completing payments in Salesforce. The integration connects the Forte payment gateway directly to Salesforce. The Chargent integration uses the tokenization of the gateway for processing credit card payments, and Bank Draft (ACH, eCheck, Direct Debit) payments.

Prior to setting up Forte in Salesforce

Install both Chargent Base and Chargent Orders Package into your Salesforce org. The Chargent Anywhere Package is Optional although necessary to process payments on any object.
Configure Chargent according to the Installation and Setup Guide.

Obtaining Forte Credentials

In this section you will find the steps to obtain your Forte credentials which will be used to configure the integration between Forte and Salesforce.

Begin by contacting Forte to obtain a merchant account and get access to Dex, the Forte Payment Platform. You will need these credentials for both a sandbox account and a production account.

You can register for a sandbox account by going to https://www.forte.net/test-account-setup.

Enter all of the information in the request form (see the figure below).

NOTE: The Chargent integration between Forte and Salesforce has already been certified by Forte, but it is still necessary for you to obtain a sandbox account for your own testing needs. There is no official certification process.

You will receive two emails from Forte support.

Email to confirm your account and email address.
Invitation to join Dex, Forte’s payment platform..

Once you accept the invitation, you will now have access to the Forte Sandbox for testing. You will need the following information to configure Forte in Salesforce:

Account ID
Location ID
API Key (API Access ID)
Secure Transaction Key (API Secure Key)

Account ID:

To obtain the Account ID click your profile icon in the top right and select Organization. You will see the Account ID listed above your organization name on the Organization Detail page.

Location ID:

You can obtain the Location ID by clicking on Location. You will find the Location ID above your organization name on the Location Detail page.

API Access ID & API Secure Key

You will need to create the API Access ID & API Secure Key within Dex.

From the menu on the left select Developer and then choose API Credentials
Click the [Create] button on the top right.
Enter a name for the API Key and click the [Create New API Key] button

You will receive both the API Access ID and the API Secure Key. You should copy both credentials in order to setup the Gateway in Salesforce in the next step.

Note: The app may time out if you aren’t using it and you may have to generate a new API Secure Key. You can regenerate the key by logging back into the app, navigating back to the API and clicking on the Access ID. There will be a link that allows you to Regenerate Secure Key.

Once you have all of your credentials, you are ready to set up Forte in Salesforce.

Add Forte Gateway to Salesforce using Chargent’s Gateway Wizard.

Click on the App Launcher on the top left side in Salesforce.
Select Chargent as the App
Select the Chargent Settings Tab
Choose Chargent Setup Wizard
Do you have a Payment Gateway account – Select Yes
Select Forte as your Payment gateway.
Select Test Transactions for testing or Live Transactions if you are looking to process real time payments.
Follow the prompts to configure your gateway.

You will need the following information:

Add your credentials based on your Sandbox (Test) or Production Live CyberSource account.

- Account ID
- Location ID
- API Key (API Access ID)
- Secure Transaction Key (API Secure Key)

Other information that will be asked:

Will you be using tokenization? (recommended)
What currency will you be using? (USD, CAD, etc..)
Want to enable the Payment Console?
What payment methods will you be accepting?
Payment Console Setup (Premium feature for Platform Edition)
- Show Charge Button
- Show / Create Update Token Button
- Show Authorize Button
Will you be using recurring, scheduled or installment payments?
- What time should the batch run? (Chargent recommends 3am)

Direct Debit Network

Starting with Chargent version 6.15, you can now select the Bank Account network for your region during the gateway setup process. Authorize.net uses the ACH Network. This will allow for the correct Direct Debit Network fields to be displayed on Payment Requests and Payment Console based on your region.

You should choose ACH – US as the network. ACH is also known as echeck or electronic check.

US – ACH (also known as echeck or electronic check)

Once you have your Direct Debit Network set, you will see the appropriate field names on your Payment Request that are sent as well as your internal Payment Console.

Testing the Integration

Create a Chargent Order

Click on the App Launcher in the top left side and select Chargent as the App.
Click the Chargent Orders Tab.
Click on New
Enter in the following information:

- Account: The Account the Chargent Order should be associated with.
- Gateway will default to Forte unless you are using multiple active gateways then you would want to select Forte as the Gateway.
- Payment Method = Credit Card (see our Testing Bank Accounts section for testing ACH, eCheck, Direct Debit)
- Card Type: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc…
- Billing Information
  - First Name
  - Last Name
  - Address
  - City
  - State / Province
  - Zip Code / Postal Code
  - Email Address (if you want to test the email receipt that gets triggered upon a successful transaction)

- Charge Amount: If you are looking to test a specific amount, enter it in the Chargent Amount field otherwise this will default to the Amount field which is made up of Subtotal, Tax, and Shipping. If you test a specific amount in this field, you also want to check the [Manual Charge] box which overrides the default.
- Credit Card Number = See Forte test credit card numbers below
- Card type (Visa, MasterCard, etc.. based on the test card number you select from Forte)
- Card Expiration Month and Card Expiration Year should be in the future

1. Click [Save ]
2. You can now press the [Charge ] button to process the transaction. You will receive a pop-up asking for the CSC (Card Security Code). This can be any 3 digits for Visa, MasterCard and Discover or 4 digits for American Express.
3. Click [Charge ] again to process the payment.

You should receive a popup that shows the test transaction was approved.

Test Credit Cards

The table below contains a listing of valid test credit card numbers for Forte. Any card may be used without impacting the cardholder account, since all responses are from a simulated authorization system

Card Type	Card Number
Visa	4111111111111111
Visa	4012888888881881
Visa	4222222222222
MasterCard	5555555555554444
MasterCard	5105105105105100
Discover	6011111111111117
Discover	6011000990139424
American Express	378282246310005
American Express	371449635398431
American Express Corporate	378734493671000
Australian BankCard	5610591081018250
Diners Club	30569309025904
Diners Club	38520000023237
JCB	3530111333300000
JCB	3566002020360505

Testing Bank Accounts (ACH, eCheck)

When testing bank accounts, you will need the following information.

Valid 9 digit Routing Number which can be obtained from the Federal Reserve Website.
Account Number – The Account Number can be a valid one or a random string between 5-17 digits (Note: If you are using a valid account number in Sandbox, the transaction will go to a test environment and does not deduct funds from your bank account).

To test ACH you want to create a new Chargent Order and populate the following fields.

Account Name
Gateway will default to the Forte unless you are using multiple active Gateways
Payment Method = Check
Charge Amount: Check the [Manual Charge] box if you are testing a specific amount. If you are entering Subtotal, Tax, and Shipping then the Charge Amount will default to the Balance Due and the Manual Charge box should not be checked.
Billing Information
- First Name
- Last Name
- Address
- City
- State / Province
- Zip Code / Postal Code
- Email Address (if you want to test the email receipt that gets triggered upon a successful transaction)

Bank Account Type indicate Checking or Savings
Bank Routing Number from the Federal Reserve website.
Bank Account Number = Any random string of numbers between 5 – 17 characters
Bank Account Name = Name of the person who holds the bank account
Bank Name = Name of the institution (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank, etc…)
Click [Save]
Click the [Charge button] and you will see a popup with an Approved message.

When you click the [Back to Record] button on the popup dialog box, the Salesforce page will refresh and a Transaction record is created in Salesforce.

Note: Although test transactions in the Sandbox will not deduct funds, it’s a good practice to Void the transaction immediately when testing.

Your connection between Salesforce and Forte is now set up and working. The next test would be sending a live transaction from your Salesforce Sandbox.

Order Source Fields (Standard Entry Codes – SEC)

Forte requires the SEC Code to be sent with every transaction. In order to send the SEC with each transaction, you will want to make sure you are on Chargent version 6.15 or newer. If you are on an older version of Chargent you will want to update your Chargent package using our PIM (Package Installation Manager).

The Order Source field on the Chargent Order can be set to indicate the SEC code. SEC codes represent the type of transaction whether the customer is in the store providing a check, the check is not physically present, or the check is going to be processed after they leave.

Below is the mapping of the Order Source field that will send the corresponding SEC code to Forte when you Charge an ACH transaction.

Order Source (Chargent Order field)	SEC (Forte)
Corporate Cash Disbursement	CCD
E-Commerce (default)	WEB
Installment	PPD
Mail	ARC
Prearranged Payment and Deposit	PPD
Recurring	PPD
Recurring Mail	ARC
Recurring Telephone	TEL
Retail	POP
Telephone	TEL

Sending Live Transactions from a Salesforce Sandbox

When Chargent is installed in a Salesforce Sandbox, transactions are typically sent to the payment gateway’s test / sandbox / development environment, regardless of whether Chargent’s Test Endpoint checkbox is checked. This is done as a security precaution, to prevent real transactions from being accidentally sent from a Salesforce Sandbox.

When Chargent is installed in a production or developer Salesforce org, checking the Test Endpoint checkbox on the Gateway record will route transactions to the test environments provided by the gateway.

Note: Some gateways use the same endpoint for live and test environments. For these gateways, the Chargent application does not prevent live transaction processing. As such, it is best practice to deactivate your live gateway records in orgs used for testing.

If you wish to send live transactions from a Salesforce Sandbox, as a final step in testing, simply use Chargent’s Endpoint Override field on the Gateway record, and enter the production endpoint of your chosen gateway there.

Here is the production endpoint URL for Chargent’s integration with Forte:

https://api.Forte.net/v2

You can update the Gateway endpoint by editing the Gateway record.

Click the App Launcher
Search for and select Gateways
Select the Gateway you want to modify
Click [Edit]
Click Advanced Settings
In the Endpoint Override field enter the new URL
Make sure the Test Endpoint box is unchecked
Click [Save]

Testing Other Variables (requires live testing with live credit cards)

You can test other variables such as Address Verification (AVS) or Card Security Code (CSC) when testing live transactions in either the Sandbox as referenced above, or when testing in your live Production org.

Here are some helpful results to test for in your Live Production Org:

AVS
Street Address and 5-digit Zip Code both match
Street Address and 5-digit Zip Code both match
Partial Match: Street Address matches, but both 5-digit and 9-digit Zip Code do not match
Partial Match: Street Address does not match, but 9-digit Zip Code matches
Partial Match: Street Address does not match, but 5-digit Zip Code matches
No Match: Street Address, 5-digit Zip Code, and 9-digit Zip Code all do not match
System Unavailable: Address information unavailable. Forte returns this response if the Street Address is a non-US address, if the AVS service is unavailable, or if the AVS service for a particular US bank is not properly functioning.
System Unavailable: Forte will retry the AVS check because the issuer’s system is unavailable or the request times out.
Invalid: AVS data is invalid
Not Supported: The US issuing bank does not support AVS checks.

CSC Codes – Card Security Code (CSC) is also referred to as CCV (Credit Card Verification) and CVC (Card Verification Code) and refers to the 3 or 4 digit code on the back of the credit card. This security feature assists merchants in processing a Card-Not-Present transaction, and receiving a positive response. It improves the likelihood that the cardholder making the purchase is in physical possession of the card.

CSC Results
Match
No Match
Error (Unrecognized or Unknown Response)
Invalid or Null
Not Processed
Service Not Supported
Issuer Unable to Process
No Response

Understanding Transactions

When a transaction occurs between Chargent and the Forte gateway, a new transaction record is created. The listing of transactions can be found under Related on the Chargent Order record.

Click a Transaction ID link to see the details, as shown in the figure below. This transaction record contains the entire set of data that Forte sends in its response, including transaction Type (Charge, Authorize, Refund or Void), the Response Status (Approved, Declined, Error).

The Gateway Date is the timestamp for the submission to Forte, and the Gateway ID field corresponds to the Forte Transaction ID for use in reconciliation between two systems.

Access your Forte Virtual Terminal (Dex) and login.

To search for transactions:

Click the Transactions option from the menu
Enter a search term or specify the search criteria.
Search options

- Date Range
- Individual Amount or Amount Range
- Status
- Last 4 digits of the card number
- Account Number

When you see the transaction you can click on it to pull up the transaction details.

Voiding Transactions

It’s always a best practice to Void a transaction after testing even if it’s going to a test endpoint. This is to prevent the accidental charges of live transactions.

Locate the Transaction Record on the Chargent Order in Salesforce
Click the Transaction ID Number
Click the Void button.

Going Live

This section contains the procedure for configuring the integration in a Production Org.

NOTE: Do not proceed here until the testing procedure described in Testing the Integration is successful.

Obtain the Production credentials for the Forte production gateway account (the production credentials from Obtaining Forte Credentials).
As given previously, the credentials include the following:
- Account ID
- Location ID
- API Key (API Access ID)
- Secure Transaction Key (API Secure Key)
Repeat the steps in the Forte Setup in Salesforce section above, but substitute the Production credentials.
Repeat the steps in the Testing the Integration section above using a real credit card to test a live transaction.

NOTE: Remember to void the transaction after testing, if you are using a real credit card and want to prevent the charge from settling.

Be sure to successfully transmit at least one real credit card transaction and one real ACH transaction-using company or personal accounts. We recommend that you submit a transaction with a very small amount and then void that transaction afterwards.

Tokenization

This section contains the procedure for configuring the use of tokens that pass between Chargent and Forte. Forte uses a token system to maximize data security.

Click the App Launcher
Search and select [Gateways]
Click on your Gateway Name and select [Edit]
Click Advanced Settings.
Check the Use Tokenization option
Select the options available for clearing the Credit Card / Bank Account Data
- Never Clear – Chargent will not automatically remove card data.
- Clear After Successful Charge – Chargent will clear the credit card number, expiration dates, and card security code only after a successful charge occurs for a card.
- Clear After All Transactions – Chargent will erase the credit card number, expiration date, and card security code after any transaction (Charge, Void, Refund) occurs for a card.
- Clear When Token Present – Chargent will erase the credit card number, expiration date, and card security code after any transaction (Charge, Void, Refund) for a card only if there is a value in the token field.
Click Save to commit your changes.

NOTE: After your first successful transaction, the token is stored in the Chargent Token field in Salesforce and the credit card fields are handled according to the choice in the Credit Card Data Handling field.

Field Mapping

Along with sending data to Forte, Chargent also maps the response to various Transaction fields in Salesforce.

Chargent Transaction Record Field	<	Forte
Response Status	<	Status
Response Message	<	Description / Response
Authorization	<	Authorization Number
Security Response	<	CVV Result
Gateway ID	<	Transaction ID

ACH Validation

Chargent supports ACH Validation through the Lyons Account Verification Service, allowing you to validate US bank accounts on the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network before attempting a transaction. This validation confirms that the bank account & routing numbers exist and the account is available for payment transactions, satisfying NACHA’s mandate – Supplementing Fraud Detection Standards for Web Debits. We strongly recommend that all ACH customers implement ACH Validation.

For more information about implementing validation for your ACH transactions, see our ACH Validation documentation.

Great integrated solution for capturing payments — and great support! This solution has made it so much easier for our org to track payments and make sure they are tethered to the original deal, and it makes the capturing of payments so quick and seamless for our customers. Also, the support is great! Quick response times and relentless problem solving on the part of the support team!

Katie K., April, 2022

With Robert’s help my client was able to convert sales to cash and utilize partial payment and recurring payment settings. With Chargent and DBSync integrations, my client is able to integrate QuickBooks Enterprise to record invoices, payments and estimates for progress billing. I highly recommend this integration.

Salesforce Consultant, June, 2019

We have received overwhelming support from Robert Ruelas on the Chargent/Accounting Seed integration. Robert stayed with us on our problem until resolved. We don’t find this level of support frequently and would recommend the Chargent App for any organization that handles credit cards when you are using Salesforce and/or Accounting Seed.

Mike M, February, 2020

The Chargent product has streamlined our process for credit cards. Our customers and sales team find it easy to tokenize our credit card payments. Any questions are answered quickly by the customer support team. Chargent was the right partner for my company.

Maria C, October, 2020

I implemented Chargent for an end customer because of the limitations on the current app that they were using. The Chargent APIs are super simple, the support staff was great and very responsive. We found a great partner in Chargent. The simplicity in setting up multiple gateways and recurring billing configuration options are second to none if you want the go by clicks not code mantra.

Swapnil M, July, 2020

The Support Team at Chargent was very helpful and diligent in supporting our needs and transition to Chargent. Responses were on time and punctual on a case by case basis and the support team is a pleasure to work with!

John D., March, 2022

We are using Chargent for handling payment processing. On one click of “Send Pay Request” we can send an email and customer can pay easily just with a link. Customer support team is quick in response and ready to help. I like how Chargent stay ahead and helps update Chargent app according to Salesforce new releases.

Deepika N, June, 2020

I am very pleased with the support I receive for Chargent. I have implemented it for several clients and I always have questions regarding each use case. The support team is very knowledgeable and helpful!

Salesforce Consultant, March, 2019

Chargent is very useful, and is able to make complicated integrations much more straightforward. In just a few minutes, the setup wizard is able to connect you to a variety of different gateways to test or process live transactions. There’s also good documentation to walk you through the specifics of integrating with a particular gateway. The few complications I’ve run into have been handled by a capable and friendly support team.

James M, July 2022

Chargent’s application has provided us the ability to automate a payment process which normally took a person 15 minutes to process, down to less than a minute with the Chargent integration. Handling payments in the past will no longer haunt us since we are now PCI compliant, we know we can rest our client’s minds by letting them know their data is secure.

Nick S, March, 2020

When our incompetent SF implementation partner dropped the ball, Chargent support was able to login to our account, identify the issue, and have it resolved in less than 24 hours so we had virtually no downtime in processing payments. Excellent job!

Jon A, November, 2021

We signed up for the add-on package for the Automated Payments and the same day we signed up we had Nick schedule a meeting with us to get started. He was not only helpful for the initial set up, but he would send helpful training videos for the rest of the team. Usually when you sign up for something new it takes a long time to train everyone and get it set up. I am happy to say that was not the case for us.

Tonya B, November 2022

Chargent is a great payment processing solution! We’ve been using the app for a little over a year now and our end users love the simple ability to send payment links to clients. As an admin, it’s easy for me to add gateways when we open new locations.

Brea G, August, 2021

We needed to streamline our Auth.Net connection for our members credit card transactions so that they are viewable and management in SF. Chargent was the perfect application for this to occur. It is very user friendly and is a native SF application, which is also a huge plus.

Kevin K, August 2022

Chargent is incredible! It makes getting payment so much easier when you can send a link, and the client can click on it and process payment on their own time.

Camille T, January 2023

Excellent for all types of payments. We’ve been running recurring and one time billing through Chargent for at least the last five years. They have frequent updates to keep us compliant and there are virtually never any issues with payments. Even better is their support team.

Nick F, October, 2020

As someone who has a technical background but is relatively new to working in Salesforce, I have been very impressed with the Chargent product for Salesforce. I was first impressed by the very comprehensive guides and online documentation available. Subsequently, in working to update and upgrade our Chargent implementation, our organization has worked with three different support reps over the past year and each one has been super friendly, very helpful, and very technically proficient. A great example of how to do technical support the right way!

David M., January, 2022

Chargent has simplified our billing needs substantially. We are able to charge hundreds of customers with ease while receiving timely support by the Chargent team whenever it is needed. Very satisfied!

Powell N, November, 2020

Chargent works really well and can be configured lots of different ways to fit your business needs. I’ve implemented the product on a few different projects with a variety of requirements and the package is very smooth. The Chargent Support team is also one of the best I’ve ever worked with.

William S, December, 2021

This is a great app that helps simplify receiving payments from most popular payment gateways and recording everything in Salesforce. I’m a consultant and set this up for a client who had a very custom requirement. Chargent support was very helpful in guiding me on the configuration.

Kaivalya K, July, 2020

I’m a SF Admin recently charged with preparing for the June 20′ release. I am extremely grateful for the support team at Chargent. I am very impressed with the thoroughness of monitoring their product with SF and the proactive approach to keeping ahead of the releases. Thank you Chargent!

Andrew K, May, 2020

We are successfully tokenizing credit cards, sending payment links, and processing credit cards for multiple payment gateways and companies. Setup was easy and tech support was very responsive when needed. Chargent was exactly what our company needed to capture payments via Salesforce. Thanks to the flexibility and security features of Chargent, we have been able to reduce our credit card processing fees by close to 2%.

James C, September, 2020

We use Chargent to manage all of our sustaining memberships and for sending out payment requests. Makes it so much easier for people to pay their invoices. It is also such an easy tool to get set up and running!

Bonnie S, April, 2020

My client was in search of a Credit Card Chip Reader solution as they were migrating off of old card swipers and their current payment product. In doing research, Chargent Terminal seemed to be a great fit. The whole process of implementation from cradle to grave was seamless and simple. My clients said that Chargent is far more intuitive and has made their lives in processing payments extremely simple.

Arnold C, July, 2020

We needed to streamline our Auth.Net connection for our members credit card transactions so that they are viewable and management in SF. Chargent was the perfect application for this to occur. It is very user friendly and is a native SF application, which is also a huge plus. Highly recommend this application!

Kevin K., August, 2022

We love that Chargent is entirely native to Salesforce and allows for a lot of customizations, such as complete control over email templates, invoices, receipts, etc. It makes it much easier in a heavily regulated field, Financial Services. The support quality alone is enough for me to fully endorse this company.

Financial Services, July, 2020

Seamless app for integrating our donations into our Salesforce platform. Excellent and responsive customer service.

Kate G, February 2023

We came across Chargent during our Salesforce implementation. We were having lots of issues with online payments. Chargent solved all our problems in an instance. Highly recommend this product for higher education institutes, especially TargetX CRM users.

Ahmet D, April, 2021

BEST IN CLASS!! Chargent was a game changer for us. It has allowed a payment automation process for our sales team that we could not live without. The team is quick to respond and eager to help. I could not ask for a better partner.

John D., May, 2022

I’m a consultant in the Entertainment space and my clients are always looking for a quick/easy way to leverage their existing payment processing provider within Salesforce. I recommend Chargent every single time. The solution is flexible and allows for a great deal of customization.

Charles O, May, 2021

I am the Salesforce Admin for our company. We have a very delicate environment and way too much customization. Our business required a solution that is not out of the box Chargent. The support and quick response I have received is above and beyond what is expected.

Kent B, August, 2021

Chargent has helped streamline our recurring payments. Before we could only automate monthly payments. Now we can automate, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and yearly. We can also automate outreach for declined payments.

Sarah R, September 2022

Chargent makes automating our monthly donor payments a snap. Top-notch, extremely responsive service. Thanks!

Amy K, October, 2021

We have been using devs to handle our connections between FormAssembly, Chargent and Salesforce. I was asked to change our payment methods and was having issues with it being charged to the wrong gateway. Nick and I had a web meeting in which he was able to point out the issue of a different process builder that was changing gateways from the one I thought was. Even though this issue was on our Salesforce end, he was more than willing to help and explain things to me.

Tim P, November 2022