Getting Started with Bill1st

Introduction

This Integration Guide covers all aspects of integrating your site(s) with the Bill1st Transaction Processing System. Each section of the guide is self-contained and includes all the information needed to transmit data to Bill1st.

Whitelisting Your Info
Depending on your account configuration, sending live MID tests may get caught in platform velocity checks or fraud scrub. To bypass these you could provide Bill1st with any of the following values to be white listed:
• IP address
• Email address
• Credit card number

Whitelisting is not necessary when using the Testing options below.

Testing

There are 2 ways to send test transactions.

  1. Demo MID
    a. The Demo MID can be assigned to any ProductCode under your Account.
    b. With the Demo MID, any card number passing the MOD-10 check can be used for testing. The card will never be sent to the banking network with the Demo MID, but the system will return XML responses with live EventCodes and ResponseCodes.
    c. It’s important to keep track of which ProductCodes are using the Demo MID. When you’re ready to process live transactions, your ProductCodes must be updated to use your live MID(s).
  2. TestCard in Site Settings
    a. When editing one of your sites in the Bill1st Gateway admin there is a Test Credit Card Number link that you can click to display a card you can use for any ProductCode under that Site.
    b. Using the site TestCard will only result in a Test response. It will not simulate live EventCodes.

XML Gateway

The remote gateway is for clients who use their own Join pages. The raw gateway needs interpretation and should never be exposed directly to your customers.

Input / Output Protocols

The gateway takes XML in, via an HTTP request, and sends back an XML response. Parameters are passed in by sending XML data via an HTTP POST variable called XMLData. The resulting page (of type text/xml) is your answer. Following are instructions for how to make the http post requests to perform various tasks on the Bill1st system.

Credit card payments

Credit Cards
Process credit card transactions via a simple HTTP Post request.

Making the request
Below is an example request to process a credit card payment via an HTTP post to:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/auth.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
<authrequest RequestID="1" AccountID="12345" FirstName="Joe" LastName="Somebody" Address1="123 Main St" City="Anywhere" State="IL" Zip="66666" Country="840" Email="[email protected]" CardNumber="444444xxxxxx1111" CVV="123" ExpDate="2020-01-01" ProductCode="12345-12543-100" Amount="1.00" />
</data>

Note that the AccountID and AccountPassword values above are just examples. Please substitute your actual ID and password.

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour Account number
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
AccountIDYour Account number (The AccountID where the request will be processed under)
FirstNameCustomer’s first name
LastNameCustomer’s last name
Address1Customer’s street address
CityCustomer’s billing city
StateCustomer’s billing state or province
ZipCustomer’s billing zip or postal code
CountryCustomer’s billing country code (3 digits; 840 = USA)
EmailCustomer’s email address
CardNumberCustomer Card Number
CVVCVV code from customer’s card
ExpDateDate format is YYYY-MM-DD (Since most customers don’t have the DD available on their credit card, “01” can be passed in for DD. Ex: 2022-12-01)
ProductCodeUnique ID representing the purchase option associated with this request (in the format of 12345-12345-123)
AmountAmount of the charge being processed (Required only for certain ProductCode types)
MerchantCodeYour gateway MID for the request (OPTIONAL)
CurrencySpecific currency (use 3-character Alpha Code) (OPTIONAL)
User1/User2Merchant-defined variables the platform will pass through and log (OPTIONAL)
AllowDuplicateSignup="1"Allows multiple subscription signups to the same site (OPTIONAL)
FlexTermsIDThis is the ID of a Flex Rebill (RebillTermsID). It can be sent in an auth request if the AccountID as a valid Flex Rebill created (OPTIONAL)

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
Below is an example of the type of XML response you could receive after credit card payments:

<!DOCTYPE three65api -authorize [
<!ELEMENT data (authresponse*)>
<!ATTLIST authresponse RequestID ID #REQUIRED
TransactionID CDATA #REQUIRED EventCode CDATA #REQUIRED SubscriberID CDATA #REQUIRED Message CDATA #REQUIRED
User1 CDATA #IMPLIED User2 CDATA #IMPLIED VisaCode CDATA #IMPLIED >
]>
<data>
<authresponse RequestID="1" TransactionID="1234567890" EventCode="S" SubscriberID="123456789" Message="DemoMID Approved " VisaCode="" AuthCode="12345" AuthResponse="DemoMID Approved " ResponseCode="100" SubEventTypeID="100" MoreInfo="" AVSCode="Z" CVVCode="M" CurrencyCode="USD" ThreeDID=""/>
</data>

In the example above, ResponseCode=100 reflects an approval. See Appendix C of this document for the full list of Response Codes.
An EventCode of A (for auth) means the transaction is authorized and will be settled later. To control when settlement happens, ask your Bill1st rep to create a “Gateway with Delayed Settlement” product for you, which will require you to submit the settlement request manually (see Section 6).
Otherwise, if Bill1st is handling the rebilling and you want us to automatically settle ‘x’ number of days after authorization, then you’ll need a “Recurring with Automatic Settlement” product. Please contact [email protected].

Other Tasks

Issue a Credit
Credit back a specific transaction.

Making the request
Below is an example credit request via an HTTP post to:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/credit.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
<creditrequest RequestID="1" TransactionID="1234567890"/>
</data>

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour Account number
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
TransactionIDUnique 10-digit ID associated with the customer’s transaction. Used for tracking the initial signup in the system.

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
The XML response you receive after sending a credit request will be similar to the following example:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<!DOCTYPE three65api-credit [
<!ELEMENT data (creditresponse*)>
<!ATTLIST creditresponse	RequestID ID #REQUIRED
SubscriberID CDATA #REQUIRED TransactionID CDATA #REQUIRED EventCode CDATA #REQUIRED Message CDATA  #REQUIRED User1 CDATA #IMPLIED
User2 CDATA #IMPLIED >
]>
<data>
<creditresponse RequestID="1" SubscriberID="123456789" TransactionID="1234567890" EventCode="C" CreditCode="150" Message="OK" User1="test" User2="" CreditTransactionID="2345678901"/>
</data>

Parse for an Event Code of “C” (Credit), “V” (Void) or “H” (Pending Credit).
You will only submit the credit request once. Bill1st will determine whether the status is “C”, “V” or “H” and will return that value back to you in the XML response.

Issue a Partial Credit
Process a partial credit amount on a specific transaction.

Making the request
Below is an example of a partial credit request, made via an HTTP post to:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/credit.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="20003" AccountPassword="xxxxxxxxx"/>
<creditrequest RequestID="1" RefundAmount="2.00" TransactionID="1492827341"/>
<data>

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour Account number
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
RefundAmountSpecific amount of the partial credit being issued
TransactionIDUnique 10-digit ID associated with the customer’s transaction.
Used for tracking the initial signup in the system.

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
The XML response you receive after sending a partial credit request will be similar to the following example:

<data>
<creditresponse RequestID="1" SubscriberID="392252021" TransactionID="1492827389" EventCode="C" CreditCode="150" Message="OK" User1="Descr test" User2="" RefundAmount="2.00" CreditTransactionID="1492827389"/>
</data>

Cancel an Account
Process a rebill cancellation. This is only needed for rebilling Subscribers in order to cancel future
Rebill transactions. It’s like cancelling a rebill subscription.

Making the request
Below is an example cancellation request, made via an HTTP post to:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/cancel.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
<cancelrequest RequestID="1" SubscriberID="123456789"/>
</data>

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour Account number
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
SubscriberIDUnique membership ID associated with the customer’s original purchase (9 digits)

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
The XML response you receive after sending a cancellation request will be similar to the following example:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<!DOCTYPE three65api-cancel [
<!ELEMENT data (cancelresponse*)>
<!ATTLIST cancelresponse	RequestID ID #REQUIRED
SubscriberID CDATA #REQUIRED TransactionID CDATA #REQUIRED EventCode CDATA #REQUIRED Message CDATA #REQUIRED
 
User1 CDATA #IMPLIED User2 CDATA #IMPLIED >
]>
<data>
<cancelresponse RequestID="1" SubscriberID="100219" TransactionID="0" EventCode="M" Message="OK" User1="" User2=""/>
</data>

Parse for the Event Code of “M” (“cancelled”).

Auth and Settle a Transaction

Authorize a specific amount on the customer’s credit card and settle the transaction later. This
feature requires the “Gateway with Delayed Settlement” product (ProductType ‘N’).

Making the request

If you don’t want to send a straight sale, the ‘Auth then Settle’ allows you to send the Auth request
with the option of settlement later.
You will make two requests, one to Auth and one to Settle. For the Auth, use the same request as described for credit card payments in Section 4. The Event Code for the auth transaction will be “A”. Below is an example of the request you will send when you want to settle the transaction, made via an HTTP post to:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/settle.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
<settlementrequest RequestID="1" Amount="1.00" TransactionID="123456789" />
</data>

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour Account number
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
AmountAmount to be authorized
TransactionIDUnique 10-digit ID associated with the customer’s transaction.
Used for tracking the initial signup in the system.

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)

The XML response you receive after sending a settle request will be similar to the following example:

<!DOCTYPE Bill1stapi-settle [
<!ELEMENT data (settlementresponse*)>
<!ATTLIST settlementresponse RequestID ID #REQUIRED
TransactionID CDATA #REQUIRED
EventCode CDATA #REQUIRED
Message CDATA #REQUIRED
User1 CDATA #IMPLIED
User2 CDATA #IMPLIED >
]>
<data>
<settlementresponse RequestID="1" SubscriberID="123456789"
TransactionID="3456789012" EventCode="S" Message="OK" User1=""
User2=""/>
</data>

Client-Managed Gateway Rebills

Client-Managed Rebills are on-demand rebills where you keep track of the subscriber’s rebill
schedule and send the rebill requests when needed.
There are two types of Gateway Recurring Products that allow you to manage future rebills for existing customers:
Gateway Service Recurring (ProductType ‘O’): Use this product for normal sales.
Gateway Service Recurring w/ Delayed Settlement (ProductType ‘W’): Use this product to send an authorization request as the first transaction followed by a settlement request (similar to Section 6).
Use the same initial requests with these Gateway Recurring products as noted in Sections 1-6. When using these Gateway Recurring products, an initial sale response will contain EventCode=I because
it’s an initial with the possibility of future Rebill events.

Making the request
The additional request below is required for subsequent “rebills” for existing subscribers, made via an HTTP post to:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/rebillauth.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
<rebillrequest RequestID="1" SubscriberID="123456789" Amount="9.95" />
</data>

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour Account number
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
SubscriberIDUnique membership ID associated with the customer’s original purchase (9 digits)
AmountAmount to be authorized.

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
The XML response you receive after sending a rebill request will be similar to the following example:

<data>
<rebillresponse TransactionID="397867211" RequestID="1" SubscriberID="123456789" EventCode="R" ResponseCode="100" AuthResponse="Bank specific response"
Message=""/>
</data>

The SubscriberID will remain the same for all subsequent Gateway rebills.

Dynamic Rebills

Allows you to send the rebill terms of a subscription in the XML request at signup. Bill1st will manage all future rebills based on the terms sent in the original request.

Product Type
Dynamic Rebills can be used only with Product Type ‘A’ (Gateway Service / Recurring / Delay
Settlement).

Making the Request
Below is an example of an auth request for dynamic rebills:

<data>
<auth AccountID="20000" AccountPassword="P@ssw0rd"/>
<authrequest RequestID="1" FirstName="John" LastName="Smith" Address1="123 Main St." City="Miami" State="FL" Zip="33333" Country="840" Email="[email protected]" CardNumber="4444111111111111" CVV="123" ExpDate="2018-01-01" AccountID="20000"
ProductCode="20000-70232-100" Amount="1.99" InitialMembership="2" RebillAmount="29.99" MaxRebill="127" PeriodType="INTERVAL" DateValue="30" User1="Dynamic test" />
</data>

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour AccountID for request authentication
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
FirstNameCustomer’s first name
LastNameCustomer’s last name
Address1Customer’s street address
CityCustomer’s billing city
StateCustomer’s billing state or province
ZipCustomer’s billing zip or postal code
CountryCustomer’s billing country code (3 digits; 840 = USA)
EmailCustomer’s email address
CardNumberCustomer’s Card Number
CVVCVV code from customer’s card
ExpDateDate format is YYYY-MM-DD (Since most customers don’t have the DD available on their credit card, “01” can be passed in for DD. Ex: 2005-12-01)
AccountIDYour Account number (The AccountID the request will be processed under)
ProductCodeUnique ID representing the purchase option associated with this request (in the format of 12345-12345-123)
AmountInitial Amount (signup) of the auth or initial sale. Required.
InitialMembershipDuration (in days) for the auth or initial sale. Required.
RebillAmountAmount for all rebills upon conversion. Required.
MaxRebillMax Number of times the rebill should occur (default is 127). Required.
PeriodTypeDefines the frequency at which rebills are charged:
INTERVAL – include the number of days between rebills in
DateValue (see next row).
EVERY_MON
EVERY_TUE
EVERY_WED
EVERY_THU
EVERY_FRI
EVERY_SAT
EVERY_SUN
FIRST_MONTH – First day of the month
SAME_DAY_MONTH – Rebill the same date of the month
FIRST_MON_MONTH – Rebill the first Monday of the month
FIRST_FRI_MONTH – Rebill the first Friday of the month
LAST_MONTH – Rebill the last day of the month
FIRST_QUARTER – Rebill on the 1 st of the next quarter
LAST_QUARTER – Rebill the last day of the quarter
SAME_DAY_QUARTER – Rebill the same date of the quarter
Required field.
DateValueRequired if the PeriodType value is one of the following:

INTERVAL: Include the number of days between each rebill; for ex: DateValue=”30” will rebill every 30 days.

SAME_DAY_MONTH: Include the date that you want to rebill each month; for ex: DateValue=”15” will rebill on the 15 th day each month.

SAME_DAY_QUARTER: Include the date that you want to rebill each quarter; for ex: DateValue=”15” will rebill on the
15 th day of the first month each quarter (Jan 15 th , April 15 th , July 15 th , October 15 th ).
User1Merchant-defined variable the platform will pass through and log (OPTIONAL)
DelaySettleIf you want the initial signup to be an Auth (EventCode=A) and the first rebill (conversion) to be a settlement, include in the authrequest: DelaySettle="1"

Without that parameter, the default authrequest will result in a normal initial sale (EventCode=I).

Auto Purchase

Traditional Auto Purchase
Auto Purchase allows you to process a new sale by submitting an existing SubscriberID to the XML Gateway.

Making the Request
An Auto Purchase request can be sent with a post to the following HTTP address:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/autopurchase.xcgi

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
 
<autopurchaserequest SubscriberID="18061569" NewAccountID="12345" NewProductCode="12345-17758-100" />
</data>

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour AccountID for request authentication
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
SubscriberIDUnique membership ID associated with the customer’s original purchase (9 digits)
NewAccountIDThe AccountID where the request will be processed under
NewProductCodeUnique ID representing the purchase option associated with this request (in the format of 12345-12345-123)

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
The XML response you receive after sending an Auto Purchase request will be similar to the following example:

<data>
<autopurchaseresponse RequestID="1" TransactionID="73839075" EventCode="I" SubscriberID="18311302" Message="OK" MoreInfo="" />
</data>

Same SubscriberID Auto Purchase

Making the Request
If you want to process an Auto Purchase but keep the same SubscriberID assigned to the customer, use the following HTTP Address:
https://secure.bill1st.com/cgi-bin/ssauth.xcgi

With the above address, use the request data below:

<data>
<auth AccountID="12345" AccountPassword="mYp2ssw0rd"/>
 
<authrequest RequestID="1" SubscriberID="195504277" AccountID="12345" ProductCode="12345- 17758-101" Amount="1.05" />
</data>

The example XML string above includes the following parameters:

Definition of Parameters

ParameterDefinition
AccountIDYour AccountID for request authentication
AccountPasswordYour password for request authentication
RequestIDValue will stay as “1” unless you send multiple data sets within one submission
SubscriberIDUnique membership ID associated with the customer’s original purchase (9 digits)
AccountIDThe AccountID the request will be processed under
ProductCodeUnique ID representing the purchase option associated with this request (in the format of 12345-12345-123)
AmountAmount of the charge being processed (Required only for certain ProductCode types)

Resulting XML Dataset (Example)
The XML response you receive after sending a Same SubscriberID Auto Purchase request will be similar to the following example:

<data><authresponse RequestID="1" TransactionID="966054387" EventCode="S" SubscriberID="195504277" Message="DEMO20003 cc_authorizeRESPONSE cc_authorizeAUTH" VisaCode="" User1="demo test" AuthCode="cc_authorizeAUTHCODE" AuthResponse="DEMO20003 cc_authorizeRESPONSE cc_authorizeAUTH" ResponseCode="100" SubEventTypeID="100" MoreInfo="" AVSCode="-" CVVCode="-"/></data>

Event Notification

Event Notifications are background posts that we can send you after events occur in our system. For example, when an auth, single sale, initial sale, rebill, credit, cancellation, chargeback, termination and decline occur, Event Notifications are queued in the system and sent in the order they are queued.

Event Notification Variables
Below is a list of the variables included in the event notifications you receive.

VariableDefinition
EventCodeThe customer’s most recent transaction type. For a list of event codes, see Appendix A.
FirstNameCustomer’s first name.
Address1/Address2Customer’s street address.
User1/User2User-defined variable that can store anything. We will store
User1/2 in our database and it can be retrieved using our XML
reporting (Express Stats) and the Bill1st client interface. URL
encoding and Base64 encoding can be used with User1/User2.
The following characters are allowed:
Letters
Numbers
@ (at symbol)
= (equal)
, (comma)
& (ampersand)
- (dash)
. (period)
# (pound)
(underscore)
: (colon)
_ % (percentage)
IPAddressIP of the customer’s device.
OriginalTransactionIDID that associates the customer’s original transaction to events, such as Chargebacks and Credits.
CityCustomer’s city.
StateCustomer’s state; example, FL.
SiteIDWebsite where the customer signed up.
PackageIDReturned only when a cross-sale has occurred, the PackageID includes the two product codes joined together – first the primary site, and second the cross-sale; e.g.: 2000-100-1001-

115.
OriginalEventCodeThe customer’s original transaction type. For a list of event codes, see Appendix A.
RefundTransactionIDIdentifies the customer’s most recent refund transaction.
ZipCustomer’s zip code (US).
LastNameCustomer’s last name.
TransactionIDThe ID that identifies the customer’s most recent transaction.
A unique transaction ID exists for every transaction in our system.
SubAccountIDUser-defined variable available to merchants.
EmailCustomer’s email address.
CardTypeCredit card type used for this transaction. One of the
following:
• V = VISA
• M = MasterCard
• D = Discover
• A = Amex
• J = JCB
PaymentTypePayment method used by the customer during signup
ProductCodeUnique ID created for each price point you have in the system
OfferIDUser-defined variable available to merchants.
AccountIDThe client’s Account ID for this particular transaction
AmountAmount of the customer’s transaction. ex: 1.23
SitePasswordUsed to store a password that can be passed from the client’s site through the pay page and onto the client’s notification script.
TimestampThe time this transaction occurred. (GMT STANDARD TIME)
CountryCustomer’s country, sent as a 3-digit code (840 = USA). The complete list of M49 codes can be found at:
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49.
SiteUsernameUsed to store a username that can be passed from the client’s site through the pay page and onto the client’s notification script.
SubscriberIDID associated with the customer throughout every transaction that occurs. This ID is unique per customer and doesn’t change throughout the billing cycle.
SubEventTypeIDSub-Event Type ID. See Appendix B
ExternalTransactionID
ARNAcquirer reference number
CurrencyCode
CardBIN
ChargebackReasonCode
ChargebackReasonDescription
ChargebackReasonNote
ResponseCode
ResponseCodeDescriptionSee Appendix C

Event Notification FAQs

When Are Event Notifications Sent?
Event Notifications are queued in the system when an event occurs and sent immediately in the order they are queued. The events include auth, single sale, initial sale, rebill, credit, cancellation, chargeback, termination and decline.

Example Event Notification Response
Here is an example of a credit card approval response posted by the Bill1st system:

EventCode=S&SubEventTypeID=100&FirstName=John&Address2=&User1=test&IPA ddress=96.77.61.33&OriginalTransactionID=0&City=Boca%20Raton&State=FL& SiteID=70862&PackageID=&OriginalEventCode=%3F&RefundTransactionID=0&Zi p=33432&LastName=Smith&TransactionID=1587023665&SubAccountID=0&Email=j smith%40gmail.com&CardType=m&PaymentType=cc&ProductCode=20003-70000- 100&OfferID=0&AccountID=20003&User2=&Amount=1.00&SitePassword=NONE&Tim estamp=2019-04- 12%2014%3A52%3A43&Country=840&SiteUsername=NONE&Address1=980%20N.%20Fe deral%20Hwy&SubscriberID=445364357

What Constitutes a Successful Event Notification?
When your system responds to our event notification with a 200 OK header and any content in the body, such as “success.” It is not necessary to respond with body content as long as you don’t send back an error such as “400.”

The Bill1st system will perform a HEAD to see if the Notification URL exists. If your program does NOT respond with a valid Response, then the Notification fails and no attempt is made to post the data.
If your system returns a 200 (or any valid) response to the HEAD, then the post will be made with the transaction parameters and values.

How do I Enable Event Notification?
Please email [email protected] with your AccountID, SiteID, Event Notification URL and Failover Email Address. Notifications for the following events will default to enabled:

Auth
Single Sale
Initial Sale
Rebill
Cancellation
Termination
Credit
Chargeback
Decline

What happens when an error occurs?
If Bill1st can’t post to the specified Notification URL in the admin control panel, we will retry the post up to 3 times. At that point, we will send the post to the failover email address listed in the Event Notification settings in the Bill1st control panel.

Is Event Notification secure?
The post can be done via SSL and you can check to see where the post is coming from. The gateway IP list is located here: https://secure.bill1st.com/iplist.txt.

Express Stats

The Bill1st Express Stats program allows E-Commerce providers the ability to request reporting data directly from Bill1st through a CGI interface. This document specifies the requests you can make and the responses Bill1st will send. Our goal is to provide large companies who have their own development staff the ability to receive the reporting functionality they need to run their business.

Communicating with Express Stats
Requests to Express Stats must be sent as a POST.
You can generate a FORM POST similar to the ones on your web browser for generating Bill1st transactions.
The post should consist of the following:

Header:
The format will be the same, although the URL it contains may differ with each post:

<form method=POST action=https://secure.bill1st.com/express/index.php>

Body:
The body contains identification and request, and will be standard for all posts:

<input type="hidden" name="account_id" value="Your_Bill1st_Account_ID">
<input type="hidden" name="password" value="Your_Bill1st_Account_Password">

Your account_id and password are the login values used for making XML requests. The following fields are required:

<input type="hidden" name="start_date" value="YYYY-MM-DD">
<input type="hidden" name="end_date" value="YYYY-MM-DD">
<input type="hidden" name="account_list" value="AccountID, AccountID">
<input type="hidden" name="authorization" value="1" >
<input type="hidden" name="query_mode" value="transaction">
<input type="hidden" name="inputStream" value="1">
  • Use start date and end date to specify the date range of your transaction search. Use account list to specify the AccountID value(s) you want included in your transaction search.
  • Leave the values for authorization, query_mode and inputStream as they appear above: “1”, “transaction” and “1”, respectively.

Footer:
This footer closes the form with a SUBMIT button and is standard for all posts.

<input type="submit" value="Give_Me_My_Reports">

A standard post to request data with a start date of 01/15/2019 and an end date 01/31/2019 with a max record return of 50 would look like this:

<form method=POST action=https://secure.bill1st.com/express/index.php>
<input type="hidden" name="account_id" value="Your_Bill1st_Account_ID">
<input type="hidden" name="password" value="Your_Bill1st_Account_Password">
<input type="hidden" name="start_date" value="2019-01-15">
<input type="hidden" name="end_date" value="2019-01-31">
<input type="hidden" name="account_list" value="20003,20004">
<input type="hidden" name="authorization" value="1" >
<input type="hidden" name="query_mode" value="transaction">
<input type="hidden" name="inputStream" value="1">
<input type="hidden" name="limit" value="50">
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Give_Me_My_Reports">
</form>

A standard GET to do the same thing would look like this:

<a href="https://secure.bill1st.com/express/index.php?inputStream=1&account_id=Your_Bill1st_Ac count_ID&password=Your_Bill1st_Account_Password&start_date=2019-01-15&end_date=2019-01- 31&account_list=20003,20004&authorization=1&query_mode=transaction&limit=50">Click Here
</a>

In the above examples, you can see the following:

Bill1st Express Stats URL = secure.bill1st.com
Bill1st Express Stats Program = express/index.php
account_id = Your_Bill1st_Account_ID
password = Your_Bill1st_Account_Password
start_date = 2019-01-01
end_date = 2019-01-31
account_list = 20003,20004
authorization=1
query_mode=transaction
inputStream=1
limit = 50

When using Express Stats, post the data to us from within your CGI program and wait for our response. Typically, the response should arrive in a couple of seconds. In rare cases, or in cases where you have sent a lot of data, it could take a little longer for us to respond. The response will be in XML format. Your CGI program is responsible for parsing the XML into a format that you can use. There are many XML parsers available on the market for a host of different programming languages.

Variables Explained
Below is a list of variables you can post to Express Stats to retrieve various types of data:
Required variables:

  • account_id - The AccountID you use for XML requests
  • password - The password you use for XML requests
  • start_date - The start date of the records you are trying to retrieve. Example: 2019-01-15 (YYYY-MM- DD)
  • end_date - The end date of the records you are trying to retrieve. Example: 2019-01-31 (YYYY-MM- DD)
  • account_list -The list of accounts you would like to query
  • authorization – Set this value to “1” query_mode – Set this value to “transaction”
  • inputStream – Set this value to “1”

These are optional fields that can be posted and are returned in the XML response:

  • transaction_id - Allows you to specify a single transaction number.
  • subscriber_id- Allows you to specify a single subscription number.
  • sub_account_id - Allows you to specify a single affiliate ID, this will only be populated if the signup was sent from an affiliate (0 for non-affiliate).
  • product_code - The unique ID created for each price point in the Bill1st system. A specific product code can be retrieved.
  • customer_ip - Allows you to specify a single IP address.
  • limit - The number of records you would like to retrieve. The max number is 4000 records per request.
  • start_id - Allows you to specify a starting transaction number.
  • end_id - Allows you to specify an ending transaction number.
  • event_code - An event ID that is based on the outcome of the transaction. For a list of Event Codes, see Appendix A.
  • sub_event_code – A more granular description of the transaction type (i.e. Primary sale, cross sale, etc). For a list of SubEventTypeIDs, see Appendix B.
  • site_name - Can be used to store a username that can be passed from the client’s site through the pay page and onto the client’s notification script.
  • site_password - Can be used to store a password that can be passed from the client’s site through the pay page and onto the client’s notification script.
  • user_1 - Allows you to retrieve the data for User1. Only populated if used during the initial transaction.
  • user_2 - Allows you to retrieve the data for User2. Only populated if used during the initial transaction.
  • card_type - The credit card used in the transaction. Ex: “v” – VISA
  • payment_type - The payment method used for that particular transaction. Ex: “cc” – credit card
  • affiliate_id - Client Affiliate information
  • affiliate_tag - Affiliate Tag
  • amount - Amount of the transaction
  • merchant_code - MerchantCode value of transaction
  • invoice_number – Invoice Number

XML Response
Below is a sample XML response returned from Express Stats:

EventCode = "R" (rebill transaction)

<transaction Page="1" TransactionID="1580687078" PaymentType="cc" CardType="v"
SubscriberID="430463351" EventCode="R" ResponseCode="100" SiteID="70000"
ProductCode="20003-70000-109" MerchantCode="TSYX44412" Amount="5.00"
ScheduledAction="R" ScheduledDate="2019-05-01 20:45:03" SubEventTypeID="301"
User1="test" User2="test2" Timestamp="2019-04-01 20:15:02" ClientAffiliateID="0"
AffiliateTag="" InitialTransactionID="1559938605" OriginalTransactionID="1580195500"
ExternalTransactionID="909104403200" Response="Approved" FirstName="John"
LastName="Smith" Address1="123 Main St." Address2="" City="Boca" State="FL" Zip="33445"
Country="840" CardBIN="444433" CardLastFour="1111" ExpDate="2023-12-01"
Email="[email protected]" Phone="" IPAddress="rebill.pl" SiteUsername="jsmith"
SitePassword="NONE" CurrencyCode="USD" OriginID="0" Status="UNKNOWN" fieldValue=""
SubscriberUserFields="CryptFileVersion,User1,User2" ARN="" ReasonCode="" ReasonNote=""
ReasonDescription=""/>

Appendix A – Event Codes

Event CodeNameDescription
AAuthorizationAuth transaction that is available for a settlement
SSingle Sale or SettlementOne-time Sale or one-time Settlement, depending on the Product Code used
IInitialInitial sale on a recurring Product Code
RRebillRebill on a recurring Product Code
CCreditRefund transaction
VVoidVoid transaction
HPending Batch CreditRefund is scheduled for a gateway batch
~Pending Batch SettlementSettlement is scheduled for a gateway batch
!DeclinedThe transaction has been declined
MCancellation• When cancellation is requested via cancel api or admin, EventCode 'M' occurs. The purpose for cancelling recurring subscribers is to stop future gateway rebills.
• When a chargeback or fraud event occur, the gateway will also 'cancel' the SubscriberID, resulting in EventCode 'M', regardless of Product Type.
DTerminatedThe recurring subscription has expired
XChargebackThe transaction was charged back
ZTC40Fraud
1RetrievalAn inquiry of the transaction by issuer or cardholder (soft chargeback)
TTestTest transaction using the system test card from site settings
FFailedRefund request has failed
UAlertA card association alert was received
KConvertedThe subscriber was converted to a new Product Code
?Incomplete TransactionTransaction failed for various reasons, contact support
EExpired BillingThe subscription has reached its MaxRebill limit

Appendix B – SubEventTypeID Codes

SubEvent TypeIDclassDescriptionIntegrationSubscriptionState
0UNKNUnspecified SubEventTypenainitial
100SNGLSingle Salenon-Batchinginitial
101SNGLSingle no sale - Free Membershipnon-Batchinginitial
105SNGLSingle Creditnon-Batchingcredited
106SNGLSingle Voidnon-Batchingvoided
200NTRINon-Trial Initialnon-Batchinginitial
201NTRINon-Trial Recurringnon-Batchingrebilled
202NTRINon-Trial Convertednon-Batchingconverted
210NTRINon-Trial Creditnon-Batchingcredited
211NTRINon-Trial Voidnon-Batchingvoided
300TRIATrial Initialnon-Batchinginitial
301TRIATrial Recurringnon-Batchingrebilled
302TRIATrial Convertednon-Batchingconverted
310TRIATrial Creditnon-Batchingcredited
311TRIATrial Voidnon-Batchingvoided
400NTRINon-Trial Initial - batching integrationBatchinginitial
401NTRINon-Trial Recurring - batching integrationBatchingrebilled
402NTRINon-Trial Converted - batching integrationBatchingconverted
403SNGLSingle saleBatchinginitial
404SNGLSingle Pending CreditBatchingpending credit
405SNGLSingle CreditBatchingcredited
406SNGLSingle VoidBatchingvoided
409NTRINon-Trial Pending CreditBatchingpending credit
410NTRINon-Trial CreditBatchingcredited
411NTRINon-Trial VoidBatchingvoided
500TRIATrial Initial - batching integrationBatchinginitial
501TRIATrial Recurring - batching integrationBatchingrebilled
502TRIATrial Converted - batching integrationBatchingconverted
509TRIATrial Pending CreditBatchingpending credit
510TRIATrial CreditBatchingcredited
511TRIATrial VoidBatchingvoided
1000QCVTQuickConvert Instant Conversionnainitial
1001QCVTQuickConvert Instant Conversion Rebillnarebilled
1002QCVTQuickConvert Instant Conversion Convertednaconverted

Appendix C – Response Codes

ResponseCode Description
100 Approved
200 Declined
201 Expired Card
204 Invalid method for this card
207 Contact issuing bank
209 Invalid Terminal ID
210 Invalid amount
212 PIN is required
213 Declined
214 Card does not support this type of transaction
217 PIN is incorrect
218 Card is not registered
223 Wrong CAUV
224 Cardholder needs to change PIN before use
225 Card not active
226 Blocked due to invalid PIN
229 Card not operative (error in CVV)
230 Denomination not supported by card issuer
261 Brand not allowed by issuer
280 Card type not accepted by issuer
281 Card has debit restrictions
283 Authentication error : transaction
284 Authentication error
289 Processor Security Block
290 Decline by issuer - no reason given
291 CVV code is missing
292 Gateway retry not allowed
299 The CVV2 has more than three digits
300 Refer to card issuer
301 Refer to card issuer, special condition
302 Invalid merchant or service provider
303 Pick up card
304 Do not honor
305 Error
306 Pick up card, special condition
307 Honor with ID
308 VIP approval
309 Invalid transaction
310 Invalid amount
311 Invalid account number
312 No such issuer
313 Re-enter transaction
314 No action taken
315 Unable to locate record in file
316 File is temporarily unavailable
317 No credit account
318 Pick up card (lost card)
319 Pick up card (stolen card)
320 Insufficient funds
321 No checking account
322 No savings account
323 Expired card
324 Incorrect PIN
325 Transaction not permitted to cardholder
326 Transaction not allowed at terminal
327 Activity amount limit exceeded
328 Restricted card
329 Security violation
330 Activity count limit exceeded
331 Response late
332 Allowable number of PIN-entry tries exceeded
333 Unable to locate previous message
334 Message inconsistent with original message
335 Nonexistent account
336 Key exchange validation failed
337 Invalid date
338 PIN crypto error
339 Incorrect CVV
340 Unable to verify PIN
341 Invalid auth life cycle
342 No reason to decline request for account or address verification
343 Issuer or switch inoperative
344 Destination cannot be found for routing
345 Transaction cannot be completed; violation of law.
346 System malfunction
347 Duplicate add, action not performed
348 Transaction rejected AVS is invalid
349 Force STP
350 Cash service not available
351 Cash request exceeds issuer limit
352 Decline for CVV2 failure
353 Approved; PVID missing, invalid or expired
354 Declined; PVID missing, invalid or expired
355 Invalid biller information
356 Card authentication failed
357 Forward to issuer
358 Forward to issuer
359 Decline; unable to go online
360 Approved (Express Rewards Program)
361 Service not permitted
362 Invalid effective date
363 Please wait
364 Format error
365 Invalid currency code
366 Reversal Accepted
367 Unable to refund. Transaction has been charged back
368 Missing Required Data
369 Invalid Email Address
370 Revocation of auth
371 Revocation of rebills
379 Lifecycle Related
382 Policy Related
383 Security Related
400 Invalid Message Type
401 Merchant ID not found
402 Invalid processing code
403 Debit not supported
404 Private label not supported
405 Invalid card type
406 Unit not active
407 Duplicate ID
408 Manual card entry invalid
409 Invalid track information
410 Unsupported card information
411 Master merchant record not found
412 Invalid card format
413 Invalid tran type
414 Invalid Track 2 field
415 Invalid Entry Mode
416 Invalid amount
417 Invalid Msg Format
418 Invalid ABA number
419 Record not found
420 Merchant ID Error
421 Refund not Allowed
422 Refund Denied
423 Report format not supported
424 No detail records for merchant
425 Group/Provider ID missing
426 Report type not available
427 No total records for merchant
428 Invalid block requested
429 No status record for merchant
430 Invalid receipt requested
431 Bad status
432 Batch totals mismatch
433 Issuer unavailable
434 Terminal ID not found
435 Invalid Response from Processor
436 Message not supported
437 Invalid IP
438 Transaction is not permitted on this product
500 Expired Credit Card
501 Insufficient credit
502 Exceeded credit limit
503 Card has credit restrictions
504 Maximum PIN retries reached
505 Invalid card length
506 Invalid Month
507 Invalid Year
508 Invalid card number
509 Invalid other data
601 Insufficent Funds
602 Account Closed
603 No Account Located
604 Invalid Account Number
605 Invalid Debit Entry
606 ODFI Return
607 Customer Revoke
608 Payment Stopped
609 Uncollected Funds
610 Unauthorized Account
611 Failed Check Safekeep
612 Branch Change
613 Bad Routing Number
614 Holder Dead
616 Account Froze
617 Bad File Record
620 Non transaction Account
621 Invalid Company ID
622 Invalid Individual ID
623 Credit Refused
624 Duplicate Entry
629 Corp Not Authorized
631 Permissible Return
633 Return XCK Entry
651 Incorrect DFI Number
652 Incorrect Routing Number
653 Incorrect DFI And Routing
654 Incorrect Customer Name
655 Incorrect Transaction Code
656 Incorrect Account and Transaction
700 Suspicion of Fraud
701 Contact issuing bank; Suspicion of fraud
702 General decline: withhold card
703 Final decline, do not re-attempt
704 Updated information needed
705 Additional information needed
706 Try again later
800 Swap down
801 Database error
802 Close fields - comm error
803 Release failed - comm error
804 Transaction timeout
805 Communication Failure
806 Processing temporarily not possible
807 Card issuer temporarily not reachable
900 Scrub Related
901 AVS - No Match
902 AVS - Zip does not match
903 AVS - Address does not match
904 Number of attempts was exceeded for period, CC
905 Number of approvals was exceeded for period, CC
906 Number of declines was exceeded for period, CC
907 Number of refunds was exceeded for period, CC
908 Number of attempts was exceeded for period, ACH Acct
909 Number of approvals was exceeded for period, ACH Acct
910 Number of declines was exceeded for period, ACH Acct
911 Number of refunds was exceeded for period, ACH Acct
912 Number of attempts was exceeded for period, Email
913 Number of approvals was exceeded for period, Email
914 Number of declines was exceeded for period, Email
915 Number of refunds was exceeded for period, Email
916 Number of attempts was exceeded for period, IP
917 Number of approvals was exceeded for period, IP
918 Number of declines was exceeded for period, IP
919 Number of refunds was exceeded for period, IP
920 Reject because BIN is in the negative database
921 Reject because Country is in the negative database
922 Reject because TRANSACTION_ACCTNUM is in the negative database
923 Reject because TRANSACTION_ACCTNUM is in the negative database, CB
924 Reject because TRANSACTION_ACCTNUM is in the negative database, Rule
925 Reject because TRANSACTION_ACCTNUM is in the negative database, Bank response
926 Reject because ach is in the negative database, Admin
927 Reject because ach is in the negative database, CB
928 Reject because ach is in the negative database, Rule
929 Reject because ach is in the negative database, Bank response
930 Reject because email is in the negative database, Admin
931 Reject because email is in the negative database, CB
932 Reject because email is in the negative database, Rule
933 Reject because email is in the negative database, Bank response
934 Reject because ipaddress is in the negative database
935 Reject because ipaddress is in the negative database, CB
936 Reject because ipaddress is in the negative database, Rule
937 Reject because ipaddress is in the negative database, Bank response
938 Person entered junk, repetive letters, curse words etc in first name, last name city etc.
939 Address validation failure
940 Country does not match IP Country
941 BIN does not match Country BIN
942 ThreatMetrix rejected
943 General fraud decline.
944 Score exceeded threshold
966 Scrub Related
967 Scrub Related
968 Scrub Related
2000 Gateway Off-line
2001 Could not map external response code to system response code
2002 Problems with the arguments passed as parameters
2003 Feature Not Implemented
2004 Missing Information from Previous Transaction
2005 Unable to Parse MerchantFieldData
2006 Unable to Parse TransactionFieldData
2007 Invalid Transaction State
2008 MerchantCode Enabled For Refunds Only
2010 Merchant Pool missing or inactive
2011 Merchant Code missing or inactive
2012 Merchant limits exceeded
2013 Card Type not accepted by merchant
2100 General Connection Failure
2101 Connection Timeout
2102 Connection Refused
2103 Remote Server Error
2150 Remote HTTP 301
2151 Remote HTTP 302
2152 Remote HTTP 401
2153 Remote HTTP 403
2154 Remote HTTP 404
2155 Remote HTTP 500
2156 Remote HTTP 503
2200 General Response Error
2201 Unable to Parse Output
2202 Missing Response
2203 Invalid Response
2204 Un-handled Response
2500 Bad Transaction in Batch
2501 Duplicate Batch Sent
2502 Batch Rejected, No Action Needed
2600 Card Blocked
2601 Blocked due to previous RDR
2602 Blocked due to previous Verifi
2603 Blocked due to previous Ethoca
2605 Customer Has Active Rebill
2998 Program crashed or gateway timed-out
2999 Can't execute
3001 3D-Secure Information Provided Is Malformed
3002 3D-Secure Not Supported by Gateway
3003 3D-Secure Not Supported by Processor
3004 3D-Secure Not Supported
3005 3D-Secure Authentication Required
3006 3D-Secure Version Error
3007 Invalid SCA Exemption
3008 SCA Exemption Declined
3009 Strong Authentication Required
3010 Exemption Not Allowed on This Product