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BuySafe
BuySafe is a technology intended to protect the customer. It is an extra layer of security to ensure the customer gets their goods delivered on time and in a good condition. Not all merchants are BuySafe, on the payment page you will see a notice and logo indicating if the merchant is BuySafe or not. If a merchant is BuySafe certified, funds paid by a customer will be held in a control account at the merchant’s bank until the merchant has actually delivered the goods or services. Once the merchant has updated the status of the order to “delivered”, the customer is notified and has a 24 hour period to dispute the status. If no dispute is raised, the funds are moved from the bank’s control account into the merchant’s bank account. This extra step is designed to give customers peace of mind when they purchase goods or services that are not delivered or available immediately after the time of purchase. BuySafe is an optional service and is not compulsory for any merchant. The BuySafe process is as follows:- Customer checks out of the merchant's site.
- Customer makes payment on VPayments.
- If the merchant is registered on BuySafe they will not immediately receive the money, instead it will be held in suspense at their bank.
- The merchant delivers the goods to the customer and then confirm delivery on VPayments, it is vital the merchant also gets a signature to confirm delivery in case of a dispute.
- The customer is notified by email that delivery has been made and has at least 24 hours to dispute delivery.
- If no dispute is lodged before the end of next business day settlement the payment will be transferred to the merchant’s account.
- If there is a dispute then the funds are kept in suspense and cannot be accessed by the customer or merchant until the bank has completed a manual dispute resolution process. Note that this process may incur charges from the bank.
Further disputes
In the event the merchant is not BuySafe registered or the delivery dispute period has expired and the merchant has received their money the customer can still dispute a transaction. But in this case no funds are held in suspense, the merchant still has access to the funds, but the customer, merchant and bank are notified and a manual resolution process is started.
Is it safe to use a non BuySafe merchant?
Not all merchants will be BuySafe registered, for example service providers who do not deliver a physical item. It is still safe to pay such a merchant, but the customer should decide the level of trust for themselves. If the merchant is a well-established company and known to the customer then it is very safe to make payment. It is only a risk if the customer makes payment to an unknown entity who they are not sure will complete delivery, in this case rather use a BuySafe registered merchant who can provide the same service.
BuySafe flow
- Customer checks out on the Merchant Site.
- Merchant server initiates a transaction to VPayments.
- VPayments replies to the merchant with a redirect URL.
- The Client browser is redirect to VPayments.
- Client logs in and processes the transaction.
- VPayments initiates a transaction that debits the customer’s account and credits the Suspense account at the Financial Institution.
- VPayments uses return URL supplied in initiation.
- Client is redirected back to the Merchant site.
- * Merchant server checks the transaction status with VPayments.
- * VPayments replies with transaction status.
- VPayments releases the funds in the BuySafe suspense account after 24 hours period has passed.
- [1] If a customer dispute is raised within this period the transaction is placed on hold and the transaction is reversed.
[1] – This step never happens if a dispute does not occur.