Advanced Features Guide

Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide April 2012 63
5
Implementing Parallel Payments
Parallel payments enables a single buyer to pay multiple merchants in a single checkout
session. Parallel payments is available with API version 63.0 and higher.
About Parallel Payments
Parallel payments enables buyers to pay multiple merchants on a marketplace in a single
Express Checkout session.
An online travel agency marketplace is a typical example of parallel payments in use. The
buyer purchases airline tickets and makes reservations from various merchants such as hotels,
car rental agencies, and entertainment venues hosted on the site. By implementing parallel
payments through Express Checkout, the marketplace host accepts PayPal as a payment
method. The host also provides the buyer with a consolidated order on the PayPal Review
your information page, summarizing expenses, itineraries, and other supporting information.
Buyers see travel information, including cancellation fees, directly from the supplier on the
Transaction Details page and in an email message.
What Is and What Is Not Supported
Parallel payments:
 Supports sales and orders that you later capture with the authorization and capture API
operations
 Supports up to10 payments in one Express Checkout session
NOTE: The same merchant can receive multiple payments in one Express Checkout
session.
 Does not support use of the Instant Update API (callback)
 Does not support accelerated boarding; however single-payment transactions are still
supported
 Does not support parallel billing agreements
Post-Integration Experience
After you integrate parallel payments, the PayPal cart review area shows summary
information for each payment. The following figure is an example of summary information for
an online travel agency with payments to an airline and a hotel.