Currently with NAB Transact we conduct what is called a Direct Post and a browser redirect when a transaction takes place.

This is so that Synergetic does not handle sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, thus enabling us to be PCI compliant.

Current approach

Following the Direct Post the user is redirected back to a Synergetic URL to continue working within the Synergetic web application.

However, in rare case, there may be a client issue where the session is unexpectedly closed (for example, the end user's browser loses connection or crashes).

This may cause the redirect between NAB Transact and the user's browser to not be received, and as a result the corresponding information about the reciept is not stored in the Synergetic base tables meaning that the payment can not be automatically reconciled.

The current resolution in this case is to this is to create a manual receipt for the payment.

New approach

We are introducing a complementary process that will have NAB Transact initiate a callback in addition to the existing redirect process.

This callback will happen regardless of the client session state or user's browser status.

This effectively creates a redundancy in the communication back to Synergetic, ensuring that Synergetic is made aware of the success or failure of the transaction via either channel.

Q&A

Q. Will this create duplicate records in the receipts tables?

A. No.  The process now checks to see whether the update has already occurred via the other channel, and will update if it is the 'first' one to reach the database.

For example if the Redirect channel returned first and made the update to the Receipt content, when the callback channel returned a moment later it will detect that the update was already made and complete gracefully with no further change.