Website Payments Pro (Express Checkout and Direct Payment)

In order to use the Website Payments Pro suite of products, you must have a business account. 

I.  I do not have an existing PayPal account:

1. Go to https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_registration-run&business_only_signup=1 
2. Choose to create a Business account
3. Choose country and click on Continue
4. Business Account Sign Up:

1. Fill out your business information
2. Fill in the business owner contact information
3. Fill in your business owner address and click on Continue
4. Enter in your email address
5. Choose your security questions
6. Accept the user agreement and legal policy
7. Type in your security measure
8. Click on Sign Up

5. Be sure to confirm your address by adding a credit card to your funding source
6. Verify your email address by checking your email address and follow instructions in the PayPal email address
7. Add a bank account to your funding source to be a Verified member. This process may take several business days.  Follow the instructions on the PayPal site to add a bank account.
8. Go to section III to setup your account configuration

II. I have an existing Personal or Premier account with PayPal

1. Go to https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_registration-run&business_only_signup=1
2. Click on the Upgrade your Account link
3. Click on the Upgrade Now button
4. If your account was a personal account, you will get a choice to upgrade to a Premier or Business account.
5. Choose to upgrade to a Business account and follow instructions.
6. If you were a Premier account holder, you will be sent to the Business account upgrade. Follow the instructions.
7. Follow Steps 5-8 in Section I if you have not done so
8. Follow instructions for the upgrade path

III. Applying for the Website Payments Pro application

1. Log into your PayPal Business account.
2. Cut and paste this URL into your browser: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_smb_signup_entry&featureID=1
3. Fill out your information. You will be required to have a social security number for this application.
4. Submit your application.  Approval will take between 24-48 hours to approve.  You will receive email notification of application approval.
5. On the left hand margin at the top of your Account Overview, you should see the several steps of the process. You can refer to this section during your application process.
6. You should see a Complete Billing Agreement before proceeding.  Merchants will be waived the monthly fee until the end of October, 2005.
7. You will be taken back to the Direct Payment API page where you can choose to download a certificate. Check with your cart provider to see if you will need to.

IV. Download the PayPal API certificate (please note that this certificate should not be used for SSL purposes)

1. Sign into your PayPal account
2. Click on the Profile section under the My Account Tab
3. Under the Account Information column, you should see the API Access link, click on that link (if you do not see it then your account is not Premier or Business, go back to Sections I or II)
4. You should see a section called “Request an API Certificate”; click on the API Certificate Request link
   (You will need to have your account ‘Verified’ before you can request a certificate. ‘Verified’ status requires that you tie a valid bank account to your PayPal account)
5. Fill out your Certificate Profile –
1. The API account name will be automatically generated for you
2. Type in your password (this password should NOT be the same as your PayPal account password)
3. Accept the Terms of Use and click on Continue
6. If you have had an existing Business account with PayPal for over 30 days, you can generate a certificate immediately. If not, your certificate request will take 24 hours to process.
7. If you have generated your certificate, the next screen will allow you to download it by clicking on the Download button
8. The file you download is named cert_key_pem.txt
9. Return to the PayPal Website Payments Pro screen and click on the link for number 6 (Upload page for your API certificate)
10. On the API upload page fill out the form provided to upload your API certificate, provide the file password (NOT your PayPal password), and the API account name that was issued by PayPal with your certificate.