Reference
Some features work the moment you install the plugin. Others need Scotiabank to enable something on your merchant account first, and that request can take days. Here is which is which.
How to read this
When a merchant tells us something is not working, it is almost always one of these, and they are easy to confuse.
Some features are Professional or Premium only. The one thing we control, and it is instant.
Features arrive in releases. If you have not updated in a year, you do not have them. Updating is free while your licence is active.
Scotiabank has to enable certain capabilities on your account. Nothing we do can turn these on. There are only four.
The short version
The service itself. Without it you have no Store ID and no Shared Secret, and nothing else here applies. Ask for eCom+ by name. This is the longest step, so start it first.
Each currency is enabled individually. If you want US dollars alongside your local currency, ask for both during the application. Adding one afterwards is a separate request.
Required for refunds, captures and voids from inside WooCommerce. Without it those actions have to be done in Scotiabank's Merchant Admin terminal instead.
Saved cards need tokenization. Subscriptions need tokenization and recurring payments, which are two separate permissions, so ask for both by name.
Everything else in the plugin works without asking the bank for anything beyond eCom+ itself.
Quick reference
Green means it works as soon as eCom+ is live. Red means there is a request to make first.
| Feature | Plan | Bank must enable |
|---|---|---|
| Modal checkout | All plans | Nothing extra |
| Redirect checkout | All plans | Nothing extra |
| 3D Secure 2.0 | All plans | Nothing extra |
| Sandbox testing | All plans, including free | Nothing extra |
| Block checkout support | All plans | Nothing extra |
| Live payments | Professional and above | eCom+ live credentials |
| Local currency and USD | Professional and above | Each currency separately |
| Authorize only, capture later | Professional and above | API access |
| Partial capture and voids | Professional and above | API access |
| Refunds from the order screen | Professional and above | API access |
| Saved cards and tokenization | Premium | Tokenization |
| WooCommerce Subscriptions | Premium | Tokenization + recurring payments |
| Order ID prefixes | Premium | Nothing extra |
WooCommerce Subscriptions also requires the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, which is sold separately by WooCommerce. Our plugin connects your gateway to it rather than replacing it.
Checkout
Two flows, both included on every plan. Modal is the default and the one most merchants want.
Default
Modal checkout
Payment form opens over your own checkout page. Customer pays and the order completes without leaving your store.
Optional
Redirect checkout
Customer is sent to a separate payment page and returned afterwards. Still available under Payment Behaviour.
Both flows
Card data never touches your site
The form is served by Scotiabank, so no card number reaches your server or your database.
3D Secure 2.0 runs the authentication step your bank requires, and it matters commercially rather than just technically. When a transaction is authenticated through 3DS2, liability for a fraudulent chargeback shifts away from you and to the card issuer. For Caribbean stores selling to overseas cardholders, that is not a small thing.
Block checkout is WooCommerce's newer checkout. The plugin supports it alongside the classic one, with both flows available, and saved cards work in either.
Money movement
Authorize only is what you want for deposits, bookings and made-to-order goods, where the final amount is not known at checkout.
Step 1
Authorize
The amount is held on the customer card. Nothing has moved yet.
Step 2, your choice
Capture, in full or in part
Take the money when you are ready, for the amount you actually need.
Or
Void, or refund later
Release the hold entirely, or refund in full or in part from the WooCommerce order screen.
All three need API access enabled on your Scotiabank account. Until that happens, refunds go through Scotiabank's virtual terminal, which works but means two systems and a reconciliation step. Request API access during your original application rather than discovering the gap on your first refund.
Repeat customers
Customer
Saves a card at checkout
A logged-in customer ticks the box, or it happens automatically when a subscription is in the cart.
Scotiabank
Holds the card, returns a token
Your site stores a reference with no value to anyone who steals it. The card itself stays with the bank.
Next time
One-click, or automatic renewal
Repeat purchases in one click, and subscription renewals process in the background with no customer involvement.
The requirement people miss. A saved card needs somewhere to live, which means a customer account. If your store is guest-checkout only, tokenization will do nothing for you and the save option will not even appear at checkout. Enable account creation at checkout first.
Test the renewal, not just the signup. Use the renewal tools in WooCommerce Subscriptions to trigger one in sandbox before you go live. A subscription that signs up cleanly and then fails silently a month later is worse than one that never worked at all.
Operations
Your store currency has to match one enabled on your merchant account, or the transaction is rejected. If both your local currency and USD are enabled, you can run both on one store with a currency switcher.
If several stores share one merchant account, every transaction looks identical in Merchant Admin. A prefix such as WEB- makes it obvious which store produced which transaction. It does not create a multi-store setup, it just makes the reports readable.
Scotiabank requires specific content in your transaction emails. This catches merchants at the final hurdle, so handle it before you request live credentials rather than after.
Before you pay anything
Every feature is unlocked in sandbox mode, on unlimited sites, with no time limit. You can build and prove the entire flow, including a 3D Secure challenge, before spending anything.
You can also start testing while your merchant application is still with the bank. By the time your live credentials arrive, the only remaining step is swapping them in.
What to ask for
If you are applying for eCom+ now, ask for all of this at once. Each one as a later request costs you days.
eCom+ enabled on the merchant account.
Every currency you intend to sell in, named individually.
API access, so refunds, captures and voids work from WooCommerce.
Tokenization for saved cards. Tokenization and recurring payments both, if you want subscriptions.
