Why should I use the Transaction Key?

It is critical to verify that transactions are truly coming directly from your site. This verification ensures secure access to your Payment Gateway and can be accomplished in many ways, including password authentication.

As of November 22, 2004, Authorize.Net enabled a new Password-Required Mode on all accounts to strengthen the transactions between those stores and their gateway.

What is the Transaction Key?

The Transaction Key is similar to a password and is used by the Payment Gateway to authenticate transactions. It is an encrypted password that will be used for the transactions to be processed from your Online Store to Authorize.Net.

You may obtain a new, unique transaction key as often as you wish by supplying the secret answer to the secret question that you answered when you set up your account.

You will still use your Password to login to your Authorize.Net account.

How do I get my Transaction Key?

1. Login to your Authorize.Net account - http://www.Authorize.Net
2. Select Settings and Profile from the left side menu
3. Under Security - Select Obtain Transaction Key
4. You will need to know the Secret Answer to the Secret Question. If you do not know this information, you will need to contact Authorize.Net directly.
5. There is an option to Disable Old Transaction Key, a new Key is generated by Authorize.Net. If you are using this account on other web sites, we advise that you DO NOT Disable the Old Transaction Key. Doing so may interrupt the service for your other sites.
6. Click Submit and the Transaction Key will be displayed
7. Copy the Transaction Key. You will need to enter (or paste) the Key within the Payment Manager in the Control Panel for your Online Store.
8. We recommend that you go through a "test" order on the site to ensure that the Transaction Key was entered properly.

More information from Authorize.Net

Authorize.Net Fraud Detection Suite - http://www.authorizenet.com/files/fdswhitepaper.pdf