GuidesFTP ReferenceContact Sales
Guides
GuidesFTP ReferenceContact SalesLog In

FAQs

Suggest Edits

A few FAQ's shared by the development community

📘

Q: What happens when an order is rejected, cancelled or error?

A: Once an order is rejected or cancelled, it can no longer be fulfilled. You will have to submit an alternate order (with the same partner order number if desired) for fulfillment, as long as there is no active (not rejected, not cancelled) orders in the system. If there is an 'active' order with the specified partner order number, the secondary request will be considered a duplicate and rejected accordingly.
Error is not a final status of an order. There is still an option for manual remediation in getting the order back on its fulfillment track. If manual remediation is not possible the order will be cancelled. There is no action required by the DDP.
All of these status will have a reason for the rejection, cancellation or error noted in the line item attribute.

📘

Q: What happens when an order is submitted multiple times?

A: Once an order is submited to BHN, the FMS will verify if there is an existing 'active' order in the system, i.e., a duplicate order check. An 'active' order is defined as an order that is either not rejected or not cancelled.

To determine if an order is duplicate, FMS will look at "Partner Order Number", "PartnerPONumber" and "Fulfillment Status"

If there is an 'active' order, the secondary request will be considered a duplicate and rejected accordingly.

📘

Q: Can I use the same certificate for Fulfillment Services as I use for eGift Services and Product Services?

A: Yes. The Fulfillment Mnaagement Services uses the same gateway endpoint https://api.blackhawknetwork.com

📘

Q: Can I request partial fulfillment?

A: No. Blackhawk's FMS API is not merchant-of-record. As such, any changes to an order must be done on the merchants side in order for merchant to control the desired user-experience (notification, refunds, etc.) that is merchant specific.

📘

Q: How often can I poll Blackhawk for my order status (assuming I am not leveraging callbacks).

A: You will typically poll for order status to determine if order was a) Rejected b) Shipped or c) Error. Depending on which status you are interested in, you will poll Blackhawk according to the following cadence (best practices)

Typically, you can follow the schedule below. However, we suggest you consult with your Account Manager to fine-tune the schdule based on your programs, region and which partners/FSP's BHN leverages to support your program.

REJECTED

Poll Blackhawk with 30min-60min after after was requested

SHIPPED

Poll Blackhawk after 3-business days (for standard fulfillment) after 11PM PT
Poll Blackhawk after 1-business days (for expedited fulfillment) after 11PM PT

ERROR

Poll Blackhawk within 12-48hrs after order was requested, with a frequency no more that once every 4hrs.

📘

Q: My company does not allow callbacks due to security. What are my options? What if my company has its own end-points?

A: In the event your company does not support callbacks from Amazon SNS, your easiest options is to simply poll Blackhawk for your order status. Please see "Order or Item Status Values" for best practices.

If you company has an end-point for vendors to update order status, an adapter could be custom developed for you to mediate between Blackhawk callbacks and your API's. Please engage you account manager and inquire about our Professional Services offerings.

📘

Q: How can I load funds (a.k.a., activate) my orders (or cards)?

A: There are several options available based on Order Central's Volume Activation API's

  •     Card Holder Activation Request API to activate by card

  •     Volume Card activation Request API to activate by order

  •     Volume Card Order Activation Status Request API to check on activation status (when activating by order)

📘

Q: What best-practices should I consider when developing against Blackhawk's FMS APIs?

A: To answer this question, you need to understand the following:

A) Order Central Consumer Fulfillment Process

Digital Distribution Partner places an order-request (OR) for new card(s)
Upon receipt of the OR, Order Central will validate and verify if
    The order includes mandatory minimal info [packaging type, product, denomination, shipping info, etc.,] to properly fulfill
    The product(s) requested are in DDP’s catalog
    Etc.
Upon validation, Order Central sends back an Order Confirmation Notification to DDP, indicating acceptance or rejection of the order request at both the order and line-item levels.
    Order Central does not support partial fulfillment. If 1 of N items cannot be fulfilled, Order Central will indicate the rejected and accepted items, but reject the entire order. DDP will have to review ‘rejected’ line items to remediate.
Post order acceptance Order Central
    Enriches the order with mandatory data
    Submits file to specified FSP
    Manages life cycle of order fulfillment process.
Order Central sends Shipment Notification (SN) per item (not card) back to DDP as each item is fulfilled.
    This implies shipped items within an order can be notified across multiple SN, potentially spanning hours/days

B) Changes to Blackhawk spec elements

Blackhawk reserves the right to make minor enhancements to the specifications. Minor enhancements will be backward compatible.

You should build your client applications to gracefully handle the following types of changes to Blackhawk responses:

New request/response elements. Your client applications should handle new, unrecognized request (optional) and response elements.
New request/response element values. Your client applications should handle new, unrecognized request (optiona) and response element values.

What does it mean to "gracefully handle" changes? Here are some examples:

Expect changes. At a minimum, ensure that your client applications do not break when new request/response elements, request/response element values, API  fields or field field values are introduced by minor revisions.
    Don’t code your client applications to expect only certain elements, fields, and values. Must be resilient and extensible.
Log unrecognized elements, fields, or values. Keep a log of all unrecognized elements, fields, or values returned by Blackhawk. You can use this log to flag new functionality that has been introduced by Blackhawk, and then update your client application to take advantage of this functionality.
Surface unrecognized elements, fields, or values. If Blackhawk begins sending a response/notification with a new field, for example, you might devise a way to automatically surface the new field values in your client application in a way that is useful to your users.

C) Basic Structure of an order

The basic structure of an Order Central’s order is

An Order element is a collection of Line Items
A line item describes;
    Product Item Identifier – Unique product IID that identifies which card is ordered
    Denomination – Denomination value per card
    Quantity – Number of cards ordered
    Shipping information – Where to ship, shipping method, shipping cost
    BOMID – The Bill of Material to be packaged with the card product
    etc.

D) Monitoring of Order Confirmation and Shipment Notification

Where possible, it is highly recommended DDP monitor for notifications (files/events) not received.

Example, if an Order Confirmation is expected within 1hr of sending an Order Request, a suitable notification or follow-on action may be appropriate. Also, should Order Confirmation include REJECTION messages, a suitable alert or proactive follow-on action may be appropriate. Rejection reasons vary. See below for top rejection/cancellation reasons.

Please escalate to your Client Manager or contact Blackhawk OCC as soon as possible to remediate issue as soon as possible.

Below are the top reasons for fulfillment failures. Its is recommended these use-cases are tested (un-happy path certification).

Order Central REJECTED scenarios

    Invalid IID/UPC --> Product not certified w/ DP prior to launch
    Product Not In Catalog --> Product not certified w/ DP prior to launch or catalog content has changed.
    Invalid Product Setup --> Product not certified w/ DP prior to launch
    Invalid Denom specified --> DP must validate $ActivationAmt is valid (and within permissible range if  a variable load product)
    Invalid Address --> DP must validate all address (billing, shipping, etc.) conforms to specs
    Invalid Ship Method for PO Box / Military --> DP must validate selected shipmethod is compatible to ShipAddress

Order Central CANCELLED scenarios

    Out Of Stock --> BackOrder will be enabled to prevent this.
    Bad Data --> E.g., Special characters not wrapped in CDATA, etc.
    Rejected response from FSP (MID/BOM/Program Not Setup, etc..) --> Product not certified w/ DP prior to launch

Updated about 1 year ago

Developer Central Agreement

  1. License from Blackhawk. Subject to your full compliance with all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Terms of Use, Blackhawk grants you a non-exclusive, revocable, non-sublicensable, nontransferable license to use and integrate the Blackhawk Developer Tools into your Application solely to test them in Blackhawk’s sandbox environment.
  2. Passwords, Credentials and Access. Blackhawk will provide (or you will be requested to establish) a password or other procedures for verifying that only designated personnel have access to Blackhawk Developer Tools. Blackhawk may provide you with unique confidential identification codes, credentials and certificates that enable you to use the Blackhawk Developer Tools. You may not share any such items with any third party without the prior written consent of Blackhawk, and you agree to notify Blackhawk immediately of any violation of your foregoing obligations. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account, passwords, credentials, codes, certificates and other files, and for all uses of your account, and you are liable for all activities performed under your account or otherwise with your credentials, codes and certificates.
  3. Restrictions and Obligations. You may not use the Blackhawk Developer Tools for any purpose other than as expressly set forth herein without Blackhawk’s prior written consent, including without limitation to access Blackhawk user data or information without authorization or in any manner or for any purpose that violates any law or regulation or any right of any person (including but not limited to intellectual property rights or rights of privacy). You may not use the Blackhawk Developer Tools to build a product or service that is competitive with the Blackhawk Services, or engage in any practices that discriminate against or discourage the use of Blackhawk Services. In addition, you shall not use the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services in connection with or to promote any Applications or other products, services, or materials that constitute, promote or are used for the purpose of dealing in: spyware, adware, or other malicious programs or code; counterfeit goods; items subject to U.S. embargo; unsolicited mass distribution of email; multi-level marketing proposals; hate materials; hacking/surveillance/interception/descrambling equipment; libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive or otherwise offensive content; prostitution; gambling; stolen products or items used for theft; fireworks, explosives, or hazardous materials; or weapons. Without limiting the foregoing, you shall not use the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services for any illegal purpose. Except as expressly and unambiguously authorized under this Agreement, you may not (i) copy, rent, lease, sell, transfer, assign, sublicense, disassemble, reverse engineer or decompile (except to the limited extent such restrictions are expressly prohibited by applicable statutory law), modify or alter any part of the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services, or (ii) otherwise use the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services on behalf of any third party.   You may not use any robot, spider, or other automatic device to create accounts for use of the Blackhawk Developer Tools and you will not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on Blackhawk’s infrastructure.
  4. Support; Other Conditions of Use. Blackhawk may provide you with support or modifications for the Blackhawk Developer Tools (collectively, “Support”) in its sole discretion. Blackhawk may terminate such Support at any time without notice to you. Blackhawk may change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Blackhawk Developer Tools, at any time, including the availability of any APIs. Blackhawk may release subsequent versions of APIs, and you may be required to use those subsequent versions. Blackhawk may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts of or all of the Blackhawk Developer Tools without notice or liability. Your networks, operating systems, software, web server(s), routers, databases and other computer systems must be properly configured to Internet industry standards, as required to securely operate your Application.
  5. Sandbox Environment; Data. You may use the sandbox environment provided as part of the Blackhawk Developer Tools (“Sandbox”) in order to test the Blackhawk Services. If you access the Sandbox with a digital certificate provided by Blackhawk, your use of the Sandbox and any data or information you input into the Sandbox will be available only to users that access the Developer Portal with your account. Important: If you access the Sandbox without a digital certificate provided by Blackhawk, your use of the Sandbox, and any data or information that you input into the Sandbox, will be available to all users that access the Developer Portal. You may only use anonymous, non-live data and you may not enter any confidential, sensitive or personally identifiable information into the Sandbox. Data and other information provided to or made available in the Sandbox is not encrypted. Blackhawk will have no responsibility or liability for any information you enter into the Sandbox, or otherwise from your use of the Sandbox. You are fully responsible for the security of any data or information you provide in connection with the Developer Portal, and you must comply with all applicable laws and rules in connection with your provision and use of such data and information.
  6. Proprietary Rights. As between you and Blackhawk, the Blackhawk Developer Tools, Blackhawk Services and all intellectual property rights therein are and shall at all times remain the sole and exclusive property of Blackhawk and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws and treaties. As between you and Blackhawk, your Application and all intellectual property rights therein (but excluding any Blackhawk intellectual property therein) are and shall at all times remain your sole and exclusive property. You acknowledge and agree that any questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, feedback or other information about the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services (“Submissions”), provided by you to Blackhawk are voluntary, non-confidential and Blackhawk will be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of these Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.
  7. Trademarks. This Agreement does not include any right for you to use any trademark, service mark, trade name or any other mark of Blackhawk or any other party or licensor. You agree that Blackhawk may list your name and/or your Application (including by displaying any trademarks related thereto) and identify the business relationship between the parties on Blackhawk’s websites, the Blackhawk Services and in other marketing and advertising collateral. No rights or licenses are granted except as expressly and unambiguously set forth herein.
  8. Confidentiality. “Confidential Information” means all information related to the Developer Portal, including but not limited to the following: (i) any information you receive or enter via the Blackhawk Developer Tools (including the sandbox environment), (ii) the Blackhawk Developer Tools and all related information and materials, including without limitation API credentials and all access IDs and passwords, (iii) all information disclosed in writing and marked “confidential”, proprietary,” or with a substantially similar marking, (iv) all information disclosed orally and identified as confidential at the time of the disclosure, and (v) any other information that by its nature you understand or would reasonably be expected to understand to be Blackhawk’s confidential information. You must maintain Blackhawk’s Confidential Information in confidence and must not disclose it to third parties or use it for any purpose other than as necessary and required to develop your Application as permitted herein. In the event that Confidential Information is required to be disclosed by a court, government agency, regulatory requirement, or similar disclosure requirement, you shall immediately notify Blackhawk and use reasonable efforts to obtain confidential treatment or a protection order of any disclosed Confidential Information. Your obligations hereunder shall survive the termination of this Agreement. You acknowledge that monetary damages may not be a sufficient remedy for unauthorized use or disclosure of Confidential Information and that Blackhawk will be entitled (without waiving any other rights or remedies) to injunctive or equitable relief as may be deemed proper by a court of competent jurisdiction, without obligation to post any bond.
  9. Warranty Disclaimer. THE BLACKHAWK DEVELOPER TOOLS AND BLACKHAWK SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. BLACKHAWK AND ITS SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, REGARDING THE BLACKHAWK DEVELOPER TOOLS AND BLACKHAWK SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, ACCURACY, RESULTS OF USE, RELIABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, INTERFERENCE WITH QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. FURTHER, BLACKHAWK DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT YOUR USE OF THE BLACKHAWK DEVELOPER TOOLS OR BLACKHAWK SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE.
  10. Limitation of Liability. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ANY REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OR OTHERWISE, AND EXCEPT FOR BODILY INJURY, IN NO EVENT WILL BLACKHAWK OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY UNDER ANY TORT, CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY FOR (A) ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST OR CORRUPTED DATA, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, OR OTHER SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE BLACKHAWK DEVELOPER TOOLS OR BLACKHAWK SERVICES, EVEN IF BLACKHAWK HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES AND WHETHER OR NOT SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES ARE FORESEEABLE, OR (B) ANY DAMAGES RELATING TO THE BLACKHAWK DEVELOPER TOOLS OR YOUR USE THEREOF. 
  11. Indemnification. You agree that Blackhawk shall have no liability whatsoever for any use you make of the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services. You shall indemnify and hold harmless Blackhawk from any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your Applications or otherwise from your use of the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services, or your breach of this Agreement.
  12. Term and Termination. This Agreement shall continue until terminated as set forth in this Section. Either party may terminate this Agreement upon written notice to the other party at any time, for any reason, or for no reason including, but not limited to, if you violate any provision of this Agreement. Any termination of this Agreement shall also terminate the license(s) granted hereunder. Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, you shall destroy and remove from all computers, hard drives, networks and other storage media all copies of the Blackhawk Developer Tools, and shall so certify to Blackhawk upon request that such actions have occurred. Sections 2, 3 and 6 through 13 and all accrued rights to payment (if any) shall survive termination of this Agreement.
  13. Government Use. If you are part of an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government (“Government”), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the Blackhawk Developer Tools are restricted in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations as applied to civilian agencies and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement as applied to military agencies. The Blackhawk Developer Tools is a “commercial item,” “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation.” In accordance with such provisions, any use of the Blackhawk Developer Tools by the Government shall be governed solely by the terms of this Agreement.
  14. Export Controls. You shall comply with all export laws and restrictions and regulations of the Department of Commerce, the United States Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), or other United States or foreign agency or authority, and you shall not export, or allow the export or re-export of the Blackhawk Developer Tools or Blackhawk Services in violation of any such restrictions, laws or regulations. By accessing or using the Blackhawk Developer Tools, you agree to the foregoing and represent and warrant that you (and the organization you represent, if any) are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any restricted country.
  15. Miscellaneous. Unless the parties have entered into a written amendment to this agreement that is signed by both parties regarding the Blackhawk Developer Tools or the Blackhawk Services, this Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Blackhawk pertaining to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all written or oral agreements with respect to such subject matter. This Agreement, and any disputes arising from or relating to the interpretation thereof, shall be governed by and construed under California law without reference to its conflict of laws principles or the United Nations Conventions on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Except to the extent otherwise elected by Blackhawk, any action or proceeding arising from or relating to this Agreement must be brought in a federal court in the Northern District of California or in state court in San Francisco County, California, and each party irrevocably submits to the jurisdiction and venue of any such court in any such action or proceeding. The prevailing party in any action arising out of this Agreement shall be entitled to an award of its costs and attorneys’ fees. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. The failure of Blackhawk to act with respect to a breach of this Agreement by you or others does not constitute a waiver and shall not limit Blackhawk’s rights with respect to such breach or any subsequent breaches. This Agreement is personal to you and may not be assigned or transferred for any reason whatsoever without Blackhawk’s prior written consent and any action or conduct in violation of the foregoing shall be void and without effect. Blackhawk may freely transfer or assign this Agreement and delegate any of its obligations hereunder.

I Agree