Updated Credit Card Processing Options for PACWeb® and Democracy Direct®
As part of our ongoing infrastructure and security updates, credit card processing will no longer occur directly inside Democracy Direct®. Clients now have two supported options for handling credit card transactions. Neither is intended to be a major shift in workflow, but each provides a reliable path for capturing contributions while maintaining security and compliance.
Option 1: Process Credit Cards in PACWeb® (Including Proxy User)
Credit card payments can now be entered through PACWeb®, either by contributors or by administrators using the Proxy User feature to emulate a participant.
Key points:
All contribution details entered through PACWeb® flow immediately into Democracy Direct.
Club level assignments and any custom logic tied to PAC activity will continue to run as they do today.
This method keeps payment activity within a highly secure, PCI-compliant environment.
Option 2: Process Credit Cards in PayPal Manager (Virtual Terminal)
If your program prefers using PayPal Manager, you can continue processing credit card payments through the Virtual Terminal.
Here’s how these transactions flow into Democracy Direct:
Process the payment in PayPal Manager.
The transaction will appear in the new Electronic Payment Log management report in Democracy Direct.
Download the report and add each Democracy Direct individual ID to the Payer column.
Import the updated file using Self Import under the gear icon.
Why This Change?
This adjustment allows us to maintain PCI compliance and continue supporting credit card processing without requiring clients to change their contribution workflows more than necessary. While it may introduce an extra step for some programs, it offers flexibility in how payments are entered and ensures all data continues to flow into Democracy Direct for reporting and reconciliation.