At Applied, we are laser focused at providing you practical innovation that creates simplicity, productivity, intelligence and value for your business. When looking at the forces impacting our industry, like demand for simple customer experiences, we recognized an opportunity to provide more value to your business with digital payments, specifically a solution designed for the industry and natively integrated into your (and your customers) daily workflows.


For this release, we're excited to share with you our newest Connect vendor and Client Center payment integration - Applied Pay!


TABLE OF CONTENTS



Did you know? - You can click on the images in our articles to make them bigger!


What is Applied Pay?


Applied Pay is a cloud-based electronic payments hub that enables agents and brokers to provide their clients a secure, online way to pay for new and recurring premiums. Directly integrated into Applied Epic, CSR24, and EZLynx Client Center, Applied Pay provides intuitive branded checkout pages where policy holders can go to pay for premiums via text link, credit card, ACH, digital wallet, or other payments methods. It automatically handles payment authorization and tokenizes sensitive information to increase security and ensure compliance.


We are currently going through our PILOT process so check out our Applied Pay - Press Release FAQ for more details if you are interested!

How do I setup Applied Pay? - ADMINS ONLY


Within the Connect Marketplace, a Connect Admin will be able to see an integration for Applied Pay. Since your agency's Connect Admin is the only one who can setup Applied Pay, this section is recommended for Admins only. There are three things that an Admin will need to accomplish before starting the registration process for Applied Pay in EZLynx:


  • Sales Contract - This is needed in order for EZLynx Onboarding to enable your agency for Applied Pay. To get started on the Sales Contract process, email sales@ezlynx.com! 


  • Pre-Registration Checklist - This is a list of information that will be needed turning the registration process for Applied Pay. Your EZLynx Onboarding Rep will email this to you once they have started the enablement process for your agency. If you want to get a head start, you can also find the checklist here!


  • Confirmation from EZLynx Onboarding Rep - This will be an email from your EZLynx Onboarding Rep confirming that Applied Pay has been enabled for your agency. The email will also include Applied Pay Training materials. If you are looking to get a head start on Applied Pay training, keep reading this article or check out the videos linked at the top!


Once you have all three of the above items completed, you are ready to start the registration process for Applied Pay in EZLynx!



Add Integration


To begin the registration process for Applied Pay, hop into EZLynx and head over to the Connect Marketplace by hovering over the Connect icon. Then click, Home.





Within the Connect Marketplace, you will now see Applied Pay as a new integration in the Payments category. Click on the Applied Pay card to open the Applied Pay Marketplace Integration. 



From the Applied Pay Integration page, you can see an about section and the benefits of enabling this integration for your agency. To add the integration for your agency, click the Actions button. Then, click Add Integration.



Next you'll need to decide on some settings. 

  • Convenience Fees - The costs associated with Applied Pay include a 3.5% convenience charge for card transactions and a $4 flat fee for ACH transactions in the United States. If you checkmark the first box, you will pass these fees to your insured who will make the payments. If you DO NOT checkmark the first box, your agency will be the ones paying the fees when an insured submits a payment.


  • Child Branches - Applied Pay has branch support which means that if your agency has branch locations, the parent agency can choose whether or not the branch locations share the same Applied Pay instance. If you checkmark the second box, you will grant access to your agency's instance of Applied Pay to your agency's branch locations. If you DO NOT checkmark the second box, your agency's branch locations will not have access to your agency's Applied Pay instance. If you would prefer your agency's branch locations have their own instances of Applied Pay, that is possible! They would simply need to go through their own Sales Contract and registration process.


Once you have decided on these settings, you will need to check the third box agreeing to the terms and conditions. Then, click the Save button. This will redirect you to the Applied Pay Registration process. If you ever need to adjust these settings, you can easily manage them from the Applied Pay Integration page. Check out the My Integrations section of our Connect Marketplace - How to Enable, Disable, & Hide Integrations help article to learn more about managing integrations!



Basic Information


The first page of registration is the basic information section which requires the following:

  • Legal Business Name
  • Legal Entity
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email Address
  • Phone Number
  • Account Name
  • Website URL
  • Shareholder Type
  • Job Title


Attention! - The individual who registers and provides the email address during the registration process will become the Applied Pay Administrator for your agency. The Admin Role is assigned to the registered email address. This person will be responsible for assigning out Applied Pay permissions to the rest of the agency. To learn more about permissions, check out the Permissions section of this article.



Once you have filled in all of the fields, checkmark the box to agree to the terms & conditions and click the Continue button. The system will process your basic information and take you to the next screen automatically.



Before getting to the second page, there will be a pop-up that will provide you with important information to help make the registration process as smooth as possible. Please read it completely and once ready click the OK button.



The second page is the company, bank, business owners details, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) sections each requiring their own information. Some of that information will already be entered based on what you inputted on the basic information page. Let's take a look at what each section needs! 




Company Details


To enter the company details, click inside the red ribbon that says, "Please provide address, registration number, Tax ID." Then, confirm if you have the authority to act on behalf of your company.


 

On the next page, you will be asked the following information:


  • Your DBA - You can checkmark the box "Same as Legal Business Name if they are the same.
  • Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  • Business Phone Number
  • Business Email
  • Web Address
  • Whether or not the legal entity is 100% owned by a publicly listed company


Once all the information is entered, click the Next button.



On the next page, you will be asked to enter in your business address. You can use the Search Address bar to search for your address, or you can click "Enter address manually" to type the address in yourself. Once all the information is entered, click the Next button at the bottom of the screen.



Finally, you will be asked if there are additional addresses for your company's main business operations. Once you have inputted all necessary information, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen. 




This will take you back to the company, bank, business owners details, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) screen where you can now see that the company section is verified!




Bank Details


To enter the bank details, click inside the red ribbon that says, "Please provide bank account." 




On the next page, you will be asked the following information:


  • Name on bank account
  • Currency Code
  • ABA routing number
  • Account number
  • Account type
  • Description (optional)


Once all the information is entered, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.



This will take you back to the company, bank, business owners details, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) screen where you can now see that the bank section is verified!




Business Owners


To enter the business owners details, click inside the red ribbon that says, "Please provide provide City, Postal Code, Street, ID Number, Date of Birth, and Nationality."




On the next page, you will be asked the following information:


  • Role - You can select more than one role if necessary.
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Country of Residence
  • Last 4 digits of Social Security Number (SSN)


Once all the information is entered, click the Next button at the bottom of the screen.



On the next page, you will be asked to enter in the business owners personal address. You can use the Search Address bar to search for the address, or you can click "Enter address manually" to type the address in yourself. Once all the information is entered, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.



This will take you back to the company, bank, business owners details, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) screen where you can now see that the owner section is verified! 


Now, let's look at the UBO section. For the UBO section, you'll need to provide the personal information for the signatory and controller. 


  • Signatory - The signatory is the person who has signing authority.
  • Controller - The controller is the person who makes major business decisions or owns 25% or more of the company.


Remember, you can select multiple role options for one person so if one person is the owner, signatory, and controller you do have the option to select all three for that one person. If the signatory and controller are different people you can add an additional person by clicking "Add Business Owners".                     




Then, follow the same steps as before to input the personal information & personal address for both the signatory and the controller. Once you are done both sections should be verified! 



Attention! - Either an agency owner or legal signatory may complete the online registration for Merchant Services. However, please make certain whoever is doing the registration has the personal information for any and all owners with at least 25% ownership on hand during the registration process as the information for the signatory, controller, and owner are required to complete registration. 


PCI DSS Compliance


Now, let's talk about the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Compliance section. Click inside the box that says Incomplete. 




On the next page, you'll want to read through all the information. Then, click the Start button.



Again, you'll want to read through all the information on the screen and then at the bottom click the Next button.



Then, checkmark the boxes to acknowledge that you understand the information in the previous screens. Finally, the signatory will need to provide their full name and job title. Once everything is entered, click the Sign button at the bottom of the page. 



This will take you back to the company, bank, business owners details, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) screen where a pop up should appear letting you know that the PCI DSS compliance questionnaire has been signed successfully!





In the PCI DSS Compliance section you can download the document for your records by clicking "Download". To finish the Applied Pay registration process, click the Complete button.



You'll be redirected to a "Thank You!" page with a button that will take you to the Applied Pay Portal. Click on the Go To Portal button to be redirected to the Applied Pay portal which we will cover later in this article. 



You may notice a slight delay for the integration to be added. If there is a delay, you'll see messages on both the Connect Integration page & inside of the Applied Pay portal. It takes time to verify all the information submitted but the wait time is normally very short if there is any delay at all. If there is a delay, you will receive an email notifying you once the registration is completed. Once completed, the messages on both the Connect Integration page & inside Applied Pay portal will update confirming the merchant account has been approved.




Permissions


During the registration process, the individual who registers and provides the email address during the registration process will become the Applied Pay Administrator. This Admin Role is assigned to the email address of that user. Once your agency's Applied Pay Account is onboarded, the person who created the account will be responsible for assigning out permission to other users in the agency who request access. First, let's discuss the different types of permissions.


Role Based Permissions


There are 3 predefined role based permissions that can be assigned: 


  • Admin Role
    • Has full access to all sections of the Applied Pay Portal
    • Can activate and deactivate Applied Pay Portal access
    • Can approve and update user roles and permissions
    • Can restrict user access and feature settings


  • Accounting Role
    • Full access to the Dashboard, Transactions, Payout, and Chargeback sections of the Applied Pay Portal
    • Does not have access to the Make a Payment section


  • CSR Role
    • The Applied Pay Portal becomes individualized; reflecting only the payment information that particular user processed
    • The CSR user has access to the Dashboard, Transactions, and Make a Payment sections



User Based Permissions 


There are 2 predefined user based permissions that can be assigned:


  • Merchant Account 
    • Allow access to view details on the selected merchant accounts for a particular user
    • This is not really applicable for EZLynx customers as you cannot have multiple merchant accounts at this time.


  • Feature Settings
    • Allow the user the ability to change the convenience fees in the "Make a Payment Section"
    • This is only applicable for EZLynx customers if you would like to allow certain users the ability to absorb fees when the time is right as you cannot modify the fees in EZLynx at this time.



Granting Access


Whenever a user that does not have access to the Applied Pay Portal tries to access it, they will see a screen asking for information to request access. 



Once they have requested access, they will get a Thank you! message. 



Now the Applied Pay Admins will get an email notification letting them know that someone in their agency has requested access to the Applied Pay Portal. This email should come from registrations@appliedsystems.com. 



Using the link in the email, the Admin will be redirected to the Applied Pay Portal and can click on the Users tab. From there, expand the user that requested access. If you are having a hard time finding them, you can use the Add Search Filter button in the top right-hand corner to search for inactive users. 


Once expanded, click the Active radial button and choose the role and permissions you would like the user to have. When ready, click the Update button to save the changes. 



Attention! - If you choose the Administrator option, the Merchant Account & Feature Permissions will be greyed out and selected Allow because Admins by default can do everything.

After clicking the Update button, the system should send an email to the user letting them know access to Applied Pay Portal has been granted. 




Agency Branding in Applied Pay Portal


One of the last setup items an Applied Pay Admin can do is to upload the branding details for your Applied Pay account. Inside the Applied Pay Portal under the Agency Settings tab, you will be able to add the following details:


  • Company Name
  • Support Phone Number
  • Logo
    • The logo will apply to the Make a Payment checkout page. 
  • Theme Primary Color & Primary Text Color 
    • These colors will reflect the color of the Pay Now button on the checkout page where the ensured enters the payment information.


Once you've input everything you would like, click the Save button to apply your changes.


Navigating the Applied Pay Portal


Anyone that has access to the Applied Pay Portal in your agency can get a detailed review of the payment transactions via the Applied Pay Portal. This can be done by simply clicking on "Go To Applied Pay" in the Applied Pay integration area in marketplace.



Clicking on the Go To Applied Pay button will redirect you automatically to the Applied Pay Portal where you will land on the Dashboard page.



Dashboard


The Dashboard page shows snapshots of recent payments, monthly volume, and recent payouts. The Recent Payments box will show a short list of the most recent payments from your insureds. 




The Monthly Volume graph shows the running total of payments from your insureds for a given month. This will allow you to compare the current month to previous months. In the top right-hand corner you'll see a currency dropdown which will allow you to change the currency type if needed.



The Recent Payouts table shows the 10 most recent payouts for the agency. Essentially, this tells you how much money was paid out to an agency's bank account, as well as the date and time it was done. On the table, you'll see the following columns:


  • Batch ID
  • Date
  • Record Type
  • Merchant Account
  • Total Amount

 

Each column can be sorted ascending or descending by clicking inside the box of the column header. To switch the direction, click inside the column header a second time.



Transactions


The Transactions page shows a table of all the payment transactions. On the table, you'll see the following columns:


  • Account Name
  • Invoice Number (if applicable)
  • Date
  • Amount
  • Payment Method
  • Name
  • Status


Each column can be sorted ascending or descending by clicking inside the box of the column header. To switch the direction, click inside the column header a second time.



Each transaction can be expanded to view more details by clicking the arrow icon on the left-hand side. If you would like to expand all the transactions at once, click the arrow on the header row.



The expanded view shows the following information:


  • Payment Status
  • Payment Events
  • Order Details
  • Merchant Account
  • Payment Method Details
  • Customer Details


You'll also see a Refund/Void button under the Payments Events section unless the payment has been refunded already. If the payment has been refunded the Refund/Void button will no longer be available for that transaction. We will cover more on this button later in the article. To skip there now, click here! To minimize the transaction details, simply click the arrow on the left-hand side again.



To help find specific transaction information, you can add filters to this table by clicking the Add Search Filter button near the top.



First, select a column you are interested in. Then, select the search type keeping in mind that the search type options will change depending on which column you are interested in. Then, type in the search term you are looking for such as an insured's email or a date range. Note, the search term fields are dependent on the column you selected in the first field. When ready, click the Apply button.



The table will automatically filter given the criteria you inputted. You can have multiple filters, but you will need to apply each one individually. To remove a filter, click the X button next to the filter you'd like to remove.



Finally, let's talk about the Export button. The Export button allows you to download a CSV file of the transaction table. This can be useful if you need to save the transactions for reporting purposes or if you want to use Excel formulas to filter the transaction table further. Please note, if you have a filter applied and then export out the data, the CSV file will only contain the filtered table contents. If you would like to pull all the data available, please make sure you do not have any filters applied before exporting.



Chargebacks/ACH NSF (ACH Non-Sufficient funds)


The chargeback/ACH NSFs page shows a table of all the chargebacks, credit card disputes and ACH rejects from back to the agency. On the table, you'll see the following columns:


  • Account Name 
  • Invoice Number
  • Date 
  • Amount 
  • Payment Method
  • Reason 


Some columns can be sorted ascending or descending by clicking inside the box of the column header. To switch the direction, click inside the column header a second time.



To help find specific payout information, you can add filters to this table by clicking the Add Search Filter button near the top.




First, select a column you are interested in. Then, select the search type keeping in mind that the search type options will change depending on which column you are interested in. Then, type in the search term you are looking for such as a date range. Note, the search term fields are dependent on the column you selected in the first field. When ready, click the Apply button.


The table will automatically filter given the criteria you inputted. You can have multiple filters, but you will need to apply each one individually. To remove a filter, click the X button next to the filter you'd like to remove.




Payouts


The Payouts page shows a table of all the payout transactions made by the agency. On the table, you'll see the following columns:


  • Batch ID
  • Date
  • Record Type
  • Merchant Account
  • Total Amount


Each column can be sorted ascending or descending by clicking inside the box of the column header. To switch the direction, click inside the column header a second time.



Each payout can be expanded to view itemized details by clicking the line item in question. This brings up a table with the following columns:


  • Date
  • Record Type
  • Invoice Number
  • Purchase Amount
  • Fee Amount
  • Authorized Amount
  • Payout Amount


Each item can be expanded to view more details by clicking the arrow icon on the left-hand side. If you would like to expand all the line items at once, click the arrow on the header row.



The expanded view shows the following information:


  • Payment Status
  • Payment Events
  • Order Details
  • Merchant Account
  • Payment Method Details
  • Customer Details


You'll also see a Refund/Void button under the Payments Events section unless the payment has been refunded already. If the payment has been refunded the Refund/Void button will no longer be available for that transaction. We will cover more about this button later in the article. To skip there now, click here! To minimize the transaction details, simply click the arrow on the left-hand side again. 



To help find specific payout information, you can add filters to this table by clicking the Add Search Filter button near the top.



First, select a column you are interested in. Then, select the search type keeping in mind that the search type options will change depending on which column you are interested in. Then, type in the search term you are looking for such as a date range. Note, the search term fields are dependent on the column you selected in the first field. When ready, click the Apply button.


The table will automatically filter given the criteria you inputted. You can have multiple filters, but you will need to apply each one individually. To remove a filter, click the X button next to the filter you'd like to remove.



Finally, let's talk about the Export button. The Export button allows you to download a CSV file of the payouts table. This can be useful if you need to save the payouts for reporting purposes or if you want to use Excel formulas to filter the payouts table further. Please note, if you have a filter applied and then export out the data, the CSV file will only contain the filtered table contents. If you would like to pull all the data available, please make sure you do not have any filters applied before exporting.



Statements 


The Statements page provides a cumulative monthly statement detailing volume, transactions, convenience fees, ACH, and chargebacks with a downloadable report, and adjustable date range. To access it, click the Statements tab in the Applied Pay Portal. At the top you will see that you can change the date range for the statement and then click the Download Report button.




Make a Payment


The Make a Payment page provides options to Generate a Payment Link or Pay Now. We won't be covering these options in-depth because the best practice for making a payment on the insured's behalf (Pay Now) or sending a payment request link (Generate a Payment Link) is not through the Applied Pay Portal. Instead, it is best practice to use the Client Center for these procedures because it will pre-fill information like customer details, policies numbers, and invoice numbers for you decreasing the amount of manual input needed. Check out the sections below on how to go about handling payment scenarios using Client Center!


How do I use Applied Pay?


With Client Center, your insureds can make payments on policies, invoices, or a one-time payment. Your agency can send Payment Request Links via email or text. You can also process the payment on behalf of your insured if need be. The only process that is outside of Client Center at this current time is the Refund/Void option. The Refund/Void option is within Applied Pay.


For the following scenarios check out our Client Center - Payment Requests & Payment Process help article:

  • How to Send a Payment Request
  • How does an Insured make a Payment
  • How to make a Payment on an Insured's behalf


Now let's discuss how to refund a payment from within Applied Pay!


First, navigate back to the Applied Pay Portal using the Go To Applied Pay button on the Applied Pay Integration page.




Next, Click the Transactions tab. Then, click the arrow on the left-hand side of the transaction you would like to refund. Remember you can use the Add Search Filter option if you are having a hard time finding the specific transaction. 




Under the Payment Events section, click the Refund/Void button. 




A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm you are sure you want to refund the payment. Click the Confirm button to submit the refund. 




The system will begin processing the refund. It may take a few moments, so be on the lookout for the following order of payment statuses: 


REVERSE_REQUESTED > REFUNDED


Once you see the REFUNDED status, then you know the refund process has been completed. Be sure to refresh your browser page if the status is not showing up. 



We have released our Applied Pay and Accounting connection for refunds! Check out our Connect - Applied Pay Refunds/Voids transfer to EZLynx Accounting to learn more!