Payment Activity File

The Payment Activity File provides a comprehensive, system-generated record of every payment event processed through PaymentExpress within a specified period.

It ensures that every transaction—whether successful, reversed, refunded, or charged back—is fully captured and available for reconciliation across your internal systems.

Overview

Payment Activity Files are machine-readable files generated and transmitted daily at scheduled times to cover all payment activity that occurred during a specific 24-hour period. Each file can include every type of transaction: payments, reversals, chargebacks, and other related actions.

A Payment Activity File serves as the ultimate backstop in confirming that all payment activity is accurately represented in both your system of record and PaymentExpress. Files are generated automatically by PaymentExpress and can be retrieved securely via SFTP from PaymentExpress systems.

These files are typically used by accounting, finance, and reconciliation teams to validate totals, confirm transaction status, and close out financial periods with complete confidence.

File Delivery

Schedule: Generated daily at predefined times, usually early morning UTC, summarizing the previous day’s activity.
Access: Files are available through your assigned SFTP directory using the credentials provided during onboarding.
Retention: Files are retained for a defined period (typically 30 days).
Format: CSV (comma-separated values) encoded in UTF-8 for compatibility with standard reporting tools. We can accommodate various other formats.
File Naming: Includes both environment and date for easy identification.

File Content

Each row in the Payment Activity File represents a single transaction or item, capturing all the essential data required for reconciliation and reporting.

Common fields include:

Payment ID: The unique identifier assigned to each payment by PaymentExpress.
Client Transaction ID: The identifier your system assigned to the transaction at cart creation.
Cart ID: The identifier for the cart associated with the payment.
Transaction Date / Time: The date and time the transaction was processed.
Tender Type: The method used for the payment (CreditCard, DebitCard, eCheck, etc.).
Primary Amount: The amount remitted, excluding fees.
Fee Amount: Any fee charged to the customer for processing.
Total Amount: The total paid by the customer, including any fees.
Status: The outcome of the transaction (e.g., charged, voided, refunded).

Using the Payment Activity File

Your team can use the Payment Activity File to verify that:

All transactions initiated from your system are recorded in PaymentExpress.
Totals and fees match between systems.
No payments, refunds, or chargebacks are missing or misclassified.

Each record in the file can be cross-referenced using the Client Transaction ID: your unique identifier that persists from cart creation through to reconciliation. This key links together the Cart Handoff, Postback notification, and Payment Activity File record for the same payment.

Retrieval and Automation

Many clients automate the download and processing of the Payment Activity File to streamline daily reconciliation. Recommended practices include:

Poll your assigned SFTP directory once daily after file generation.
Verify file integrity by comparing row counts or performing hash checks.
Import file data into your reconciliation or financial reporting system.
Archive retrieved files for compliance and audit readiness.

If file access or timing issues occur, confirm your SFTP credentials and permissions, then contact your PaymentExpress representative for support.