30

Is it possible to do an express checkout payment in PayPal without an account?

I remember that I saw it somewhere, but I don't remember where. Once a time in PayPal there was a link under "Create a PayPal account".

JeanValjean
  • 17,172
  • 23
  • 113
  • 157
VitalyP
  • 1,867
  • 6
  • 22
  • 31

2 Answers2

49

Yes, that's certainly possible.

Simply set SOLUTIONTYPE parameter to Sole in your initial SetExpressCheckout API call (SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole). Optionally you can also specify LANDINGPAGE=Billing for the billing page to be forced.

Note: In order for SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole to work, you must have 'PayPal Account Optional' set to 'On' with the 'Website Preferences' section of your PayPal account.
Profile > My selling tools (or: My selling preferences) > Website Preferences > Update > PayPal Account Optional: On.

EDIT:

As mentioned in one of the comments, it's possible this may only work if you add the LOCALECODE=us parameter too.

Gorgsenegger
  • 7,356
  • 4
  • 51
  • 89
Robert
  • 19,326
  • 3
  • 58
  • 59
  • 2
    I have LANDINGPAGE=Billing and SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole. If a customer already has a PayPal account attached to their email or creditcard, they are still prompted to log in, even if they try to check out as guest. Is there a way to buypass this? It would be more convenient for buyers, because they tempt to forget the login details. – Kenci May 11 '12 at 22:55
  • 3
    Is this information still valid? Because I didn't find 'PayPal Account Optional' setting in Website preferences. I found only one optional setting: 'Payment Data Transfer (optional) Payment Data Transfer allows you to receive notification of successful payments as they are made. The use of Payment Data Transfer depends on your system configuration and your Return URL. Please note that in order to use Payment Data Transfer, you must turn on Auto Return.' – Piotr Kozlowski Jun 30 '13 at 20:46
  • 2
    The express checkout pay without paypal account depends on many factors. Even if you set " SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole" would not work for few merchants. It depends on factors such as credit limit of merchant,country specific and locale. – Vimalnath Nov 12 '13 at 10:20
  • This solution is still valid as of 2017.08.03! For anybody interested in the underlying documentation regarding this obscure directive, see: https://developer.paypal.com/docs/classic/api/merchant/SetExpressCheckout_API_Operation_NVP/ (under `SOLUTIONTYPE` key). – Ben Johnson Aug 04 '17 at 02:02
  • I have *PayPal Account Optional* set to `On` and I am setting `SOLUTIONTYPE=Sole` with `LOCALECODE=us` and still don't see any other option than to login to paypal or create an account. *AND* I am unable to get help from ANYONE at PayPal. – MrUpsidown Oct 20 '20 at 14:23
0

Direct Credit Cards are deprecated.

You just use the PayPal API and allow the optimal checkout to YES and then customers can pay either through credit card / paypal account (they don't need one).

https://developer.paypal.com/docs/integration/direct/payments/guest-payments/#

Martin Zvarík
  • 2,120
  • 22
  • 27