About validation and boarding

Validation and boarding are the final steps to adding or modifying many of the entities that you will work with in Express. Validation is the process by which Express evaluates an entity's data for conformance to business rules. Boarding refers to the process by which the entity is added to the Express database permanently (or until you choose to delete it).

• Process
• Validating and boarding your work
• Entities
• Validation status
• Add functionality

Process

The goal of the Validation process is to ensure that the entity's record is error-free - according to business rules. You can board a record to Express only after this goal has been met. In the event that Express detects errors in an entity's record, you must correct all errors for the record to board. In this manner, the validation and boarding process works closely with Express's error checking processes.

To facilitate a multi-directional workflow, Express allows you to board single records or multiple records at the same time. These records can be of the same entity type or different entity types (a mix of merchants and terminals), but all records must attain "Ready to Board" status before you will be allowed to board them. Records with a status other than "Ready to Board" cannot be boarded to Express. Once a record has achieved "Ready to Board" status, it will remain there until you board it or until the record is modified.

Validating and boarding your work

When you complete all the data entry and configuration tasks in the merchant boarding process, you are ready to validate and board the record. Validation can be performed as a separate process using the  Validate button, or it can be done in combination with boarding by using the Board button.

Validating the merchant record verifies that the information provided in the merchant record is complete and applies business rules to the merchant data. If the record fails validation, you must go back and correct the conditions that caused the error.

When you choose the Board button rather than the Validate button, the system fires all the same rules that the separate steps of Validate and Board use, but in one click.  Upon completion of the Board action, assuming no errors are found, the system will refresh the current page into View mode, providing visual confirmation to the user that their Board request was processed successfully.  The user can then use the Reload function, where available, to continue making changes to subsequent entities.

Note: The MATCH Inquiry page will display a "Boarded Successfully" message after boarding rather than enter View mode.

Entities

The following entities undergo the validation and boarding process:

• Associations
• Banks
• Bank Billing Element Tables
• Bank Discount Rate Tables
• Bank Variable Rate Tables
• BINs
• Exception Tables
• Groups
• Merchants
• Terminals

Validation status

The following statuses are applied to entities following the validation process. Some of the statuses listed below do not apply to every eligible entity. Most statuses appear as hyperlinks. Clicking these hyperlinks navigates you to an Express page so you can address the issue indicated by the status.

• In Progress: Indicates that the entity's record is incomplete because it has not been validated since it was last modified. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Summary page for the associated entity. From the Summary page, you can then navigate to the pages that require additional information.
• Error: Indicates that an error in the entity's record was detected during validation. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Errors page. From the Errors page, you can then navigate to the pages containing errors and address them.
• Credit Pend: Indicates that the entity was pended due to a credit-related issue. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Pend Details page. From the Pend Details page, you can gather additional information about the issue, modify the pend, or delete the pend.
• Credit Not Started Pend: Indicates that the entity was pended because credit investigation has not started. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Pend Details page. From the Pend Details page, you can gather additional information about the issue, modify the pend, or delete the pend.
• Data Entry Pend: Indicates that the entity was pended because its record is incomplete. This is a system-generated status. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Pend Details page. From the Pend Details page, you can gather additional information about the issue, modify the pend, or delete the pend.
• Lease Pend: Indicates that the entity was pended due to a leasing-related issue. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Pend Details page. From the Pend Details page, you can gather additional information about the issue, modify the pend, or delete the pend.
• Lease Not Started Pend: Indicates that the entity was pended because leasing investigation has not started. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Pend Details page. From the Pend Details page, you can gather additional information about the issue, modify the pend, or delete the pend.
• Ready to Board: Indicates that the entity's record passed validation and that it can be boarded. This status is not hyperlinked.
• System Processing: Indicates that Express is in the process of boarding the entity's record. This status is not hyperlinked.
• Boarded: Indicates that the entity's record was successfully boarded. This status is not hyperlinked.
• Locked: Indicates that another user has modified the entity's record and you cannot modify it at this time. This status appears as a hyperlink that navigates you to the Work in Progress page. From the Work in Progress page, you can review data in the locked entity, delete the entity, or select another entity to modify.

Add functionality

The Boarding page contains Add buttons for each entity type table on the page. Clicking the Add button begins the process of creating a new entity of the same entity type and carries forward a hierarchical entity from the recently-boarded entity in context (usually, this is the Bank or BIN, but this varies by entity type). The list below contains details for each entity type that offers this functionality:

• Agent: The Add New Agent button navigates you to the Request page with the BIN in context.
• Association: The Add New Association button navigates you to the Association Add/Delete page with the bank in context.
• Bank Billing Element Table: The Add New Bank BET button navigates you to Bank Billing Elements Table page with the bank in context.
• Bank Discount Rate Table: The Add New Bank DRT button navigates you to the Bank Discount Rates page with the bank in context.
• Bank Variable Rate Table: The Add New Bank VRT button navigates you to the Bank Variable Rates page with the bank in context.
• BIN: The Add New BIN button navigates you to the Request page with the BIN in context.
• Chain: The Add New Chain button navigates you to the Request page with the BIN in context.
• Exception Table: The Add New Exception Table button navigates you to the Bank Exception Tables page with the bank in context.
• Group: The Add New Group button navigates you to the Group Add/Delete page with the bank in context.
• Merchant: The Add New Merchant button navigates you to the Merchant Add page with the merchant bank in context.
• Terminal: The Add New Terminal button navigates you to the Request page with the merchant in context.
• Store: The Add New Store button navigates you to the Request page with the merchant in context.