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One of the features of Adxstudio portals long before it evolved into Power Pages is that it had an out of the box payment gateway integration with Authorize.net and PayPal. This provided a way to configure a webform (the grandfather of multistep forms) to allow users to pay for goods and services. It required the full Dynamics 365 for Sales module as it created order and invoice records.

When Microsoft transformed Adxstudio portals into Dynamics 365 portals (which has evolved into Power Pages) these features were dropped, likely due to various compliance issues.

Since then it has been a common task for pro developers to build and integration to various payment gateways. Most of these payment providers provide an API that allows websites to provide a way for visitors to pay for goods and services. Developers also must ensure that the payment gateway solution is PCI DSS Compliant.

Microsoft has just released in preview a new out-of-the-box (preview) feature to allow the collection of payments in a Power Pages multistep form using Stripe.

Microsoft announcement: Introducing online payments in Power Pages (Preview)

Documentation: Set up payments integration (preview)

The following is a video of how you can configure a multistep form to collect donations. This could be further configured for a variety of payments for different use cases.

What is PCI DSS compliance?

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) Compliance refers to the mandatory adherence to a set of security standards designed to protect card transactions and prevent the misuse of cardholders’ personal information. These standards are set by the PCI Security Standards Council, which was established by major credit card companies. Compliance is essential for all organizations that process, store, or transmit credit card data. The standards include requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design, and other protective measures. Regular audits and scans are required to ensure ongoing compliance, and failure to comply can result in significant fines and increased risk of data breaches.

That sounds pretty serious, and it is. The nice thing about the online payment integration is that the credit card form embedded in the Power Pages multistep form provides a direct condiut between the end user (the person browsing the web paying for something) and Stripe. This means that no credit card information passes through Power Pages or Dataverse.

Think if you needed to collect money from a friend, but instead of you collecting directly, you instead asked your friend “Stripy Sam” to collect from your friend directly and deposit the money directly in your bank account. You don’t touch the money or any of the direct transaction details. You just get a note from Sam that its taken care of.

Summary

The ability to easily setup and configure online payments is yet another game changing feature from the Power Pages team. This opens the doors to building Power Pages websites for selling training, memberships, donations, and other commerce activities.

Computer Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Nick Doelman is an independent Power Platform trainer and coach, presenter, Microsoft Certified Trainer, competitive Powerlifter, , former Microsoft employee, former Microsoft MVP, and cohost of the Power Platform BOOST! podcast.