Meta Key Creation and Management

A meta key is a specialized API key that a portfolio or merchant account user can create for the purposes of processing transactions on behalf of multiple of their transacting MID accounts. Meta keys are useful for organizations whose transacting MID users do not manage or store their own individual API keys. Instead of having to create and assign a unique API key for each of your transacting MIDs, you can create and assign a single meta key to dozens or hundreds of your transacting MIDs simultaneously.
IMPORTANT
Transacting MIDs cannot generate meta keys. For security reasons, do not give a meta key to your transacting MID users.
Meta keys are available for these APIs:
  • REST
  • Simple Order API
  • SOAP
  • SCMP
When you are logged in to a portfolio account or merchant account in the
Business Center
, you can assign a meta key to a static subset of transacting MIDs or to all current and future transacting MIDs. If you choose to assign a meta key to only a subset of transacting MIDs, you can reassign the key later to all current and future transacting MIDs.
When using a meta key, the portfolio account or merchant account user submits a transaction on behalf of the transacting MID. These processed transactions are recognized as belonging to the transacting MID. Searching for or reporting on the transactions are performed at the transacting MID level. All three account types can process follow-on transactions to the initial transaction, such as a capture or refund.
Access to creating and managing meta keys is automatically enabled for all organizations. You can disable the meta key feature to not allow portfolio or merchant account users to generate meta keys or process transactions using meta keys.
WARNING
When a meta key expires, it expires for all transacting MIDs to which it is assigned. All transactions using that meta key will fail. Careful monitoring is necessary to track meta key expiration dates. You must create and assign a new key before the previous key expires. The length of time after which a key expires depends on the API for which the key was created. Read the instructions for the API key you will use.

Hierarchy of Meta Keys

In this diagram, if the portfolio user assigns a meta key to all of the transacting MIDs, every transacting MID in the diagram is assigned the key. If one of the merchant accounts assigns a meta key to all of the transacting MIDs, only the transacting MIDs belonging to that merchant account are assigned the key. The portfolio or merchant account user can also choose specific transacting MIDs to assign the meta key to.

Figure:

Portfolio Hierarchy Example