This week we are announcing several updates to Facebook Credits, including a breaking change for the Credits callback, new payment methods, a new policy, updated documentation as well as a reminder to add your company information for payouts.

Breaking Change: Removing the 'settled' callback

Today, the Pay Dialog generates three callbacks. The first retrieves the item details with method=payments_get_items. After the user completes the order, you recieve the second callback with method=payments_status_update where the order status is moved from the placed to settled state and sent back to Facebook. Finally, sometimes we respond with another callback notifying you that the order has been moved to the settled state which requires no action/response from the developer.

Previously, our documentation asked developers to fulfill the order on status=settled. However, with a recent change this callback is not called deterministically. As a result, if you are fulfilling the order on this callback, then your users may not be getting the item in a subset of cases.

To ensure the best experience for users, we are asking developers to ensure that they are fulfilling the order in the callback with status=placed. We assure you that once we call you with status=placed and you respond with settled, the transaction will be complete and you will be paid. You should not be waiting for the settled callback before fulfilling the order.

In fact to reduce confusion we are announcing a breaking change where will completely remove the settled callback in 90 days on March 1, 2012. We have updated the roadmap to reflect this change.

For more details on how to set up the backend callback for your app please refer to our callback documentation.

Reminder: You must provide your company information to get payout

In order to be paid out for transactions made in your app, you must provide the required company information corresponding to your app. You can do this by going to the Developer App and clicking 'Edit Settings' for your app. Next, go to the Credits tab and click the 'register your company' link which will take you to our developer payout details flow.

If you are creating a test app, then please use only test users to test your app or list the list of real users who are testing your app in the 'Manage test settings' setting in the developer app.

If for some reason you need to test your app with real transactions, please set up the company information so that we can pay you for those transactions.

For more details on ensuring your app is Credits enabled and getting payout please refer to our Credits Tutorial.

Update: Additional Payment Methods

We continue to expand our support for payment methods worldwide. Our most recent additions include:

• ELV (Germany)
• MyCard Mobile (HongKong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan)
• Visa Electron (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand)
• WebBilling Online Bank Transfer (Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland)

We support 80+ payment methods in 50+ countries around the world. The full list can be found here.

New Credits policy

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p>We have added a new policy to the Facebook Credits Terms that prohibits routing Credits from one app to another app without our prior authorization.

2.14 You may not accept Credits in one application and deliver or transfer the purchase to the user in another app without our prior authorization. For example, an app solely designed to facilitate transactions is not permitted.

Under this policy, an app should not invoke the Pay Dialog with an app_id different from that of the app that the user is making the purchase in. Exceptions to the policy are given on a limited basis and will not be granted to apps that serve solely as a payment portal. This policy is meant to protect the ecosystem by adding a level of transparency to the source of Credits transactions. Apps that are not compliant by January 1, 2012 run the risk of having their Credits disabled shortly after.

Revamped Credits Documentation

Based on feedback from developers, we have completely revamped our documentation for Credits on our Developer site. We have added more details and sectioned out the documentation into multiple docs to make it easier to find the relevant information. In addition, we are in the process of moving all developer-specific FAQs for Credits to the Developer site so that you can get all information related to Credits in one place. For example FAQs regarding reporting and payout are in the Reports and Payout doc. Some of the FAQs which are relevant to both users and developers, such as the payment methods we support, will have links on the developer site, however continue to live on the Facebook Help Center.

Please provide your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.