What is Blackbaud Checkout?

Happy New Year everyone! The journal is back, perhaps a week or two earlier than I originally planned, but we have news to talk about!

If you saw the What’s New letter for January 6, you’ll probably have seen something called Blackbaud Checkout. We’ve begun the process of rolling it out in waves, so you may not see it right away, but I wanted to take a moment to talk about what it is and how it works.

So, let’s dive right in, shall we?

What is Blackbaud Checkout?

We’re committed to ensuring that Blackbaud’s transaction practices meet the highest of security standards, so we’ve begun the process of updating all of our payment forms to use Blackbaud Checkout.

Blackbaud Checkout provides a fully mobile-responsive, dynamic and secure payment journey designed with your students and families in mind. After submitting an online form, Blackbaud Checkout prompts the payer to complete payment details, including credit card or bank account information and billing address.

It will continue to use Blackbaud Merchant Services behind the scenes to process and disburse the funds. Blackbaud Checkout also securely captures payment details in compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards.

Finally, all forms that are set up to use Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS) as the processor will automatically update to use Blackbaud Checkout to facilitate the end user’s payment experience so there’s nothing you need to do on your end.

I'm Not Seeing It Yet, Why?

Well, I mentioned it above, but Blackbaud Checkout is being released over multiple weeks in waves, so starting today (January 6) some schools will start to see it used on their payment forms automatically. With each weekly release, more and more schools will see this feature enabled, so if you’re not seeing it yet, hang tight. We didn’t forget you.

In fact, if you’re not sure if your school has access to Blackbaud Checkout, head to Core as a notice banner will appear after it has been activated.

Where Will I See Blackbaud Checkout Take Effect?

The biggest change is the payment interface that a user sees when entering payment details on a form. Previously, BBPS was used to direct users to a secure Blackbaud server to enter their information when paying with a credit card or direct debit.

However, with Blackbaud Checkout, payers will now enter their details and billing information in a payment modal after selecting their payment method. The payment modal experience will be the same for both credit card and direct debit payments.

Keep in mind that you do not need to make any changes to any existing forms. Forms that are set up to use BBMS as the processor will continue to accept and process payments as usual.

Which Payment Forms Are Impacted?

Here are the five that will be using Blackbaud Checkout:

• Application forms

• EMS Event registration forms

• Contracts

• School Forms

• School Website forms

What About Canadian Direct Deposit Transactions or Digital Wallet Payment Methods?

As of right now, Canadian direct debit transactions will not be supported with this release. However, we are planning to add support for this sometime in the middle of 2025 so stay tuned.

As for digital wallet payment methods, this current release will only support existing payment methods, which includes all major credit cards and direct debit (US only).

We hope this journal has helped give you a clearer understanding of Blackbaud Checkout, how it works, and when to expect to see the new experience arrive. We’ll talk to you again next week for an all-new journal entry.