Clover for WooCommerce started as the First Data plugin, and it still contains the retired First Data gateways: Payeezy (Payeezy JS), Payeezy Gateway and Global Gateway. They’re being retired and will stop processing payments. This guide moves your store to the Clover gateway in the same plugin, and keeps your customers’ saved Payeezy cards and subscription renewals where Clover can convert them.
The Clover gateway needs its own Clover credentials. A Clover account set up for you by Clover or First Data doesn’t connect the plugin by itself.
When you’d use this
- Your admin shows a notice that your First Data gateway "is being retired and will stop processing payments".
- Your store takes payments through Payeezy, Payeezy Gateway or Global Gateway and you have a Clover merchant account.
- You need saved cards and subscription renewals to keep working after the switch.
Check which gateway is active
The plugin runs one gateway family at a time. Go to Plugins and find Clover for WooCommerce. Its row shows a Use … link for every gateway that isn’t active:
- No Use Clover link: Clover is active, and you can skip to 3. Migrate saved cards.
- A Use Clover link: a First Data gateway is active. The retirement notice names it ("First Data Payeezy", "First Data Payeezy Gateway" or "First Data Global Gateway").
The Use Payeezy Gateway, Use Payeezy JS and Use Global Gateway links also show on stores that already run Clover. Don’t click them: switching to a retired gateway takes Clover off your checkout. If you clicked one by mistake, click Use Clover to switch back; your Clover settings are kept.
1. Get your Clover credentials
Create Ecommerce API tokens in your Clover dashboard and note your Merchant ID, as in Get started with Clover. You need the Merchant ID, Public Token and Private Token from your live Clover account.
If you plan to migrate saved cards, make a backup of your site first. The migration is permanent.
2. Switch to Clover
- Click switch to Clover now in the retirement notice, or Use Clover on the Plugins list. Clover becomes the active gateway, and the notice link opens its settings. The admin confirms "Clover by First Data is now active."
- On WooCommerce » Settings » Payments » Clover Credit Card, turn on Enable / Disable, keep Environment on Production, and enter your Merchant ID, Public Token and Private Token.
- Set Transaction Type and Tokenization to match how you used First Data. Turn Tokenization on if customers saved cards or you sell subscriptions. Every setting is on Clover settings.
- Click Save changes, then place a small order with your own card and refund it.
From this point new payments go through Clover, and the First Data gateway no longer shows at checkout. Orders paid through First Data before the switch stay as they are; refund or capture those in your First Data account if you need to.
3. Migrate saved cards
This step applies to stores that used Payeezy or Payeezy Gateway with saved cards. Once Clover is active, configured and set to Production, the admin shows:
"[number] saved cards from [gateway] can be migrated to Clover, so customers keep their saved cards and subscription renewals continue without interruption. The migration is permanent: once migrated, cards will be charged through Clover. We recommend creating a backup of your site before starting."
- Click Migrate saved cards.
- The migration runs in the background, 25 cards at a time, and you can leave the page. The notice shows "Migrating saved cards to Clover: [x] of [y] processed." If it stalls, it resumes the next time you load an admin page.
- When it finishes, the notice reads "Saved card migration to Clover complete: [number] cards migrated."
Each migrated card becomes the customer’s saved Clover card, with the same card type, last four digits and expiration. Subscriptions that used the card switch to Clover, with the note "Payment method migrated from [gateway] to Clover using the saved card ending in [last four]." on the subscription. The old First Data card is kept in your database as a backup but hidden from customers.
The migration doesn’t run in the Sandbox environment, because First Data cards are live data.
If some cards fail
The notice adds "[number] cards could not be migrated – check the gateway debug log for details, or Retry failed cards." The reason for each card is in WooCommerce » Status » Logs, under the first_data_clover_credit_card source. Click Retry failed cards to try them again. Customers whose cards still fail need to add their card again (see the next step).
If every card fails
"No saved cards could be migrated to Clover: Clover rejected every card. This usually means your Clover account is not enabled to convert saved cards from [gateway] – contact Clover to confirm, then retry the migration." The notice also shows Clover’s response. Ask Clover to enable conversion of your First Data saved cards, then click retry the migration.
4. Re-collect what can’t migrate
Some payment details can’t move to Clover:
- eCheck (TeleCheck) payment methods from Payeezy or Payeezy Gateway. Clover for WooCommerce takes cards only. The retirement notice says "Note: saved eCheck payment methods cannot be migrated and must be re-collected."
- Everything from Global Gateway. Its notice says "saved cards and subscription payment methods must be re-collected."
- Cards that failed the migration.
Ask those customers to add a card under My account » Payment methods, and to update the payment method on each subscription. See Saved cards and subscriptions with Clover.
Common issues
The Migrate saved cards notice doesn’t appear
The migration is offered only when Clover is the active gateway, its Production credentials are saved, Environment is Production, and there are saved Payeezy or Payeezy Gateway cards left to migrate. It isn’t offered for Global Gateway.
Clover disappeared from checkout
Someone clicked Use Payeezy Gateway, Use Payeezy JS or Use Global Gateway on the Plugins list. Click Use Clover to switch back.
Another admin still sees the retirement notice
Dismissing the notice hides it only for you. It stops showing for everyone once Clover is the active gateway.