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Quickstart — Direct Payment API 🧶

Go from zero to your first test payment in a few minutes.

1. Get connected to Paystrax and learn the prerequisites 🧶​

Before making any request, contact Paystrax Operations at [TODO: email] to get set up. They'll handle your initial onboarding and provide everything below:

ItemUsed as
API username and passwordObtain access tokens (see Getting an Access Token)
Token endpoint URLPOST to exchange credentials for a Bearer token
Integrator IDX-Integrator-ID request header (case-sensitive)
Configuration IDreceiver.configuration_id in payment requests. See Testing & Sandbox Data for in depth details
Gateway base URL (TEST)Prefix for all API paths — https://sandbox-api.paystrax.com
Gateway base URL (PRODUCTION)Confirmed separately with your Paystrax contact

You'll need these credentials and the sandbox base URL before moving to the next step.

See Authentication & Environments for the full setup walkthrough.

2. Authenticate 🧶​

Every request must include your credentials. Use the token endpoint URL supplied in your PAYSTRAX welcome pack, and request a token using the OAuth2 password grant:

POST <token_endpoint_url>
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

client_id=<client_id_from_paystrax>&username=<api_username>&password=<api_password>grant_type=password

Read access_token from the JSON response, and use it as Authorization: Bearer <access_token> on every subsequent request until it expires — then repeat this step.

3. Make one test payment 🛎️​

The simplest possible case — a single sale, no branching. intent: transfer authorises and captures in one step.

Request

curl -X POST https://sandbox-api.paystrax.com/payments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <access_token>" \
  -H "X-Integrator-ID: <integrator_id>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 10101,
    "currency": "EUR",
    "sender": {
      "type": "credit_card",
      "custom_data": {
        "pan": "5341260000000056",
        "expiry_month": "12",
        "expiry_year": "2033",
        "holder_name": "John Snow"
      }
    },
    "receiver": { "configuration_id": "<CONFIGURATION_ID>" },
    "routing": { "payment_flow": "credit_card" },
    "intent": "transfer",
    "channel": "ecommerce",
    "custom_data": { "authentication": { "cvc": "987" } },
    "descriptors": { "reconciliation": "ORDER-1001" }
  }'

4. Read the result 🛎️​

Response — the desired status is 201, meaning the request was accepted. Save these fields:

FieldPurpose
idPayment ID — used for GET, reverse, and webhooks
initial_operation_idTransfer ID for this sale
network_transaction_referenceScheme network reference

Check custom_data.transaction_iso_properties.processor_response_code — 00 means approved at the processor level. A 201 response does not by itself mean the payment succeeded — always check this field, not the HTTP status alone.

Confirm Once you've read the result, verify it independently with a follow-up GET:

curl -X GET https://sandbox-api.paystrax.com/payments/<payment_id> \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <access_token>" \
  -H "X-Integrator-ID: <integrator_id>"

5. Next steps 🛎️​

  • Explore the other payment flows — authorise, refund, payout, fund a card — in Payment Flows, or dive into the full API Reference.
  • Learn how to handle errors and declined payments in Error Handling and Response Statuses.
  • Learn how to manage back-office operations in Back Office Payment Operations.
  • Set up webhooks to receive updates from the API in Webhooks.