Payment requests

The payment request (PaymentRequest) is the service that allows you to generate payment links. You can create payment requests via API or via the Merchant Portal. The payment request can also be paired with the CentralPay notification service, allowing you to easily send a payment link to your customers by email or SMS and schedule automated reminders.

1. API creation

1.1. Create a PaymentRequest

Below are the available payment methods and the corresponding API values in the PaymentRequest service:

Desired payment method or mode	API values to provide
One-off payments
Card transaction	paymentMethod[]=TRANSACTION
Card deposit (reserved for rental businesses)	paymentMethod[]=TRANSACTION transaction[source]=DP
Card verification/imprint (0€ transaction)	paymentMethod[]=TRANSACTION transaction[source]=RI
Bank transfer transaction	paymentMethod[]=SCT_TRANSACTION
SEPA Direct Debit transaction	paymentMethod[]=SDD sdd[remittanceInformation]
Pay by bank transaction (standard transfer)	paymentMethod[]=SCT_TRANSACTION_PIS
Pay by bank transaction (instant transfer by default, otherwise standard)	paymentMethod[]=SCT_TRANSACTION_PIS_IP
Recurring payments
Card subscription	paymentMethod[]=SUBSCRIPTION subscriptionModel[subscriptionModelId]
SEPA Direct Debit subscription	paymentMethod[]=SUBSCRIPTION subscription[source]=SDD subscriptionModel[subscriptionModelId]
Card instalment payment	paymentMethod[]=INSTALLMENT intallment[intervalUnit] installment[intervalCount] installment [iterationCount]
SEPA Direct Debit instalment payment	paymentMethod[]=INSTALLMENT installment[source]=SDD intallment[intervalUnit] installment[intervalCount] installment [iterationCount]

If you want to allow multiple payment methods or modes in your PaymentRequest, you must provide the paymentMethod object multiple times.

Example:

paymentMethod[]=TRANSACTION
paymentMethod[]=SCT_TRANSACTION

⚠️ Some combinations of payment methods or modes may conflict and your PaymentRequest may return an error. For example, you cannot allow a TRANSACTION and a SUBSCRIPTION; however, you can allow a TRANSACTION and an INSTALLMENT.

Here is the key information about other values to provide when creating a PaymentRequest:

Label	Definition
amount	Payment request amount in cents
merchantPaymentRequestId	Custom reference (your order or invoice number, for example) that you can use to reconcile the payment. This value will be visible to your customer on the payment page
description	Custom description (name of the product or service sold). This value will be visible to your customer on the payment page
additionalData[*]	Free key-value data, allowing you to pass through one or more data items (invoice references, customer number, etc.). Not visible to your customer on the payment page
createCustomer	TRUE / FALSE creation of a Customer account (in particular, enables saving the customer payment method: card, SEPA mandate, and creating a virtual IBAN dedicated to the Customer)
breakdown[customerId]	Select an existing Customer

ℹ️ For SEPA transfer transactions, you can define whether you want to display the Virtual IBAN dedicated to the Customer or generate a single-use Virtual IBAN (SCT) from the settings of your Points of Sale.

1.2. Send a PaymentRequest by email / SMS

When creating it, you can ask CentralPay to send the payment request to your customer. There are two sending methods:

• Via the default PaymentRequest mailer: CentralPay sends the payment request using a standardised email/SMS template and from the sender email configured in your point of sale (or, failing that, CentralPay’s sender email “no-reply@centralpay.eu”).
  • To do this, you must [coming soon]
    
    
• Via the CentralPay email/SMS notification service: CentralPay sends the payment request according to the scenario and communication templates you have configured. This service notably enables automated customer reminders, based on the payment request parameters (payment deadlines, payment progress, etc.).
  • To do this, you must [coming soon]

1.3. Specific features

Send an open-amount payment request (multi-payment methods)

It is possible to allow the amount to be paid to be modified (up to the initial amount), so that your payers can pay the amount due using multiple payment methods or at different times.

Example:

Example of a €500 payment request:

• Payment of €250 by transfer, then €250 by card
• Or €300 with a first card, then €200 with another
• Or payment of €350 with a card, then come back later to pay the remaining €150 with the same card

To do this, you must [coming soon]

Send a payment request to multiple recipients

It is possible to send a payment request to multiple recipients with a different amount to be paid by each of them. As follows:

• Each participant receives an email or SMS notification detailing the item to be paid
• Amounts are set by the initiator or left open for each participant, who pays the amount they wish
• The dates configured on the request (creation, expiration, etc.) allow notifications to be generated for each participant

To do this, you must [coming soon]

2. Creation from the Merchant Portal

2.1. Creation and types of payment requests

You can create a payment request from Merchant Portal Payment requests Payment links Create .

Payment requests created from the Merchant Portal are necessarily sent to your customers by CentralPay. Depending on your needs, you must choose one of the following request types:

• Instant request: A simple request, sent from CentralPay’s standard email/SMS senders and templates
• Scheduled request: An advanced request, using the communication templates, scenarios, and sending/reminder rules that you have previously configured in the CentralPay email/SMS notification service. A scheduled request sent without selecting a notification scenario will automatically be reclassified as an instant request

Once created, you can access the payment page by clicking payment request details Payment form . This way, you can send your customer the page URL in case of a sending error.

Access:

2.2. Payment request profiles

To make it easier to create payment requests, you can create predefined profiles that include the main request settings:

• Point of sale
• Currency
• Language
• Allowed payment methods
• Payment due date (contractual payment terms)
• Link expiration (time before the link expires)
• Notification scenarios
• Rerouting of the payment confirmation email
• Display rules (payment page settings)
• Customer creation
• Attachments

You can then use this profile when creating your scheduled payment requests via the Merchant Portal, or via flat-file import.

2.3. Create payment requests by flat-file import

From Merchant Portal Payment requests Payment links Import , you can upload a payment request import file. This use may be recommended for businesses that want to send, at the end of the month, and automatically follow up on a list of debtors.

Download the template:

• CSV format➝
• JSON format ➝

Some important information:

Label	Definition
profil_uuid*	UUID of the payment request profile
merchant_payment_request_id	Custom reference (your order or invoice number, for example) that you can use to reconcile the payment. This value will be visible to the payer on the payment page.
description	Custom description (name of the product or service sold). This value will be visible to your customer on the payment page.
total_amount*	Payment request amount. Provide as a double with a “.” separator (e.g., 500.00 for €500).
last_name	Last name
first_name	First name
email*	Recipient email
phone	Recipient phone number in international format (e.g., 33612345678).
create_customer	Creation of a “Customer” customer profile: enter “O” for YES or “N” for NO
link_expiration_date	Payment request expiration date (date after which the customer can no longer pay you)
deadline	Payment due date (date by which your customer must have paid you, and after which they are late).
receipt_email	Email address to which you want to reroute the payment confirmation email
language*	Communication and payment page language (FRE for French, ENG for English…)