Accepting online payments
Merchants can accept online payments with Swan.
Before accepting online payments, each merchant needs a merchant profile.
Online payment methods​
Your merchants can request the following online payment methods to accept payments with Swan:
- Cards
- SEPA Direct Debit (B2B and Core)
- Internal Direct Debit (B2B and Standard)
- French checks (API only; debtor's bank must be located in France)
You can also accept payments to a Swan account with credit transfers.
Payment links​
Payment links redirect customers to a Swan-hosted payment page where a customer can choose from the merchant's eligible enabled payment methods. These optimized payment pages are customizable with the merchant's name, logo, and accent color.
Your merchants can create links to share with their customers by email or text message. They could also include a QR code on an invoice, scannable by the customer with their mobile device.
→ Learn how to create payment links to accept card payments.
Merchant payments​
Merchant payments include one or more transactions. For example, one payment might include both a capture and refund transaction.
These transactions are grouped together in the merchant payment object. Swan recommends using the merchant payment object in your integration to help merchants match orders, invoices, and sales to the correct object. This provides better traceability and can help reconcile issues more efficiently.
Payment object statuses​
The merchant payment object has distinct statuses to follow a payment's lifecycle.
All payments begin in the Initiated status.
From Initiated, a payment may be directly Captured, Canceled by the merchant, or Rejected by Swan or another participant in the payment scheme, such as the customer's payment service provider.
For card payments, the flow may proceed from Initiated to Authorized before being either Captured or Canceled.
After capture, a payment may still be Refunded by the merchant or Disputed by the customer, depending on the payment method.
| Payment Object Status | Explanation |
|---|---|
Initiated | The payment object has been created, but the payment is not yet authorized or guaranteed. |
Authorized | Applies only to card payments. The payment has been authorized by the customer's bank. The funds are guaranteed but not yet captured. |
Canceled | The payment was canceled. Funds can no longer be captured. This is a final status. |
Rejected | The payment was rejected by Swan or another participant in the payment scheme before the funds were captured. This is a final status. |
Captured | The payment is successfully authorized (for card payments) or processed (for all other payment methods), and the funds are debited from the customer's account. This can be the final status of a successful payment flow, unless the customer disputes the payment or requests a refund. |
Refunded | The payment was reversed by the merchant either for the full amount or partially depending on the payment method. This is a final status. |
Disputed | The customer disputed the payment with their bank either for the full amount or partially depending on the payment method. This is a final status. |
Payment object balances​
The merchant payment object has distinct balances to follow a payment's lifecycle.
| Payment object balance | Explanation |
|---|---|
totalAuthorized | The total authorized amount for this merchant payment. |
availableToCancel | The authorized amount that can be released. Refer to this balance to verify whether the payment can be canceled. Cancellations must be done before the amount is captured, or earlier in the payment's lifecycle for some payment methods. |
totalCanceled | The total amount canceled for this merchant payment. |
availableToCapture | The amount available for merchants to capture if the capture isn't automatic. |
totalCaptured | The amount captured by the merchant. For card payments with automatic capture, totalCaptured is always equal to totalAuthorized. |
availableToRefund | The amount the merchant can refund. Use this balance to know if a payment is eligible for a refund. |
totalRefunded | The total amount refunded for this merchant payment. |
totalDisputed | The total amount of this merchant payment disputed by the customer. |