Online Payment Flow
End-to-end sequence from checkout initiation through settlement — covering happy path, 3DS challenge, and failure handling.
Payment Sequence
Each node shows the responsible actor and the decision or action taken at that step.
Checkout Initiated
User submits payment form. Client-side validation runs. Card data is tokenized by the payment SDK before leaving the browser — raw PAN never touches the application server.
Payment Intent Created
Backend creates a PaymentIntent with amount, currency, and idempotency key. Returns client secret to the frontend for confirmation.
3DS Authentication Check
PSP evaluates risk signals. For most transactions, authentication is frictionless. High-risk or card-issuer-required flows trigger a 3DS challenge popup.
Authorization
PSP forwards authorization request to the card network. Issuer checks available credit and fraud signals. Response is returned within 2–5 seconds.
Capture & Webhook
Funds are captured (immediately or delayed, depending on configuration). PSP fires a payment.succeeded webhook. Application server updates order status and triggers fulfillment.
Settlement
PSP batches captures and settles to the merchant bank account on T+1 or T+2 depending on the payout schedule. Reconciliation report is available via the PSP dashboard and API.