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Payment Lifecycle

Understand the complete payment journey from authorization to settlement in the Azotte platform.

Payment Flow Overview​

Customer Checkout
       │
       ▼
┌────────────────────┐
│   Authorization     │
│                    │
│ • Validate payment   │
│ • Reserve funds      │
│ • Fraud check       │
└──────────┬─────────┘
            │
            ▼
┌────────────────────┐
│     Capture        │
│                    │
│ • Settle funds      │
│ • Activate service  │
│ • Send confirmation │
└──────────┬─────────┘
            │
            ▼
┌────────────────────┐
│   Settlement      │
│                    │
│ • Transfer to bank  │
│ • Generate invoice  │
│ • Update records   │
└────────────────────┘

Payment States​

Authorization States​

  • Pending: Authorization in progress
  • Authorized: Funds reserved successfully
  • Declined: Authorization failed (insufficient funds, etc.)
  • Expired: Authorization timeout or expiry

Capture States​

  • Captured: Funds successfully captured
  • Partial: Partially captured (less than authorized amount)
  • Failed: Capture attempt failed
  • Cancelled: Authorization cancelled before capture

Settlement States​

  • Pending: Settlement in progress
  • Settled: Funds transferred to merchant account
  • Failed: Settlement failed
  • Returned: Settlement reversed (chargeback, etc.)

Recurring Payments​

Subscription Billing Cycle​

  1. Billing Date: Recurring charge attempt
  2. Payment Processing: Authorize and capture
  3. Success Handling: Continue subscription
  4. Failure Handling: Retry logic and dunning

Retry Logic​

Payment Failed
       │
       ▼
   Retry #1 (24 hours)
       │
       ▼
   Retry #2 (72 hours)
       │
       ▼
   Retry #3 (7 days)
       │
       ▼
   Subscription Cancelled

Payment Methods​

Credit/Debit Cards​

  • Visa, Mastercard, American Express
  • 3D Secure authentication
  • Tokenization for security
  • Automatic retry for network failures

Digital Wallets​

  • PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay
  • One-click payments
  • Biometric authentication
  • Streamlined mobile experience

Bank Transfers​

  • ACH (US), SEPA (Europe)
  • Direct debit for subscriptions
  • Lower fees, higher authorization times
  • Bank account verification required

Error Handling​

Common Payment Errors​

  • Insufficient Funds: Customer account lacks funds
  • Expired Card: Payment method expired
  • Invalid CVV: Security code incorrect
  • Fraud Detection: Transaction flagged as suspicious

Error Response Format​

{
  "error": {
    "code": "card_declined",
    "message": "Your card was declined",
    "type": "card_error",
    "decline_code": "insufficient_funds",
    "payment_intent_id": "pi_1234567890"
  }
}

Webhooks and Events​

Payment Events​

  • payment.authorized - Payment successfully authorized
  • payment.captured - Payment captured and settled
  • payment.failed - Payment attempt failed
  • payment.refunded - Refund processed

Event Handling​

app.post('/webhooks/azotte', (req, res) => {
  const event = req.body;
  
  switch (event.type) {
    case 'payment.captured':
      // Activate customer subscription
      activateSubscription(event.data.subscription_id);
      break;
    case 'payment.failed':
      // Handle failed payment
      handlePaymentFailure(event.data);
      break;
  }
  
  res.status(200).send('OK');
});

Next Steps​