Terminology

The following terms are used by FlipPay and worth understanding before starting your integration:

  1. Merchants
    • Merchants are businesses who are using FlipPay to seek payment for products and/or services from their Customers.
    • Merchants must be onboarded by FlipPay prior to being provided with credentials to access their account via web and/or API. 
    • Merchants maintain a direct relationship with FlipPay, and are wholly responsible for configuration of, access to and transactions on their account.
  2. Customers
    • Customers are the entities receiving a payment request, who will ultimately either pay the requested amount via available methods immediately, or enter into a “pay later” agreement with FlipPay.
    • Customers experience the platform via the Merchant context - they do not sign up for an account with FlipPay, each Merchant they engage with will initiate a unique experience for that Customer.
  3. Introducers
    • Introducers are FlipPay partners who are already integrated with FlipPay to offer FlipPay's services to the Introducer’s users.
    • Introducers are provided with separate credentials to authenticate with FlipPay, and are able to access additional API services and data sets to enable them to manage their relationship with their Merchants and Customers.
    • Introducers are called “Introducers” as they are introducing Merchants and Customers to FlipPay (or vice versa), for Merchants & Customers & FlipPay to then enter a direct commercial relationship that does not explicitly include the Introducer. Merchants may then access FlipPay's services via the Introducer platform or via FlipPay direct, and are not constrained by the Introducer in how they engage with FlipPay’s services.
    • Introducers do not have their own bank accounts configured in FlipPay, nor do they have direct access to products - their actions are performed on behalf of Merchants, within Merchant accounts.
  4. Payment request
    • Payment requests are the core objects within FlipPay, holding the necessary data to enact payment between a Customer and a Merchant via the various methods provided by FlipPay
    • Payment requests are initiated by Merchants, received by Customers, viewed by both entities.
  5. Transaction
    • Transactions are the individual actions enacted within a payment request - successful payments, failed payment attempts, disbursements to Merchants, etc.
    • There can be one or many transactions under a payment request, depending on the products enabled on the payment request and the Customer’s actions.
  6. Products
    • Products are the unique configurations of agreements and payment services enabled for a Merchant, experienced by users as a simple payment option (e.g. “pay now, pay later”).
    • Different product types have different options and requirements (applied a standard model), which may need to be considered when integrating with FlipPay.
  7. Payment page
    • The payment page is the primary experience for a Customer, and the target for the white-lable configuration options. When Customers receive a link to pay a Merchant, their link will point to a unique payment page that is dynamically constructed for their payment request, based on the products enabled and the Merchant’s configuration.
  8. Users
    • Within a Merchant/Introducer account, there are 3 types of users: administrator, user, API. All users are managed within the account by the Administrator role.
    • An Administrator can create/edit any setting within the account, and can only access FlipPay via the web interface.
    • A User can only use the services enabled for their account to access, and can only access FlipPay via the web interface.
    • An API User can only access FlipPay via the API services, and is provided with a unique token required for authentication on every API request. For Merchants, the API User can access all payment requests within the Merchant account. For Introducers, the API User can access all payment requests within linked/authorised Merchant accounts.
  9. Accounts
    • All payment activity on the platform happens within the context of a Merchant account.
    • Introducers are assigned an Introducer account, which can then be linked with Merchant accounts
    • User accounts are assigned within Merchant and/or Introducer accounts, enabling specific people and systems to access FlipPay
    • Bank accounts are assigned within Merchant accounts, to allow Merchants to direct and receive funds into their nominated bank account
    • Wrapping up:
        • A User account created under a Merchant account can create a payment request on that Merchant account that will direct funds to a Merchant’s bank account
        • A User account created under an Introducer account can create a payment request on a linked Merchant account that will direct funds to a Merchant’s bank account