Payments Overview
Elastic Path offers a flexible payment system that integrates with various payment gateways to process transactions securely for your commerce application.
How Payments Work
Payments in Elastic Path follow a simple flow:
- When a shopper checks out a cart, an unpaid order is created
- A payment transaction is initiated through a payment gateway
- The gateway processes the payment outside Elastic Path's environment
- The transaction status is returned and updates the order status
For security, all payment processing happens externally through payment gateways, using tokens rather than direct card details whenever possible.
Payment Gateways
Payment gateways are third-party services that process payments for your store. Elastic Path offers:
Pre-integrated Gateways
- Elastic Path Payments Powered by Stripe - Managed payment solution built on Stripe
- Stripe - Popular online payment processor supporting credit cards and digital wallets
- Stripe Connect - Multi-party payment platform for marketplaces and platforms
- Stripe Payment Intents - Enhanced Stripe integration with 3D Secure support
- Adyen - Global payment platform supporting 250+ payment methods worldwide
- PayPal Express Checkout - Digital wallet and payment service from PayPal
- Braintree - PayPal-owned payment gateway supporting cards and digital wallets
- Authorize.Net - Payment gateway for credit card processing
- CyberSource - Visa-owned payment management platform
- CardConnect - Payment processing platform with tokenization capabilities
Special Purpose Gateways
- Manual Gateway - For zero-value orders, offline payments, or custom payment methods
Using the manual gateway you could also create custom gateway integrations for payment providers not listed above.
Payment Methods and Capabilities
Elastic Path supports:
- Standard credit/debit card payments
- Split payments (multiple payment sources for one order)
- Authorization and capture flows
- Full and partial refunds
- Transaction cancellation
Split Payments
Split payments allow shoppers to use multiple payment sources for a single order, such as:
- Gift card + credit card
- Store credit + credit card
- Multiple payment cards
Order and Payment Status Workflow
As payments progress, both order and payment statuses update:
| Payment Status | Order Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| unpaid | incomplete | No complete payment transactions |
| partially_authorized | incomplete | Partially authorized with remaining balance |
| partially_paid | incomplete | Some funds captured, balance remains |
| authorized | processing | Full amount authorized but not captured |
| paid | complete | Order fully paid and complete |
Refund Options
Refunds can be processed in two ways:
- Mark as Refunded: Process the refund in your payment gateway first, then mark it in Elastic Path
- Refund via API/UI: Initiate refunds directly through Elastic Path for supported gateways
Security Considerations
- Payment card data is never stored in Elastic Path
- HTTPS is enforced for all payment communications
- PCI compliance is maintained through external processing