Key Concepts & Benefits
Core Concepts
Payments
A payment is a single transaction between a customer and your business. Payments can be created through:
- Payment Links — No-code, shareable URLs for one-time payments
- Subscription Links — Shareable URLs for recurring payments
- API — Programmatic payment creation with redirect to hosted checkout
- Server-to-Server — Direct card processing via the API
- SDK — Embedded card payment form on your website
Every payment has a lifecycle: INITIATION → CHECKOUT_SUCCESS → PAYMENT_SUCCESS (or PAYMENT_FAILED).
Subscriptions
A subscription is a recurring payment relationship between a customer and one of your subscription offers. Subscriptions support:
- Custom billing intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)
- Trial periods and entry fees
- Waitlists with manual approval
- Discord role integration
- Cycle limits
Customers
A customer is identified by their email address. All payments and subscriptions from the same email are grouped under one customer profile, visible in the Dashboard.
Customers can manage their own subscriptions through the Customer Portal using magic link authentication.
Payment Links vs Subscription Links
| Type | Purpose | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Payment Link | One-time payment | checkout.inflowpay.com/l/{linkId} |
| Subscription Link | Recurring payment | checkout.inflowpay.com/subscribe/{offerId} |
Webhooks
Webhooks are HTTP callbacks that notify your server when events happen (e.g., payment settled, subscription created). They're managed via the API.
Metadata
Metadata lets you attach custom JSON key-value data to payments and subscriptions for your internal tracking (e.g., order IDs, user references).
How Funds Flow
Customer pays (EUR rail) → EURC on your balance → Payout (EUR bank or EURC wallet)
Customer pays (USD rail) → USDC on your balance → Payout (USD bank or USDC wallet)- Your customer pays in EUR or USD via Local Bank Transfer, Card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
- Funds settle in the matching stablecoin on your custodial balance (EURC for EUR rails, USDC for USD rails) — there is no automatic cross-currency conversion. Check amounts with
GET /api/balance(custodialBalances). - When you're ready, you request a payout to a bank account or crypto wallet in the currency you choose (see How Payouts Work).
Note on USDC payouts. Sending a payout to a crypto wallet is opt-in and only relevant if your treasury already operates on-chain. If you don't have a USDC wallet, ignore this — bank payouts cover the standard merchant flow end-to-end.
3rd Party Payouts
Inflow also supports payouts to third-party recipients — vendors, contractors, or service providers. Add their bank account or crypto wallet to your payout destinations and initiate a withdrawal.
Key Benefits
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Global Reach | Accept payments from EU, UK, and international customers |
| Multiple Payment Methods | Local Bank Transfer, Cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), Apple Pay, Google Pay |
| Flexible Subscriptions | Trials, entry fees, waitlists, Discord roles, cycle limits |
| No-Code Tools | Create payment and subscription links from the Dashboard |
| Developer-Friendly | RESTful API, SDK, webhooks, metadata support |
| Automatic Tax | VAT calculated automatically by country (with optional Quaderno integration) |
| Flexible Payouts | Bank accounts (EUR, USD) or crypto wallets (USDC) |
| Yield on idle balance | Optional — currently paused, expected to be re-enabled soon |
| Integrations | Shopify, Discord, Quaderno |