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 in EUR / USD → Your Inflow USD balance → Payout to your bank or crypto wallet

Your customer pays in their local currency (EUR or USD) via Local Bank Transfer, Card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover), Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
The payment is converted and settled into your Inflow USD balance.
When you're ready, you request a payout to your bank account (EUR or USD) or to a crypto wallet (USDC).

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