How do I set up my payment processor?

Before you begin, decide whether you need a simple one-time payment action or recurring billing. Chatref works with any processor that exposes a REST API—Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Square, and others. You will provide the processor’s endpoint, authentication details, and the fields required (e.g., amount, currency, customer ID). No custom code is needed; you simply map the request schema inside the custom-actions builder.

Chatref’s onboarding assistant walks you through the key decisions when you first configure a payment processor:

• Select processor type – choose from common presets or enter a custom API.
• Enter credentials – paste your test-stage API keys (Publishable and Secret keys). Chatref stores them encrypted and never logs them in chat transcripts.
• Define data mapping – map each processor field (like amount and description) to Chatref conversation variables (e.g., {{chat_input_amount}}).

The onboarding finishes with a connection check that confirms the processor is reachable from your account. If the check passes, you can immediately start building actions.

Custom actions are the engine that runs payment processor setup. They let you turn user inputs into a secure API call that creates a charge, saves a payment method, or initiates a checkout session. To build a payment action:

1. Open the Custom actions tab inside your agent’s settings.
2. Click Add action and give it a name (e.g., “Process payment”).
3. Choose the onboarding preset you saved—this auto-fills the base URL, headers, and authentication.
4. Set the endpoint (e.g., /v1/payment_intents for Stripe).
5. Map Chatref variables to the JSON body. For example:
   • amount → {{system.payment_amount}}
   • currency → {{system.currency}}
   • description → Order from {{lead.name}}
6. Optionally, define a success message the agent will show to the user and an error fallback that asks them to retry.

Once saved, the action appears in your agent’s flow builder. You can add it to any conversation path where a payment is needed—for instance, after a product recommendation or a booking confirmation. This is your full payment processor installation in one step.

Every payment action includes a test mode. Use your processor’s sandbox environment to send test payments without moving real money. Chatref’s conversation preview shows exactly what the user sees—card entry prompts, confirmation messages, and error replies. When you’re confident the flow works, replace the sandbox keys with live credentials and toggle the action to live mode. Your payment processor setup is complete.

What are the steps to set up a payment processor?
You start by completing Chatref’s onboarding flow to connect your processor and enter API keys. Then you create a custom action that maps conversation variables (like amount and currency) to the processor’s API endpoint. After testing in sandbox mode, you switch to live credentials and publish the action.

How long does it take to configure a payment processor?
For a standard processor like Stripe or PayPal, the full configuration—from onboarding to a working test payment—takes about 20–30 minutes. More complex integrations with custom fields or multiple actions may take up to an hour, but no coding is needed at any stage.

Can I set up my payment processor without technical help?
Yes. Chatref’s onboarding assistant and the visual custom-actions builder are designed for non-developers. As long as you have your processor’s API keys and know the fields you want to collect, you can complete the entire payment processor setup yourself. If you do get stuck, Chatref’s support team can guide you through the mapping.