Receive WhatsApp Payments via Payments Gateway

Currently, customers browse business catalogs, add products to cart, and send orders with Meta's set of commerce messaging solutions, which includes Single Product Message, Multi Product Message, and Product Detail Page. With the Payments API, businesses can send customers a bill, so the customer can complete their order by paying the business without having to leave WhatsApp.

How it Works

First, the business composes and sends an order_details message. An order_details message is a new type of interactive message, which always contains the same 4 main components: header, body, footer, and action. Inside the action component, the business includes all the information needed for the customer to complete their payment.

Each order_details message contains a unique reference_id provided by the business, and that unique ID is used throughout the flow to track the order.

Once the message is sent, the business waits for a payment status update via webhooks. Businesses get notified when the payment status changes, but they must not solely rely on these webhook notifications due to security reasons. WhatsApp also provides a payment lookup API that can be used to retrieve the payment statuses directly anytime.

Purchase Flow in App

In the WhatsApp Messenger App, the purchase flow has the following steps:

1. Customers send an order with selected products to the business either through simple text messages or using other interactive messages such as Single Product Message, Multi Product Message, and Product Detail.

2. Once the business receives the order, they send an order_details message to the user. When the user taps on Review and Pay, they will see details about the order and total amount to be paid.

3. When the user taps the Continue button, they are able to choose to pay natively on WhatsApp or any other UPI app.

1. Once the payment has been confirmed by your payment gateway (PG) or payment service provider, the business can start processing the order.

2. Businesses can then send an order_status message to the consumer informing them about the status of the order. Each message will result in a message bubble (as shown above) that refers to the original order details message and also updates the status displayed on the order details page.

Link Your Payment Account

To receive payments on WhatsApp, businesses must add a payment configuration to the corresponding WhatsApp Business Account. A payment configuration allows you to link a payment gateway account to WhatsApp. Each payment configuration is associated with a unique name. As part of the order_details message, you can specify the payment configuration to use for a specific checkout. WhatsApp will then generate a checkout flow using the associated payment gateway account.

If the WABA is a Shared WABA (created through Embedded Signup)

Businesses can use the 'Direct pay methods' page and under 'India' in WhatsApp Business Manager.

Once the user enters the details, Meta redirects them to the payment gateway website to enter their credentials and link their account with WhatsApp as shown below.

If the WABA is an OBO (On-Behalf-of) WABA (created through Classic Signup)

In case of the OBO WhatsApp Business Accounts, 360dialog can enter the payment configuration details and generate a link URL. This link URL will be shared, which will allow you to log into the payment gateway account and connect it with WhatsApp.

For this, please reach out to our support team.

After linking the payment account, you must integrate with the Payments APIs below. This will allow you to send an order_details message to customers with the payment configuration to receive payments.

Get Started

The steps outlined below assume that the business already knows what the user is interested in through earlier conversations. The Payments API is a standalone API and hence can work with various messages such as List Messages, Reply Buttons, Single or Multi-Product Messages.

Integration Steps

Sequence Diagram

The following sequence diagram demonstrates the typical integration flow for Payments API. The steps highlighted in green are the key integration steps.

Step 1: Send Order Details Interactive Message

To send an order_details message, businesses must assemble an interactive object of type order_details with the following components:

Parameters Object

Payment Settings Object

RazorPay Notes and PayU UDF fields

We now have support for partners and merchants to pass notes, receipt and udf fileds in Order Details message and receive this data back in payment signals. Here we will take a look at merchants can pass notes, receipt fields for Razorpay and UDF for PayU PGs.

Order Object

The parameters value is a stringified JSON object.

By the end, the interactive object should look something like this for a catalog-based integration:

{
  "interactive": {
    "type": "order_details",
    "header": {
      "type": "image",
      "image": {
        "link": "http(s)://the-url",
        "provider": {
          "name": "provider-name"
        }
      }
    },
    "body": {
      "text": "your-text-body-content"
    },
    "footer": {
      "text": "your-text-footer-content"
    },
    "action": {
      "name": "review_and_pay",
      "parameters": {
        "reference_id": "reference-id-value",
        "type": "digital-goods",
        "payment_settings": [
          {
            "type": "payment_gateway",
            "payment_gateway": {
              "type": "razorpay",
              "configuration_name": "payment-config-id",
      	      "razorpay": {
                "receipt": "receipt-value",
                "notes": {
                  "key1": "value1"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        ],
        "currency": "INR",
        "total_amount": {
          "value": 21000,
          "offset": 100
        },
        "order": {
          "status": "pending",
          "catalog_id": "the-catalog_id",
          "expiration": {
            "timestamp": "utc_timestamp_in_seconds",
            "description": "cancellation-explanation"
          },
          "items": [
            {
              "retailer_id": "1234567",
              "name": "Product name, for example bread",
              "amount": {
                "value": 10000,
                "offset": 100
              },
              "quantity": 1,
              "sale_amount": {
                "value": 100,
                "offset": 100
              }
            }
          ],
          "subtotal": {
            "value": 20000,
            "offset": 100
          },
          "tax": {
            "value": 1000,
            "offset": 100,
            "description": "optional_text"
          },
          "shipping": {
            "value": 1000,
            "offset": 100,
            "description": "optional_text"
          },
          "discount": {
            "value": 1000,
            "offset": 100,
            "description": "optional_text",
            "discount_program_name": "optional_text"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The parameters value is a stringified JSON object.

For a non-catalog based integration i.e. when catalog-id is not present, an example payload looks as follows:

{
  "interactive": {
    "type": "order_details",
    "header": {
      "type": "image",
      "image": {
        "id": "your-media-id"
      }
    },
    "body": {
      "text": "your-text-body-content"
    },
    "footer": {
      "text": "your-text-footer-content"
    },
    "action": {
      "name": "review_and_pay",
      "parameters": {
        "reference_id": "reference-id-value",
        "type": "digital-goods",
        "payment_settings": [
          {
            "type": "payment_gateway",
            "payment_gateway": {
              "type": "razorpay",
              "configuration_name": "payment-config-id"
            }
          }
        ],
        "currency": "INR",
        "total_amount": {
          "value": 21000,
          "offset": 100
        },
        "order": {
          "status": "pending",
          "expiration": {
            "timestamp": "utc_timestamp_in_seconds",
            "description": "cancellation-explanation"
          },
          "items": [
            {
              "retailer_id": "1234567",
              "name": "Product name, for example bread",
              "amount": {
                "value": 10000,
                "offset": 100
              },
              "quantity": 1,
              "sale_amount": {
                "value": 100,
                "offset": 100
              },
              "country_of_origin": "country-of-origin",
              "importer_name": "name-of-importer-business",
              "importer_address": {
                "address_line1": "B8/733 nand nagri",
                "address_line2": "police station",
                "city": "East Delhi",
                "zone_code": "DL",
                "postal_code": "110093",
                "country_code": "IN"
              }
            },
            {
              "retailer_id": "14325",
              "name": "Product name, for example bread",
              "amount": {
                "value": 10000,
                "offset": 100
              },
              "quantity": 1,
              "sale_amount": {
                "value": 100,
                "offset": 100
              },
              "country_of_origin": "country-of-origin",
              "importer_name": "name-of-importer-business",
              "importer_address": {
                "address_line1": "B8/733 nand nagri",
                "address_line2": "police station",
                "city": "East Delhi",
                "zone_code": "DL",
                "postal_code": "110093",
                "country_code": "IN"
              }
            }
          ],
          "subtotal": {
            "value": 20000,
            "offset": 100
          },
          "tax": {
            "value": 1000,
            "offset": 100,
            "description": "optional_text"
          },
          "shipping": {
            "value": 1000,
            "offset": 100,
            "description": "optional_text"
          },
          "discount": {
            "value": 1000,
            "offset": 100,
            "description": "optional_text",
            "discount_program_name": "optional_text"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Add Common Message Parameters

Once the interactive object is complete, append the other parameters that make a message: recipient_type, to, and type. Remember to set the type to interactive.

If the WABA is registered in Cloud API

{
   "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
   "recipient_type": "individual",
   "to": "PHONE_NUMBER",
   "type": "interactive",
   "interactive": {
     // interactive object here     
   }
 }

These are parameters common to Cloud API message types

[will be deprecated] If the WABA is registered in On-premise API

{
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "whatsapp-id",
  "type": "interactive",
  "interactive": {
    // interactive object here
  }
}

These are parameters common to On-Premise message types.

Make a POST Call to /messages

Make a POST call to the /messages endpoint with the JSON object you have assembled. If your message is sent successfully, you get the following response:

If the WABA is registered in Cloud API

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "contacts": [ {
      "input": "[PHONE_NUMBER_ID]",
      "wa_id": "[PHONE-NUMBER_ID]"
  } ],
  "messages": [ {
      "id": "wamid.HBgLMTY1MDUwNzY1MjAVAgARGBI5QTNDQTVCM0Q0Q0Q2RTY3RTcA"
  } ]
}

For all errors that can be returned and guidance on how to handle them, see WhatsApp Cloud API, Error Codes.

[will be deprecated] If the WABA is registered in On-premise API

{
  "messages": [{
    "id": "{message-id}"
  }]
}

For all errors that can be returned and guidance on how to handle them, see Errors while Messaging.

Product Experience

The customer receives an order_details message similar to the one below (left). When they click on "Review and Pay", it opens up the order details screen as shown below (middle).

Customer can then pay for their order using "Continue" button that opens up a bottom sheet with the payment options (right).

Step 2: Receive Webhook about Transaction Status

Businesses receive updates via WhatsApp webhooks when the status of the user-initiated transaction changes in a status of type "payment". It contains the following fields:

Here is an example status webhook of type payment:

{
  "object": "whatsapp_business_account",
  "entry": [{
    "id": "WHATSAPP-BUSINESS-ACCOUNT-ID",
    "changes": [{
      "value": {
         "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
         "metadata": {
           "display_phone_number": "[PHONE_NUMBER]",
           "phone_number_id": "[PHONE_NUMBER_ID]"
         },
         "contacts": [{...}],
         "errors": [{...}],
         "messages": [{...}],
         "statuses": [{
            "id": "gBGGFlB5YjhvAgnhuF1qIUvCo7A",
            "recipient_id": "[PHONE_NUMBER]",
            "type": "payment",
            "status": "[TRANSACTION_STATUS]",
            "payment": {
               "reference_id": "[REFERENCE_ID]",
               "amount": {
                 "value": 21000,
                 "offset": 100
               },
               "currency": "INR",
               "receipt": "receipt-value",
               "notes": {
                 "key1": "value1",
                 "key2": "value2"
               },
               "udf1": "udf1-value",
               "udf2": "udf2-value",
               "udf3": "udf3-value",
               "udf4": "udf4-value",
            },
            "timestamp": "notification_timestamp"
         }]
      },
      "field": "messages"
    }]
  }]
}

Step 3. Confirm Payment

After receiving the payment status change notification, or at any time, the business can look up the status of the payment or transaction. To do that, businesses must make a GET call to /payments/{payment-config-id}/{reference_ID}.

Businesses should expect a response in the same HTTP session (not in a webhook notification). payment_configuration and reference_id must be the same as that provided in the initial order_details message.

A response can return the following values:

Payment Status

A successful response looks like this:

{
  "payments": [{
    "reference_id": "reference-id-value",
    "status": "status-of-payment",
    "currency": "INR",
    "total_amount": {
      "value": 21000,
      "offset": 100
    },
    "transactions": [
      {
        "id": "[PG-TXN-ID]",
        "type": "razorpay/payu",
        "status": "success",
        "created_timestamp": "CREATED_TIMESTAMP",
        "updated_timestamp": "UPDATED_TIMESATMP",
        "refunds": [
          {
            "id": "[REFUND-ID]",
            "amount": {
              "value": 100,
              "offset": 100
            },
            "speed_processed": "instant/normal",
            "status": "success",
            "created_timestamp": "CREATED_TIMESTAMP",
            "updated_timestamp": "UPDATED_TIMESATMP",
          }
        ],
      }
    ],
    "receipt": "receipt-value",
    "notes": {
      "key1": "value1",
      "key2": "value2"
    },
    "udf1": "udf1-value",
    "udf2": "udf2-value",
    "udf3": "udf3-value",
    "udf4": "udf4-value"
  }]
}

In the case of any errors, this is the response:

{
  "errors": [{
    "code": "<error code>",
    "title": "<title for error>",
    "details": "<details description of error>"
  }]
}

For all errors that can be returned and guidance on how to handle them, see Errors while Messaging

Step 4. Update Order Status

To notify the customer with updates to an order, you can send an interactive message of type order_status as shown below:

{
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "whatsapp-id",
  "type": "interactive",
  "interactive": {
    "type": "order_status",
    "body": {
      "text": "your-text-body-content"
    },
    "action": {
      "name": "review_order",
      "parameters": {
        "reference_id": "reference-id-value",
        "order": {
          "status": "processing | partially_shipped | shipped | completed | canceled",
          "description": "optional-text"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The following table describes the fields in the order_status interactive message:

The parameters object contains the following fields:

order_status message introduces two new errors that are summarized below.

Product Experience

Customers receive each order_status update as a separate message in their chat thread, that references their original order_details message as shown below (left). The order details page always displays the latest valid status communicated to the customer using the order_status message as shown below (right).

Supported Order Status and Transitions

Currently we support the following order status values:

Order status transitions are restricted for consistency of consumer experience. Allowed status transitions are summarized below:

• Initial status of an order is always pending, which is sent in order_details message.

• canceled and completed are terminal status and cannot be updated to any other status.

• pending can transition to any of the other statuses including processing, shipped, partially-shipped.

• processing, shipped and partially-shipped are equivalent statuses and can transition between one another or to one of the terminal statuses.

Upon sending an order_status message with an invalid transition, you will receive an error webhook with the error code 2046 and message "New order status was not correctly transitioned."

Canceling an Order

An order can be canceled by sending an order_status message with the status canceled.

The customer cannot pay for an order that is canceled. The customer receives an order_status message (left) and order details page is updated to show that the order is canceled and the "Secure Checkout" button removed (right). The optional text shown below "Order canceled" on the order details page can be specified using the description field in the order_status message.

An order can be canceled only if the user has not already paid for the order. If the user has paid and you send an order_status message with canceled status, you will receive an error webhook with error code 2047 and message "Could not change order status to 'canceled'".

Step 5: Reconcile Payments

Please note that neither 360dialog nor WhatsApp supports payment reconciliations. Businesses should use their payment gateway account to reconcile the payments using the reference_id provided in the order_details messages and the id of the transactions returned as part of the payment lookup query.

Security Considerations for Payments API

• Businesses should not rely solely on the status of the transaction provided in the webhook and must use payment lookup API to retrieve the statuses directly from WhatsApp.

• To ensure secure financial processing, payment configurations such as the business’ VPA shared by all WhatsApp phone numbers must belong to the same Business Manager account. If you wish to separate payments for different phone numbers, then additional Business Manager Accounts must be created.

• Businesses must always sanitize/validate the data in the API responses or webhooks to protect against SSRF attacks.