Payment Methods

A payment method allows you to securely save a customer’s credit or debit card and charge it on demand, without the customer needing to re-enter their card details each time. This is ideal for recurring billing, subscriptions, memberships, and any scenario where you need to charge a customer repeatedly.

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What You Can Do

With payment methods, you can:

• Save Cards Securely: Customers complete a one-time checkout to save their card through Compago’s PCI-compliant infrastructure
• Charge on Demand: Initiate charges against saved cards at any time via API
• Hold Funds: Reserve money on a card for up to 7 natural days, then capture it (in full or in part) or release it back to the customer
• Collect on the Card-Saving Link: With collectFunds, the same link that saves the card can also charge or hold an amount, instead of saving the card and charging it in a second step. See Save a Card
• Process Refunds: Issue full refunds for charges made against saved cards
• Manage Cards: List, retrieve, and revoke saved payment methods
• Track Payments: View the full payment history for each saved card
• Customize Checkout: Choose between a full-page redirect or embedded iframe for the card-saving flow

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Use Cases

Payment methods are perfect for:

• Subscriptions: Charge customers monthly or annually for SaaS products, streaming services, or memberships
• Memberships: Automatically bill members for gym access, clubs, or professional organizations
• On-demand Services: Charge customers after service delivery (ride-sharing, food delivery, freelance work)
• Pay-later Flows: Collect card details upfront and charge later when an order ships or a service is rendered
• Installment Billing: Split large payments into multiple charges over time
• Deposits and Bookings: Hold a security deposit or a reservation amount, then capture it at checkout or release it when the customer owes nothing

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How It Works

1. Create: Your backend calls the Compago API to create a payment method, providing customer billing details and optional customization
2. Checkout: The customer is directed to the checkout URL to securely enter their card details
3. Verification: Compago places a small verification charge (default $1 MXN) which is then voided to validate the card. Send collectFunds on the create call to charge or hold a real amount at this step instead
4. Card Saved: Once verified, the payment method status changes to ACTIVE and the card is securely stored
5. Charge on Demand: You can now charge the saved card at any time by calling the charge endpoint
6. Or Hold First: Send holdFunds: true on the same endpoint to reserve the funds instead of charging them, then capture the hold (in full or in part) or release it within 7 natural days

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Payment Method Statuses

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Payment Statuses

When you charge a saved payment method, each payment has its own status:

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Prerequisites

Before using payment methods, ensure you have:

• An active Compago account with API access
• A valid API key, created at Configuraciones → Desarrollador in the dashboard of the environment you call (demo-app.compago.com for Demo, app.compago.com for Production). See Environments.
• Your integration configured to use MXN currency

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Next Steps