Quickstart

Make your first PayFlow API call in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Get your API key

1. Log in to the PayFlow Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings → API Keys.
3. Copy your test secret key (sk_test_...).

Use test keys for development

Never use your live key (sk_live_...) during development. Test keys process no real payments.

Step 2: Make your first request

Replace YOUR_TEST_KEY with your test key:

cURL

curl https://api.payflow.io/v2/payments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TEST_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 2500,
    "currency": "gbp",
    "customer_id": "cus_test_example",
    "description": "Test payment"
  }'

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.payflow.io/v2/payments",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TEST_KEY",
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    json={
        "amount": 2500,
        "currency": "gbp",
        "customer_id": "cus_test_example",
        "description": "Test payment"
    }
)

print(response.json())

Node.js

const response = await fetch('https://api.payflow.io/v2/payments', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_TEST_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    amount: 2500,
    currency: 'gbp',
    customer_id: 'cus_test_example',
    description: 'Test payment',
  }),
});

const payment = await response.json();
console.log(payment);

Step 3: Check the response

A successful payment returns a 200 OK with a payment object:

{
  "id": "pay_8xKq9mNw",
  "object": "payment",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "amount": 2500,
  "currency": "gbp",
  "created": "2026-03-18T09:00:00Z"
}

Confirm it in your Dashboard under Payments → Test Payments.

What's next?

• Integration Guide – add PayFlow to a real application
• API Reference – full reference for all available endpoints
• Error Handling – handle failures gracefully