Payments & Account Credit
Overview
Payments and Account Credit let you take real money from your customers directly inside the platform. Customers add funds to their account balance using a card or wallet, and that balance pays for their hourly Cloud Service usage: instances, volumes, load balancers, databases, and every other metered resource.
This is a complete, self-contained billing system. You do not need an external billing platform to run a pay-as-you-go cloud. If you already use one of the external billing integrations, the two work side by side, and you can adopt the built-in payments at your own pace.
Account credit is the same credit consumed by Cloud Service hourly billing. Payments are simply the way customers put money onto that balance. See the Cloud Service guide for how usage is metered and charged.
Admin Configuration
Payment Gateways
[placeholder-here-admin billing settings page showing connected payment gateways with Stripe, Razorpay and PayPal]
Connect one or more payment gateways so customers have a way to pay. Stripe, Razorpay, and PayPal are supported out of the box, and you can enable more than one at the same time so customers choose their preferred option at checkout.
Each gateway is configured with its own credentials. We recommend starting in the gateway's test mode to confirm the full payment flow works end to end before switching to live mode. Every incoming payment is verified with the gateway before any credit is added to a customer's balance, so a payment can never be faked or replayed to create free credit.
Tax Rules
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Define how tax is applied to top-ups. You set which regions are taxed and at what rate, and the platform automatically applies the correct rule based on each customer's tax profile.
For business customers in regions that use VAT, the platform validates the customer's VAT identification number so that business-to-business transactions are treated correctly.
Promotions
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Create promotional codes that reward customers at top-up time, either by granting bonus credit or applying a discount. Codes are checked live while the customer is completing a top-up, so an expired or invalid code is rejected before any payment is taken.
Identity Verification
Optionally require identity verification before a customer can add funds or before they cross a spending threshold you define. This helps operators in regulated markets meet their compliance obligations. When verification is required, the customer is guided to complete it before their first top-up.
Revenue and Reporting
[placeholder-here-admin billing dashboard with top-ups, consumption, tax and refund summary cards]
A billing dashboard summarizes the money moving through your platform: funds taken in, credit consumed, tax collected, and refunds issued. Detailed revenue and transaction reports can be exported for your accounting records.
A daily income digest email gives you a quick read on the previous day's activity without having to log in. You choose whether to receive it and which address it goes to.
Extending with Modules
If you have a payment provider that is not built in, the platform includes a module framework for adding new gateways and custom billing panels without changing the core application. This is the same extension model used by the external billing integrations.
User Guide
Adding Funds
[placeholder-here-user top-up screen showing amount entry, currency, gateway choice and order summary]
Customers open the billing area, enter the amount they want to add, and choose a payment method. After paying through the selected gateway, their account credit increases as soon as the payment is confirmed. The new balance is immediately available to pay for running resources.
The top-up summary shows the amount, any applicable tax, any promotional adjustment, and the final total before the customer confirms, so there are no surprises.
Invoices
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Every successful top-up produces an invoice automatically. The invoice carries a sequential number, reflects any tax applied, and is emailed to the customer with a PDF attached. Customers can view their full invoice history at any time and download a fresh copy of any invoice for their own records.
Transactions
A complete transaction history records every top-up, charge, promotional credit, and refund on the account, so customers always have a clear picture of where their balance went.
Tax Profile
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Business customers complete a tax profile with their company name and tax-identification details. For customers in VAT regions, the identification number is validated so that invoices are issued correctly for business-to-business transactions.
Refunds
If a charge needs to be reversed, customers can request a refund against an eligible transaction. The operator reviews and processes the request, and both the customer's balance and the platform's revenue records are kept consistent throughout.