Payment lifetimes
The term payment lifetime defines the time window during which the GoPay payment gateway accepts payment from a client who has placed an order at a merchant outlet.
Individual payment methods have different payment lifetimes. The shortest lifetimes apply to payment methods paid using online payment methods, such as payment cards. Payment methods paid using offline methods such as bank transfers and voucher payments have longer lifetimes. You will find the lifetimes of the payment methods here.
The value of a payment method's lifetime can be influenced by individual settings made by GoPay for each merchant outlet.
Timeline of the payment process
The client creates an order at a merchant outlet and chooses to pay through the GoPay payment gateway. From that moment the payment goes through the following states:
From the moment of being redirected to the payment gateway, the client has 1 hour to select a payment method.
1. Creating the payment in the payment gateway system and redirecting to the payment gateway
In response to the choice to pay using the GoPay payment gateway, the merchant outlet's system creates the payment in the GoPay payment gateway system. A new payment arises, which is by default in the state PAYMENT_CREATED (Created, payment created). At this point a one-hour time window is activated after the payment is created, intended for selecting a specific payment method.
The client is then redirected to the payment gateway. If they do not select a preferred payment method and confirm that selection, the payment expires after 1 hour (it moves to the TIMEOUTED state).
This time window can be shortened or extended as the merchant outlet needs. The setting is made by GoPay on the basis of an e-mail request.
2. Selecting a payment method
If a specific payment method is selected, the payment state changes from PAYMENT_CREATED to PAYMENT_METHOD_CHOSEN (Payment method selected) and the client is redirected to the interface of the selected payment method, where they can pay the payment (in the case of an online payment method) or are given the details for making the payment (in the case of an offline payment method).
At the same time as the client is redirected, the payment method lifetime window is activated, defining how long the payment will remain available for payment before it expires (moves to the TIMEOUTED – Expired state).
Online payment methods – time until payment (on average 3–5 minutes – lifetime 1–168 hours)
If the client chooses an online payment method:
card payment
online banking button
payment by online wallet
payment by mobile phone
Paysafecard voucher payment
and pays immediately, the payment moves to the PAID state and the client is redirected back to the merchant outlet, where they are informed that the payment has been made.
Offline payment methods – time until payment (on average up to 48 hours – lifetime 7–14 days)
If the client chooses an offline payment method:
payment by standard bank transfer
they are redirected back to the merchant outlet, where they are informed that the payment has to be made, and they receive an e-mail with the details for paying using the selected payment method.
Lifetimes of the individual payment methods
The default lifetime values of the payment methods are given in the table in the article:
The lifetimes of individual payment methods can be shortened or extended as the merchant outlet needs.
If the payment is not paid before the end of the lifetime of the selected payment method, the payment moves from the PAYMENT_METHOD_CHOSEN state to the TIMEOUTED state.