Technical GuidesAPI Fundamentals

Introduction to Cash App Pay APIs

The Cash App Pay developer product is composed of three REST APIs and a Javascript SDK:

  • Customer Request API: Used to get permission from customers to perform actions on their accounts (like collecting a payment)
  • Network API: Registers merchants and processes payments using grants
  • Management API: Controls API keys and webhooks
  • Pay Kit (JS SDK): Wraps the Customer Request API and provides prebuilt UI components to add Cash App Pay to websites

As a developer, you’ll use all of these API suites to build a complete Cash App Pay integration.

Payment processing workflow

Most Cash App Pay workflows follow a simple pattern: create a customer request, get it approved by the customer to generate a grant, then use the grant to create a payment.

payment-processing-workflow.png

  1. Initiate a customer request

    • Use Pay Kit in the browser to create a customer request.
    • Define the actions you want to perform (e.g. “charge $5 for a coffee”)

  2. Present the approval user experience

    • When a customer request is created, the API returns an approval URL, which allows customers to approve or decline the request.
    • The URL opens in a web browser or on a Cash App mobile client. It’s represented through a QR code or a navigation button.
    • Pay Kit automatically selects and renders the optimal user experience according to Cash App brand guidelines.

  3. Customer approves the request

    • The approval generates grants, which represent the customer’s permission to perform the actions listed in the customer request.

  4. Front end receives grants

    • Pay Kit detects that the customer request is approved and returns the grants to the webpage’s JavaScript.
    • The webpage sends the grant information to the server to process the payment.

  5. Back end processes payment

    • On the server, the grant ID is sent to the Network API Create Payment endpoint along with the payment amount, currency, and merchant ID.
    • The Network API consumes the grant and charges the customer for the given amount.

  6. Settlement

    • The payment settles later that day. Funds are delivered to the developer to distribute to the merchant.