Vault-Then-Pay

Vault a payment method first, then use the token to execute payments via Server-to-Server API — giving you granular control over the payment lifecycle

Choose this path when you want to use the SDK exclusively for vaulting/storing card details. The actual payment is then executed via S2S API calls from your backend using the resulting payment_method_id token.

If you want payment and vaulting to happen together in a single SDK flow, see Pay-Then-Vault.

The Two-Step Pattern

1. Vault — Capture card details using the Vault SDK or the Server-to-Server API. This generates a payment_method_id.

2. Pay — Pass the payment_method_id into the /payments API (or the Proxy endpoint) from your backend to execute the transaction.

Payment Method Lifecycle

The payment_method_id is a unique, reusable token that maps a customer_id to a specific payment instrument (card, wallet, bank account). The same instrument from the same customer always resolves to the same ID.

Customer ID	Payment Instrument	Payment Method ID
123	Visa ending in 4242	PM1
123	Mastercard ending in 1111	PM2
456	Visa ending in 4242	PM3
123	PayPal ([e-mail])	PM4

Integration Options in This Section

Token Led Payment

Execute a payment using a payment_method_id via S2S API

Proxy Payment

Send PSP payment requests through the Vault Proxy — raw card data never leaves the Vault

Payment Methods Management

Embed the Vault SDK widget to let customers view, add and delete saved cards

Vault Integration Reference

For the full SDK and API setup guides used in this flow, see:

• Vault SDK Integration — React and Vanilla JS step-by-step

• Server-to-Server Vault Tokenization — direct API tokenization for PCI-certified backends

• Vault Configuration — API key generation and dashboard setup