Direct Payment
The Direct Payment action allows chatbot builders to collect payments directly inside chatbot workflows using integrated payment gateways.
This connection-based action helps businesses automate payment collection for products, services, bookings, and orders by dynamically generating payment requests using product details and customer variables.
The walkthrough demonstrates configuring payment gateway connections, product item variables, payment body text, goods type selection, reference IDs, tax details, expiration settings, and response storage configuration.
When to Use Direct Payment
Use the Direct Payment action when your chatbot needs to process customer payments directly within the conversation flow.
Common Use Cases
Product purchases
Restaurant orders
Service booking payments
Subscription payments
Delivery payments
Invoice collection
Example Interaction
Bot: Please complete your payment to confirm your order.
The chatbot automatically creates a payment request using the configured payment gateway.
How to Add Direct Payment
Follow these steps to add the Direct Payment action to your bot workflow.
Open Bot Builder
Click the Add Node button
Open the Connections tab
Select Payments
Click Direct Payment
Configure the payment settings
Configure response variables
Click Create
Click Publish to deploy the workflow
The walkthrough demonstrates selecting the Direct Payment action from the Payments integration section.
Accessing the Connections Section
To access the Direct Payment action:
Click Add Node
Open the action selection panel
Click the Connections tab
The walkthrough specifically notes:
Click the Connections tab to view available integration options.
Selecting Payments
Inside the Connections section:
Locate Payments
Click the Payments integration category
The walkthrough demonstrates opening the Payments integration options.
Selecting Direct Payment
Inside the Payments section:
Locate Direct Payment
Click the action to open the configuration panel
The walkthrough specifically notes:
Direct Payment to configure the payment method for customer transactions.
Direct Payment Configuration
When configuring the Direct Payment action, several fields must be completed.
Action Name
The Action Name identifies the payment workflow inside the bot builder.
This name is visible only within the workflow editor.
Example
Order Payment Restaurant Payment Booking Payment Request
The walkthrough demonstrates renaming the default value to:
Direct Payment
before saving the configuration.
Select Connection
The Select Connection field allows you to choose the configured payment gateway integration.
To configure:
Open the Select Connection dropdown
Select the required payment gateway
The walkthrough specifically selects:
OwnchatWhatsappPay live final
from the available connections list.
Product Items
The Product Items field contains the product or order details used for payment processing.
You can manually enter product information or dynamically insert variables.
To add variables:
Click Add Variable
Search for the required variable
Select the variable from the list
The walkthrough demonstrates selecting:
orderMenuData
from the variables list.
The selected variable appears as:
{{variables.orderMenuData.product_items}}
inside the Product Items field.
Body Text
The Body Text field contains the payment request message shown to the customer.
Example
Pay the bill
The walkthrough demonstrates entering a payment request message inside the Body Text field.
Goods Type
The Goods Type field specifies the category of the product or service being purchased.
Available options shown in the walkthrough include:
Digital Goods
Physical Goods
The walkthrough specifically selects:
Physical Goods
as the payment category.
Reference ID
The Reference ID field stores the order or transaction reference associated with the payment.
To configure:
Click Add Variable
Select the required variable
The walkthrough demonstrates selecting:
ordered_details
from the variable list.
The selected variable appears as:
{{variables.ordered_details.orderId}}
inside the Reference ID field.
This reference ID helps track and validate payment transactions.
Razorpay Receipt
The Razorpay Receipt field contains the receipt description used for the payment transaction.
Example
Purchase
The walkthrough demonstrates entering the receipt text manually.
Tax Value
The Tax Value field specifies the applicable tax amount for the payment.
Example
18
The walkthrough demonstrates entering a tax value inside the payment form.
Tax Description
The Tax Description field explains the tax details applied to the transaction.
Example
GST Included
The walkthrough specifically notes:
Enter the tax description text to specify the applicable tax details.
Shipping Value
The Shipping Value field specifies additional shipping or delivery charges if applicable.
Example
50
This field can be used for physical product delivery workflows.
Expiration Data Format
The Expiration Data Format field defines the time unit used for payment link expiration.
Available options shown in the walkthrough include:
Minutes
Hours
Days
The walkthrough specifically selects:
Minutes
for the expiration format.
Expiration Data Value
The Expiration Data Value field defines when the payment request should expire.
Example
30
This means the payment request expires after 30 minutes.
Expiration Description
The Expiration Description field explains the expiration condition shown to the customer.
Example
This payment link expires in 30 minutes.
This helps customers understand payment validity.
Store Response Variable
The Store Response Variable field defines where the payment API response should be stored.
To configure:
Select an existing variable or
Create a new variable
This variable stores the payment response for later workflow processing.
Creating the Direct Payment Action
After configuring all payment settings:
Review the payment configuration
Click the Create button
The Direct Payment node will now appear in the workflow canvas.
Workflow Behavior
Once triggered, the Direct Payment action:
Connects with the configured payment gateway
Processes payment requests dynamically
Supports variable-based product information
Handles physical and digital goods
Stores payment responses automatically
The walkthrough demonstrates generating a payment request using dynamic order and menu variables.
Example Workflow
Example Chatbot Workflow
Get Order Menu ↓ Create Order ↓ Direct Payment ↓ Store Payment Response ↓ Send Payment Confirmation
Example Interaction
Bot: Your order total is ₹1,000. Please complete the payment to confirm your purchase.
The chatbot dynamically generates the payment request using the order details.
Publishing the Bot Changes
After configuring the Direct Payment workflow:
Review all payment settings
Click the Publish button
Deploy the updated workflow to production
The walkthrough concludes by publishing the configured payment workflow successfully.
Best Practices
Follow these recommendations when using Direct Payment.
Use dynamic product variables
Automatically populate payment details using workflow variables.
Configure valid reference IDs
Use unique order IDs for accurate transaction tracking.
Set appropriate expiration limits
Avoid long expiration periods for payment requests.
Verify tax and shipping values
Ensure all payment calculations are accurate.
Test payment flows before publishing
Validate complete payment workflows before deploying to production.
Summary
The Direct Payment action allows chatbot builders to process customer payments directly inside Ownchat workflows.
With Direct Payment, you can:
Integrate payment gateways into chatbot workflows
Generate dynamic payment requests
Use variable-based product and order details
Configure taxes, shipping, and expiration settings
Store payment responses automatically
This connection action helps businesses create fully automated payment collection workflows and seamless commerce experiences inside Ownchat.
Last updated