Stripe is one of the most popular payment processing tools on the Internet. With a Stripe account, businesses of all sizes can make and accept payments and manage other critical aspects of their business operations.
The magic behind Stripe integrations with business tools and processes and successful payment operations is the Stripe API. To integrate Stripe into your payment processes, you must learn what the Stripe API is and how to use it.
This post will explain the Stripe API, how it works, and how your business can complete Stripe integration using the API.
What Is the Stripe API?
The Stripe API is a REST API that enables businesses to retrieve, update, and delete Stripe resources from their applications and digital assets. Essentially, Stripe APIs are used to connect a business entity’s mobile app or website with the Stripe payment gateway platform.
The Stripe API is generally considered to be user-friendly. In addition, the API can perform an impressive range of payment functions, including the following:
- Accept payment from a variety of different payment methods
- Invoice generation
- Customer account creation and management
- Payment refund
- Integration with other business processes and tools
Stripe provides complete API reference documentation and code snippets for several popular programming languages, including Python, Java, Go, Ruby, .NET, Node.js, and PHP. In addition to documentation, Stripe provides tutorials and technical support.
Integrating Stripe with the API
Stripe integration might seem like a tall order, but integrating the Stripe API is simpler than it might seem. Integration can be accomplished in just a few simple steps. Let’s examine what your organization must do to integrate the Stripe payment gateway successfully.
Create a Stripe Account
The first thing your business will need to do is create a Stripe account. If you already have an account with Stripe, log into your account and ensure that all required information fields are correctly entered.
Once you enter the appropriate business and banking information, you can integrate Stripe.
Access API Keys
After you create your account on Stripe, the next step is to access your API keys. There should be four API keys, two live mode keys for transactions and two test API keys for test mode.
Stripe API keys come in pairs. You should have a secret key and a publishable key for test mode and live mode. Each API key serves a specific purpose.
The secret API keys are used for server-side tasks. You should never reveal your Stripe API secret key to anyone.
Publishable keys are used for client-side operations. These API keys are published in the client-side code. Test API keys are used to test the functionality of Stripe and ensure everything is operating as expected when making transactions.
Live mode keys are used to complete real-world transactions with customers.
Install the Stripe Library
The Stripe library is programming language-specific, so your business must install the version that matches the language it is using. The Stripe library and command line interface will make it easy for your developers to interact with the Stripe platform.
The primary benefit of utilizing the Stripe library is that it can expedite development and significantly reduce the amount of boilerplate code that must be written to execute a successful integration.
Integrate the API on the Server
Once you have the appropriate Stripe library, your next step is to integrate the API on the server. The specific steps for this integration phase will depend on your programming language.
The Stripe library will help you integrate and initialize the appropriate code using the secret key. Stripe gives organizations test keys so that businesses can ensure their systems are functioning correctly and handling API requests and API calls as expected.
If a Stripe API request is not functioning correctly, your customers may be unable to complete transactions, and you may lose sales. It is crucial to test API request parameters and performance before going live.
Develop a Checkout Form
Checkout forms are essential to the customer experience and for collecting payment information. Now that you have set up the Stripe library and integrated the server-side code, it is time to create a checkout form.
Forms should collect all necessary information to process a payment, including card number, CVV, address, name, etc. The Stripe library makes it easy for businesses to create checkout forms for their stores.
Create a Charge
After completing the above steps, your business should be ready to accept online payments. You should now be able to create a charge and accept customer payments.
At this point, it is wise to enter test mode and ensure that the Stripe API is functioning as expected and processing payments correctly. Use the test API keys to test payments before going live.
Consider Client-Side Tokenization
Now that payments are enabled through the Stripe API, your business should consider tokenizing customer payment data. Tokenization protects sensitive data and ensures that your servers never come into contact with it.
This enables your business to ensure data security and reduces its overall security risk since it is not holding any valuable payment data on its servers.
Final Thoughts
The Stripe API is one of the most potent payment options for organizations conducting business online. This tool enables businesses to integrate the payment processing power of the Stripe platform with their applications and websites. Contact an experienced FinTech app development partner like Koombea to learn more about the Stripe API.
