Customers

Overview

A Customer is a reusable entity that groups a payer’s saved payment methods, payment history, and payment plans under a single identifier. Attaching customers to payment intents lets you:

Charge saved payment methods without the customer present
Link transactions to a payer for reporting and reconciliation
Set up recurring payment plans via the API

All customer operations require a secret key (sk_xxx).

Create a customer

curl -X POST https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Alice Smith",
    "email": "alice@example.com",
    "reference": "alice-user-42"
  }'

const res = await fetch("https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: "Alice Smith",
    email: "alice@example.com",
    reference: "alice-user-42",
  }),
});
const customer = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={"name": "Alice Smith", "email": "alice@example.com", "reference": "alice-user-42"},
)
customer = res.json()

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$res = $client->post('/api/v1/customers', [
    'json' => [
        'name'      => 'Alice Smith',
        'email'     => 'alice@example.com',
        'reference' => 'alice-user-42',
    ],
]);
$customer = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

res = conn.post('/api/v1/customers') do |req|
  req.body = { name: 'Alice Smith', email: 'alice@example.com', reference: 'alice-user-42' }
end
customer = res.body

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

var customer = await http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/v1/customers", new {
    name      = "Alice Smith",
    email     = "alice@example.com",
    reference = "alice-user-42",
});
var result = await customer.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();

Response

{
  "id": "cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
  "name": "Alice Smith",
  "email": "alice@example.com",
  "reference": "alice-user-42",
  "created_at": "2026-04-01T10:00:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-04-01T10:00:00Z"
}

The id (e.g. cus_0abc...) is the customer’s stable identifier to use in subsequent requests.

The reference field is a freeform string you can use to correlate the customer with a record in your own system.

Fetch a customer

curl https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
  { headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" } }
);
const customer = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"},
)
customer = res.json()

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$res = $client->get('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno');
$customer = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

res = conn.get('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno')
customer = res.body

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

var customer = await http.GetFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>(
    "/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno");

List customers

curl "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers?limit=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers?limit=20",
  { headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" } }
);
const { data, has_more } = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"},
    params={"limit": 20},
)
data = res.json()

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$res = $client->get('/api/v1/customers', ['query' => ['limit' => 20]]);
$data = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

res = conn.get('/api/v1/customers') { |req| req.params['limit'] = 20 }
data = res.body

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

var data = await http.GetFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>(
    "/api/v1/customers?limit=20");

Response shape

{
  "data": [],
  "has_more": false
}

Supported query parameters:

Parameter	Description
`limit`	Number of results per page (default 20, max 100)
`starting_after`	Cursor: return results after this customer ID
`email`	Filter by email (exact match)
`reference`	Filter by your external reference

Update a customer

Use PUT to update any mutable field. Fields not included in the request body are left unchanged.

curl -X PUT https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "new-email@example.com"}'

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
  {
    method: "PUT",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ email: "new-email@example.com" }),
  }
);
const updated = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.put(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={"email": "new-email@example.com"},
)
updated = res.json()

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$res = $client->put('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno', [
    'json' => ['email' => 'new-email@example.com'],
]);
$updated = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

res = conn.put('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno') do |req|
  req.body = { email: 'new-email@example.com' }
end
updated = res.body

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

var res = await http.PutAsJsonAsync(
    "/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
    new { email = "new-email@example.com" });
var updated = await res.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();

Delete a customer

Deleting a customer performs a soft-delete — the record is hidden from API responses and the portal but retained in the database for audit purposes. Payment intents and transactions associated with the customer are preserved.

curl -X DELETE https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

await fetch(
  "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
  {
    method: "DELETE",
    headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" },
  }
);

import requests

requests.delete(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"},
)

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$client->delete('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno');

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

conn.delete('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno')

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

await http.DeleteAsync("/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno");

A successful deletion returns 204 No Content.

List a customer’s payment methods

Retrieve all saved payment methods (pm_xxx) for a customer:

curl https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno/payment_methods \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno/payment_methods",
  { headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" } }
);
const { data } = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno/payment_methods",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"},
)
data = res.json()

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$res = $client->get('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno/payment_methods');
$data = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

res = conn.get('/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno/payment_methods')
data = res.body

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

var data = await http.GetFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>(
    "/api/v1/customers/cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno/payment_methods");

Attach a customer to a payment intent

Pass customer_id when creating a payment intent to associate it with a customer:

curl -X POST https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 4900,
    "currency": "AUD",
    "customer_id": "cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno"
  }'

const res = await fetch("https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    amount: 4900,
    currency: "AUD",
    customer_id: "cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
  }),
});
const pi = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={"amount": 4900, "currency": "AUD", "customer_id": "cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno"},
)
pi = res.json()

<?php
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => 'https://api.elasticpay.co',
    'headers'  => [
        'Authorization' => 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
        'Content-Type'  => 'application/json',
    ],
]);

$res = $client->post('/api/v1/payment_intents', [
    'json' => [
        'amount'      => 4900,
        'currency'    => 'AUD',
        'customer_id' => 'cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno',
    ],
]);
$pi = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);

require 'faraday'
require 'json'

conn = Faraday.new('https://api.elasticpay.co') do |f|
  f.request  :json
  f.response :json
end
conn.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
conn.headers['Content-Type']  = 'application/json'

res = conn.post('/api/v1/payment_intents') do |req|
  req.body = { amount: 4900, currency: 'AUD', customer_id: 'cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno' }
end
pi = res.body

using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Net.Http.Json;

using var http = new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.elasticpay.co") };
http.DefaultRequestHeaders.Authorization =
    new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", "sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx");

var res = await http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/v1/payment_intents", new {
    amount      = 4900,
    currency    = "AUD",
    customer_id = "cus_0abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno",
});
var pi = await res.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();

Required permissions

Operation	Required scope
Create / update / delete	`customers:write`
Fetch / list	`customers:read`

Secret keys (sk_xxx) have both scopes by default.