Scheduled Payments

Overview

ElasticPay supports two ways to schedule a payment for a future date:

Payment Plans — the system automatically generates and processes recurring payment intents on your behalf (weekly, monthly, etc.)
Direct PI scheduling — you create a single payment intent now and set scheduled_payment_date to a future date; the system processes it automatically on that date

This guide covers direct PI scheduling. For a full reference of payment plan lifecycle management, see Payment Plans API.

Requirements

A saved payment method (pm_xxx) must be attached to the intent at create time. Transient tokens (from the widget) are not accepted because the customer will not be present at processing time.
The date must be today or in the future, and at most 366 days from today.

Step 1 — Save a payment method

If you don’t have a saved pm_xxx yet, create a Setup Intent to collect and save the customer’s card:

curl -X POST https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/setup_intents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"customer_id": "cus_0abc123def456"}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/setup_intents", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ customer_id: "cus_0abc123def456" }),
});
const { client_secret } = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/setup_intents",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={"customer_id": "cus_0abc123def456"},
)
client_secret = res.json()["client_secret"]

<?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/setup_intents', [
    'json' => ['customer_id' => 'cus_0abc123def456'],
]);
$data = json_decode($res->getBody(), true);
$client_secret = $data['client_secret'];

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/setup_intents') do |req|
  req.body = { customer_id: 'cus_0abc123def456' }
end
client_secret = res.body['client_secret']

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/setup_intents",
    new { customer_id = "cus_0abc123def456" });
var si = await res.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();
var clientSecret = si.GetProperty("client_secret").GetString();

Pass the client_secret to the payment widget. After the customer completes the form, the saved method pm_xxx is available on the customer record.

Step 2 — Create a scheduled payment intent

curl -X POST https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 9900,
    "currency": "AUD",
    "customer_id": "cus_0abc123def456",
    "payment_method": "pm_0xyz789abc123def456ghi012jkl",
    "scheduled_payment_date": "2026-07-01"
  }'

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: 9900,
    currency: "AUD",
    customer_id: "cus_0abc123def456",
    payment_method: "pm_0xyz789abc123def456ghi012jkl",
    scheduled_payment_date: "2026-07-01",
  }),
});
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": 9900,
        "currency": "AUD",
        "customer_id": "cus_0abc123def456",
        "payment_method": "pm_0xyz789abc123def456ghi012jkl",
        "scheduled_payment_date": "2026-07-01",
    },
)
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'                 => 9900,
        'currency'               => 'AUD',
        'customer_id'            => 'cus_0abc123def456',
        'payment_method'         => 'pm_0xyz789abc123def456ghi012jkl',
        'scheduled_payment_date' => '2026-07-01',
    ],
]);
$pi = json_decode($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: 9900,
    currency: 'AUD',
    customer_id: 'cus_0abc123def456',
    payment_method: 'pm_0xyz789abc123def456ghi012jkl',
    scheduled_payment_date: '2026-07-01'
  }
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                 = 9900,
    currency               = "AUD",
    customer_id            = "cus_0abc123def456",
    payment_method         = "pm_0xyz789abc123def456ghi012jkl",
    scheduled_payment_date = "2026-07-01",
});
var pi = await res.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();

The response will have status: "requires_confirmation" and scheduled_payment_date: "2026-07-01".

Step 3 — Confirm to lock in the schedule

curl -X POST https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents/pi_0abc123/confirm \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents/pi_0abc123/confirm",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({}),
  }
);
const result = await res.json();

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.elasticpay.co/api/v1/payment_intents/pi_0abc123/confirm",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer sk_sandbox_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    json={},
)
result = 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/pi_0abc123/confirm', ['json' => []]);
$result = json_decode($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/pi_0abc123/confirm') do |req|
  req.body = {}
end
result = 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/pi_0abc123/confirm", new {});
var result = await res.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();

Because the date is in the future, the response status will be ready — the payment is queued for automatic processing on scheduled_payment_date. No further action is needed.

`ready` status

A payment intent in ready status has been confirmed and is waiting for its scheduled date.

Status	Meaning
`ready`	Confirmed, waiting for scheduled date
`processing`	Submitted to PSP
`succeeded`	Payment collected
`failed`	Payment declined or errored

Webhook events

Subscribe to these events to monitor scheduled payment activity:

Event	When
`payment_intent.succeeded`	Scheduled payment collected successfully
`payment_intent.failed`	Payment declined or failed
`payment_intent.processing`	Submitted to PSP, awaiting result

See Webhooks for how to handle these events.