Payment Transactions
A Payment Transaction is the operational record of a financial movement on a Merchant Payment Account. It is the working object for payment reporting: status lifecycle, categorization, and assignment to invoices or credit notes.
Payment Transactions sit between collection (Payment Intents) and bank/PSP finality (Settlements):
| Object | Role |
|---|---|
| Payment Intent | Collection attempt toward the PSP |
| Payment Transaction | Operational money movement on the merchant account |
| Settlement Item | Settled line from a PSP/bank statement |
Accounting typically books only when money is settled. A transaction can exist before settlement — or never settle (refused, cancelled, fraud).
How Payment Transactions are created
-
From settlement intake (most common for reporting)
Creating a Settlement Item creates (or settles) a Payment Transaction in status SETTLED. -
From Payment Management (full-service)
A successful Payment Intent can lead to a Payment Transaction (often before the corresponding settlement arrives). Later, settlement links or updates the transaction to SETTLED. -
Via API
POST /v2/merchant-payment-accounts/{merchantPaymentAccountIdent}/payments
→ Create payment transaction
Transaction vs settlement
| Setup | What you typically see |
|---|---|
| Reporting only (hybrid) | Transaction count and settlement-item count often align — transactions appear when settlements are ingested |
| Full-service (charging + reporting) | Counts can differ — e.g. captured but not yet settled, refused/cancelled charges, refunds in progress |
Use the Transactions overview for open / in-progress movements; use Settlement Reports for statement reconciliation.
Status
A Payment Transaction has a status history. Statuses include:
| Status | Meaning (high level) |
|---|---|
RECEIVED | Received / registered |
AUTHORIZED | Authorized |
CAPTURED | Captured at the provider (not necessarily settled yet) |
SETTLED | Settled — linked to settlement; accounting anchor |
REFUSED / ERROR / CAPTURE_FAILED | Failed paths |
EXPIRED / CANCELLED | Ended without settlement |
REFUNDED | Refunded |
CHARGEBACK | Chargeback |
Status can be updated via API (POST /v2/payments/{ident}/actions/update-status). Only “higher” statuses advance the current status; otherwise the value is stored in history.
→ Update payment transaction status
Categorization and assignment
After a transaction exists:
- Payment category — purpose of the payment (e.g. customer payment, bank fee, chargeback). Starts uncategorized unless set by intake/rules. Category controls whether the payment is assignable to documents.
- Payment assignment — if assignable and a match is found (or done manually), the transaction is assigned to invoices / credit notes (OPOS).
Assignment status on the transaction:
UNASSIGNEDPARTIALLY_ASSIGNEDCOMPLETELY_ASSIGNED
assignableLeftoverAmount shows how much is still open for assignment.
Typical outcomes:
- Uncategorized / unassigned
- Categorized (assignable) / unassigned
- Categorized (assignable) / assigned
- Categorized (not assignable) / unassigned (e.g. fees that must not clear invoices)
Work in the webportal
Go to: Payment > Transactions
Use the overview to:
- Find open and settled transactions per merchant payment account
- Inspect status history, category, and assignment status
- Open linked settlement data where available
- Support manual categorization / assignment workflows where configured
Key fields
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
ident | instellix transaction ID |
externalIdent | Unique reference from PSP/bank (within the MPA) |
baseAmount / originalAmount | Amount in MPA currency / original currency |
creditDebitIndicator | CREDIT or DEBIT |
text | Description / remittance — often used for matching |
paymentCategory | Classification for further processing |
paymentIntentIdent | Set if the transaction originated from a Payment Intent |
settlementIdent | Linked settlement item when settled |
Credit and debit
creditDebitIndicator describes the direction of the money on the Merchant Payment Account:
| Value | Meaning | Typical examples |
|---|---|---|
| CREDIT | Money is added to the merchant account | Customer payment (settled), chargeback reversed, merchant pay-in |
| DEBIT | Money is removed from the merchant account | Refund, chargeback, merchant payout, fee |
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Updated about 2 hours ago