Payment Gateways & Electronic Settlement Module Documentation

Table of Contents

1. Module Overview (Technical)
2. Module Overview (Commercial & Business Value)
3. 🎯 User Roles & Key Capabilities
4. Visual Interface & Form Structure
5. Architectural Flow & Automated Payment Settlement
6. Common Scenarios & Operational Playbooks
7. Troubleshooting & Diagnostic Commands
8. Model Context Protocol (MCP) AI Integration
9. Glossary

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1. Module Overview (Technical)

The Payment Gateways & Electronic Settlement module manages the global integrations connecting Ring2All Billing to external merchant banking, credit card processing, and digital wallet payment gateways. It provides out-of-the-box support for:

1. Stripe Payments & Stripe Connect: Hosted Elements, PaymentIntents API, Customer PaymentMethods tokenization, and cryptographically verified Webhooks (whsec_...).
2. PayPal REST Gateway: Digital wallet capture and Instant Payment Notification (IPN) webhooks.
3. Manual Bank Wire & Remittance: Institutional ACH, Fedwire, and SEPA remittance instructions with customizable bank routing metadata and payment memo reconciliation.

PCI-DSS SAQ A Compliance Architecture

Payment card data (PAN, CVV, expiry dates) is captured exclusively via client-side hosted iframes (Stripe Elements / Stripe Checkout). Sensitive financial credentials never traverse or touch the Ring2All Billing application servers, ensuring strict PCI-DSS SAQ A level compliance. Only cryptographically opaque tokens (pm_..., cus_...) are stored in the database.

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2. Module Overview (Commercial & Business Value)

• Instant Customer Self-Care Monetization: Enables clients in the Customer Portal to execute instant prepaid wallet top-ups via debit/credit cards, keeping services active 24/7.
• Automated Postpaid Auto-Debit: Automatically charges customer saved payment methods upon completion of monthly billing sweeps, slashing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and bad debt.
• Global Multi-Currency Settlement: Supports billing and receiving customer settlements in USD, EUR, CAD, GBP, and Latin American currencies with automatic currency conversion.
• Low-Fee Wholesale Wire Remittance: Directs large-scale wholesale carrier interconnect clients to bank wire transfer options, eliminating credit card interchange processing fees on high-volume accounts.

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3. 🎯 User Roles & Key Capabilities

User Role	Key Permissions	Core Responsibilities & Workflows
Super Administrator	Full Control & API Key Management	Inputs live production API keys, manages merchant account settings, and configures webhook endpoints.
Chief Financial Officer / Controller	Read & Bank Details Edit	Defines institutional wire transfer details, audits merchant transaction fees, and reconciles Stripe payouts.
Billing Analyst	Payment Verification	Matches incoming manual wire transfer deposits with customer ledger invoices and manually credits customer wallets.
End Customer (Portal User)	Online Checkout & Auto-Debit	Saves default credit cards for automatic monthly invoice clearance and initiates one-click prepaid wallet refills.

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4. Visual Interface & Form Structure

4.1 Payment Gateways Management (View)

The Payment Gateways interface consolidates all payment processors into dedicated, structured configuration boxes featuring toggle switches, API key visibility masking, and webhook URL copying.

4.2 Configuration Parameters Reference

Parameter Name	Data Type	Required	Default Value	Description & Constraints
Stripe Gateway Enabled	Boolean	Yes	true	Activates credit/debit card checkout and auto-debit processing across the platform.
Stripe Operation Mode	Enum	Yes	live	Operation environment: test (sandbox using test card 4242) or live (production charges).
Stripe Publishable Key	String	Yes (if enabled)	—	Public API key (pk_live_... or pk_test_...) used by client-side checkout iframes.
Stripe Secret Key	String	Yes (if enabled)	—	Restricted backend secret key (sk_live_... or sk_test_...) used to create PaymentIntents.
Stripe Webhook Secret	String	Yes (if enabled)	—	Signing secret (whsec_...) used to cryptographically verify incoming Stripe event webhooks.
PayPal Gateway Enabled	Boolean	Yes	false	Enables PayPal button checkout in the Customer Self-Care Portal.
PayPal Client ID / Secret	String	No	—	OAuth 2.0 API credentials from the PayPal Developer Portal.
Bank Wire Instructions	Text	No	Default Wire Memo	Wire instructions, bank name, IBAN/SWIFT, and mandatory customer account reference format.

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5. Architectural Flow & Automated Payment Settlement

 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │           Monthly Billing Sweep Finalizes Customer Invoice             │
 └───────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                                     │
                                     ▼
 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │  Step 1: Check Customer Default Payment Method                         │
 │  • If Postpaid & Auto-Debit Enabled: Load `customer.stripe_customer_id`│
 │  • Create `PaymentIntent` via Stripe REST API                          │
 └───────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                                     │
                                     ▼
 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │  Step 2: External Payment Execution & Gateway Processing               │
 │  • Stripe executes charge against customer card with cardholder bank   │
 │  • Gateway dispatches asynchronous webhook: `invoice.payment_succeeded`│
 └───────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                                     │
                                     ▼
 ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │  Step 3: Webhook Verification & Ledger Clearance                       │
 │  • Verify `Stripe-Signature` using `stripe_webhook_secret`             │
 │  • Mark Invoice status as `paid` in `public.invoices`                  │
 │  • Insert payment transaction into `public.transactions`               │
 │  • Send PDF receipt notification to customer primary email             │
 └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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6. Common Scenarios & Operational Playbooks

Scenario A: Configuring Stripe Webhook Integration

1. In the Payment Gateways module, locate the Stripe Webhook Endpoint URL field and click Copy.
2. Log into the Stripe Dashboard (https://dashboard.stripe.com).
3. Navigate to Developers → Webhooks → Add Endpoint.
4. Paste the copied URL (https://billing.yourdomain.com/api/payments/webhooks/stripe).
5. Select events: payment_intent.succeeded, payment_intent.payment_failed, and charge.refunded.
6. Reveal the Signing Secret (whsec_...), copy it into the Stripe Webhook Secret field in Ring2All Billing, and click Save Changes.

Scenario B: Testing Sandbox Transactions with Test Cards

1. Set Stripe Operation Mode to test.
2. Input test API keys (pk_test_... and sk_test_...).
3. Open the Customer Self-Care Portal in a separate browser tab.
4. Execute a wallet top-up using test card 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future expiry date and 3-digit CVC.
5. Verify that the wallet balance credits immediately upon successful mock charge.

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7. Troubleshooting & Diagnostic Commands

Inspect Gateway Settings in Browser Storage / Database

// Test retrieval from local configuration cache
console.log(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('ring2all_billing_gateway_settings') || '{}'));

Query Recent Failed Stripe Transactions

SELECT t.id, c.name, t.amount, t.gateway, t.status, t.error_message, t.created_at
FROM transactions t
JOIN customers c ON c.id = t.customer_id
WHERE t.gateway = 'stripe' AND t.status = 'failed'
ORDER BY t.created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;

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8. Model Context Protocol (MCP) AI Integration

The Payment Gateways & Electronic Settlement module connects directly to the Ring2All BSS MCP Server, allowing billing administrators and autonomous finance copilots to verify merchant gateway connectivity and test/live mode flags safely without exposing private API keys.

Available MCP Tools

Tool Name	Access Role	Description & Primary Function	Example Arguments
list_payment_gateways_status	Billing Operations / Admin	Lists merchant payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Bank Wire) with configuration status, currencies, and test/live mode.	{}

Sample MCP Tool Execution: list_payment_gateways_status

Request Payload

{
  "name": "list_payment_gateways_status",
  "arguments": {}
}

Response Payload

[
  {
    "gateway": "stripe",
    "displayName": "Stripe Payments",
    "isEnabled": true,
    "mode": "live",
    "supportedCurrencies": ["USD", "EUR", "GBP", "CAD"],
    "webhookConfigured": true
  },
  {
    "gateway": "paypal",
    "displayName": "PayPal REST",
    "isEnabled": false,
    "mode": "sandbox",
    "supportedCurrencies": ["USD", "EUR"],
    "webhookConfigured": false
  },
  {
    "gateway": "bank_wire",
    "displayName": "Wire Transfer / Remittance",
    "isEnabled": true,
    "mode": "live",
    "supportedCurrencies": ["USD"],
    "webhookConfigured": false
  }
]

Conversational AI Prompts for Copilot

• “Which payment gateways are currently enabled in production mode?”
• “Is the Stripe payment gateway properly configured with active webhooks?”
• “What currencies are supported for customer self-care top-ups?”

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9. Glossary

• ACH (Automated Clearing House): Electronic bank-to-bank payment network in the United States.
• Auto-Debit: Automated pull transaction where the merchant charges the customer’s stored credit card without requiring interactive authentication.
• PaymentIntent: The foundational object in Stripe representing a customer’s intent to pay with full 3D Secure SCA handling.
• PCI-DSS: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard governing how cardholder information is protected.
• SAQ A: Self-Assessment Questionnaire validating that cardholder data is completely outsourced to a validated third party (Stripe).
• Model Context Protocol (MCP): Open protocol standard that enables secure, controlled integration between Large Language Models and external tools, databases, and telecom rating engines.