Go live

Follow these steps to start taking real payments from users.

Before you start

You must:

• have successfully finished testing your integration
• read about payment service provider (PSP) fees (Stripe only)
• have a secure domain for your service, because you must use HTTPS for the return_url when you create a payment in a live service (does not apply if you use payment links)
• sign up for updates on the GOV.UK Pay status page, so you get a notification when there’s an incident
• know how to contact us to report an incident or if you need help going live

Compared to when you have tested your service, your live service may have a:

• slower response time, because GOV.UK Pay must wait for responses from your payment service provider (PSP)
• lower transaction limit - check with your PSP

1. Request to go live with your GOV.UK Pay service

During the go live process, you’ll need to:

• provide your organisation’s name and address
• confirm the PSP you chose when you created your service
• read and accept our legal terms

Select your service from My services, then select Request a live account or Ask to go live.

When you’ve started the go live process, the Not live yet label will disappear from your service in My services.

You can still test your service by selecting it, then selecting Enter sandbox mode.

2. Connect your service to your PSP

Once you’ve started the go live process, you must connect your GOV.UK Pay service to your payment service provider (PSP).

We have separate guides to:

• connect your service to Stripe, GOV.UK Pay’s current PSP
• connect your service to Worldpay using a contract through Government Banking

If either GOV.UK Pay’s or Government Banking’s PSP changes, we’ll work with you to move you to the new PSP.

3. Choose which card types to accept

You can choose which card types to accept.

1. Sign in to the GOV.UK Pay admin tool.
2. Select your service.
3. Select Settings.
4. Select Payments, then select Card types.
5. Choose the card types you want to accept, then select Save changes.

If you use Worldpay, you must also make sure that you select the same card types in your PSP account.

You can also block prepaid cards.

Accept American Express if you use Worldpay

If you use Worldpay and you want to accept American Express cards, you must contact either Government Banking or your Worldpay account manager

4. Check your service settings match your sandbox mode settings

Any changes you made to your service settings during testing will not transfer to your live service.

You need to check your live service’s settings match the settings you configured before going live. You can check the settings you had before you went live by selecting your service in the GOV.UK Pay admin tool, then selecting Enter sandbox mode.

You need to make the following changes to your service’s settings if you changed them before you went live:

• add a custom paragraph to payment confirmation emails
• switch off sending payment confirmation emails
• switch off collecting your users’ billing addresses
• switch on sending refund confirmation emails
• create payment links

If you’re taking payment for Blue Badges, you can connect your GOV.UK Pay service to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Manage Blue Badge application. If you do not already have a Manage Blue Badge account, you’ll need to get in touch with the Manage Blue Badge admin within your local authority. You can also read DfT’s guidance or tell us if you want to know more.

5. Check your live service works

To check your live service works, you must make a real payment and check if that payment was successful.

You make a real payment using either:

• the GOV.UK Pay API if you have integrated with the API
• a payment link if you are using payment links

Make a payment using the GOV.UK Pay API

1. Select your live service from My services in the GOV.UK Pay admin tool.

2. Select Settings.

3. Select Developers, then select API keys.

4. Create a new live API key.

5. Make a real payment using the new live API key.

   You must use a real payment card. Use a small amount, because GOV.UK Pay will take the payment from the card you use.

   If you want to see the payment in your bank account, make sure the payment amount will be above the minimum payout after your PSP has taken their fees. If your PSP is Stripe, we recommend a test payment of at least £2.

Make a payment using a payment link

1. Select your live service from My services in the GOV.UK Pay admin tool.

2. Create a payment link on your live service.

3. Make a real payment using the live payment link.

   You must use a real payment card. Use a small amount, because GOV.UK Pay will take the payment from the card you use.

   If you want to see the payment in your bank account, make sure the payment amount will be above the minimum payout after your PSP has taken their fees. If your PSP is Stripe, we recommend a test payment of at least £2.

Check that the payment was successful

1. After you’ve confirmed the payment, check you received a confirmation email.

2. Check the payment appears in your live transactions in the GOV.UK Pay admin tool.

3. Select the payment and check you can refund it. It may take up to 20 minutes for the Refund payment button to appear.

If your payment or refund fails, check:

• you connected your service to your PSP correctly
• your ‘risk management’ settings if your PSP is Worldpay

You can also check your PSP settings in the GOV.UK Pay admin tool. To check your PSP settings:

1. Select your service from My services.
2. Select Settings
3. Select Payment provider, then select Stripe details or Worldpay details.