Payment API Overview

The Audit1 Payment API lets you collect insurance premiums from insured employers through multiple payment channels -- all from a single set of API credentials.

Who is this for?

Partners, carriers, and platforms (like billing systems) that want to programmatically collect premiums, down payments, and installments on behalf of their insureds.

Payment Methods #

How It Works #

1. Authenticate with your API key (must have "payments" or "all" scope)
2. Create a payment (link, subscription, or direct debit)
3. Insured pays (clicks link, or bank debited automatically)
4. Receive webhook notification when payment completes
5. View commissions earned

Flow #

Base URL #

https://payments.audit1.com/api/v1

Both sandbox and production use the same URL. Your API key prefix determines the environment: - audit1_test_cli_* / audit1_test_sec_* = sandbox - audit1_live_cli_* / audit1_live_sec_* = production

Authentication #

Send your Client ID and Client Secret as headers with every request.

X-Client-ID: audit1_test_cli_a1b2c3d4...
X-Client-Secret: audit1_test_sec_f6e5d4c3...
Content-Type: application/json

Your API key must have payment scope (scope: "payments" or scope: "all"). The auth middleware explicitly filters for these scopes -- keys with only payroll scope are rejected with 401 Unauthorized.

Scope Enforcement #

API keys are validated in two layers:

1. Auth middleware -- Verifies client_id + client_secret (bcrypt), checks the key has payments or all scope, and validates environment prefix matches key record.
2. Tenant scope middleware -- Loads the Payment_api_clients record for the authenticated owner. This record defines allowed_carrier_ids and allowed_employer_ids. Requests for entities outside your scope return 403 Forbidden. Empty arrays = access to all (typically for platform-level integrations).

Optional HMAC Signature #

For additional security, include an HMAC-SHA256 signature with each request:

X-Signature: <hmac_sha256_hex>
X-Timestamp: <epoch_milliseconds>

Signature payload: ${timestamp}.${method}.${path}.${body}

Requests with timestamps older than 5 minutes are rejected (replay protection).

See Authentication for full details on key management, environments, and HMAC signing.

Response Format #

All responses use a consistent envelope:

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": { ... },
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 50,
    "total": 123,
    "total_pages": 3
  }
}

Errors:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": "Bad Request",
  "message": "Required fields: employer_id, carrier_id, policy_id"
}

Rate Limiting #

Custom rate limits can be configured per partner via the Payment_api_clients.rate_limit field.

Quick Example: Create a Down Payment Link #

curl -X POST https://payments.audit1.com/api/v1/payment-links \
  -H "X-Client-ID: audit1_test_cli_your_id_here" \
  -H "X-Client-Secret: audit1_test_sec_your_secret_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "employer_id": "681xyz789abc123456789012",
    "carrier_id": "680abc456def789012345678",
    "policy_id": "682def789ghi012345678901",
    "premium_cents": 145000,
    "fee_cents": 5000,
    "payment_type": "ONE_TIME",
    "payment_context": "down_payment",
    "customer": {
      "name": "ACME Corp",
      "email": "billing@acme.com"
    }
  }'

Response (201 Created)

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "_id": "683abc123def456789012345",
    "stripe_payment_link_id": "plink_1abc2def3ghi...",
    "stripe_url": "https://checkout.stripe.com/c/pay/cs_a1b2c3...",
    "status": "created",
    "billing_entity_type": "employer",
    "total_cents": 150000,
    "link_amount_cents": 150000,
    "installment_plan": null
  }
}

Send the stripe_url to your insured. When they pay, you receive a payment.completed webhook.

Webhook Events #

The following events are dispatched to registered webhook endpoints:

A bank payment made on a payment session reports through the two payment.debit_* events above, not through payment.completed — subscribing to payment.completed alone means never hearing about one. Which of the two you get follows the carrier's settlement rail, and some carriers produce neither. Subscribe to both names and handle whichever arrives; Payment Webhooks has the payloads, the rails, and the delivery contract.

Next Steps #