Imagine you've spent months perfecting your product: the polished UI, the rock-solid features. But when the moment arrives to make a sale, you find your payment system is a mess: clunky, confusing, or worse it just doesn’t work with a broken payment flow, leading to a frustrating experience for users. abandoned carts, and lost revenue. According to Baymard Institute’s latest research, nearly 18% of online shoppers abandon their carts because they don’t trust the website with their payment information. Another 13% blame a complicated checkout process which is often caused by poor payment gateway integration, including issues with the merchant id .
Having a smooth and secure payment process through a trusted payment gateway is essential for reliable payment processing and building user trust. Timely payment notifications and a working payment system play a key role in the success of any online business.
Integrating a payment gateway into your React JS project means grasping how digital payments function, choosing the right tools that fit your business model, and creating a payment flow that keeps both your users and backend server systems secure. In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything from understanding the payment flow to setting up the payment integration page, step by step, in your React project.
A payment gateway is a secure digital service that authorizes and processes payments between customers, merchants, and financial institutions. It ensures that sensitive payment information is safely transferred from your frontend to your backend and ultimately to the payment processor.
Though it works in the background, the payment gateway is vital to the entire payment flow, especially when it's integrated with a frontend development server. It securely gathers customer payment details, manages encryption, and serves as the link between your website and the banking systems.
Understanding the difference between these terms is essential for effective e-commerce:
Payment Gateway: Think of it as a digital bridge that securely sends payment details from the customer to the payment processor.
Payment Processor: This is the one that actually moves the funds between the customer’s bank and the merchant’s bank.
Merchant Account: A special business account where payments are held temporarily before they’re deposited into your regular business account.
All these components work together and look after successful and secure transactions.
When selecting a payment gateway for your React project, keep an eye out for these key features:
Tokenization: This process turns sensitive data into secure tokens, meaning your site never directly handles raw credit card numbers, which helps reduce security risks.
Fraud Detection: It keeps an eye on patterns to spot suspicious activity and prevent fraudulent transactions.
PCI Compliance: This assures adherence to Payment Card Industry standards for handling cardholder data, significantly lowering your business's liability.
Let's break down how to connect Stripe, a really helpful payment gateway, to your React JS website using the PayHere payment gateway into a React application.
If you haven't already created a React project, start by initializing one:
npx create-react-app payhere-integration
cd payhere-integration
This will set up the base structure for your application.
To use PayHere on the client side, include its official JavaScript SDK in your app.
In public/index.html, just before the closing </body> tag, insert:
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.payhere.lk/lib/payhere.js"></script>
This script enables the client-side payment function and allows the app to communicate with PayHere.
Create a new component that initializes and triggers the payment process.
File: src/components/PayHereButton.js
import React from 'react';
const PayHereButton = () => {
const startPayment = () => {
const payment = {
sandbox: true, // Use false in production
merchant_id: 'YOUR_MERCHANT_ID',
return_url: 'http://localhost:3000/success',
cancel_url: 'http://localhost:3000/cancel',
notify_url: 'http://localhost:5000/notify',
order_id: 'Order123',
items: 'Sample Item',
amount: '150.00',
currency: 'LKR',
first_name: 'Jane',
last_name: 'Doe',
email: 'jane@example.com',
phone: '0771234567',
address: 'No. 1, Example Street',
city: 'Colombo',
country: 'Sri Lanka',
};
window.payhere.startPayment(payment);
};
return (
<div>
<button onClick={startPayment}>Pay Now</button>
</div>
);
};
export default PayHereButton;
This defines a payment object and triggers the PayHere interface.
Now, import and use the PayHereButton inside your main application:
File: src/App.js
import React from 'react';
import PayHereButton from './components/PayHereButton';
function App() {
return (
<div className="App">
<h1>PayHere Integration Demo</h1>
<PayHereButton />
</div>
);
}
export default App;
PayHere sends server-side payment notifications (IPNs) that you can use to validate and update order status.
Example backend using Node.js and Express:
// server.js
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.post('/notify', (req, res) => {
const paymentData = req.body;
console.log('Payment notification received:', paymentData);
// You should verify the payment status and update your DB accordingly
res.sendStatus(200);
});
app.listen(5000, () => {
console.log('Server running on port 5000');
});
This backend listens for POST requests from PayHere and can be extended to interact with a database or notification system.
React Router or simple conditional rendering can be used to show the appropriate screen after a transaction.
// Example Success.js
import React from 'react';
function Success() {
return <h2>Payment Successful! Thank you for your purchase.</h2>;
}
export default Success;
// Example Cancel.js
import React from 'react';
function Cancel() {
return <h2>Payment Cancelled. You can try again later.</h2>;
}
export default Cancel;
Make sure these routes are reflected in your return_url and cancel_url.
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Before going live:
Set sandbox: true in the payment object.
Use PayHere's sandbox merchant ID and test card numbers from the PayHere documentation.
Monitor console logs and your backend for notifications.
Test different scenarios:
Successful payment
Cancelled payment
Failed or timeout scenarios
Validate that payment responses are handled correctly and that your backend logs or stores the right information.
Switch sandbox: true to false.
Replace merchant_id with your live ID from PayHere.
Update URLs (return_url, cancel_url, notify_url) to point to your deployed backend and frontend.
Secure your backend endpoint (/notify) to prevent unauthorized access.
Serve your React app via HTTPS in production.
Example:
sandbox: false,
merchant_id: 'LIVE_MERCHANT_ID',
return_url: 'https://yourdomain.com/payment-success',
cancel_url: 'https://yourdomain.com/payment-cancel',
notify_url: 'https://api.yourdomain.com/notify',
Here are a few extra ideas to improve your integration:
Tokenize sensitive data: Never store card data directly.
Order tracking: Associate payment data with user sessions or orders.
UI feedback: Show loaders, progress indicators, or confirmation modals.
Database integration: Save transaction history with status.
Email notifications: Send confirmation emails upon successful payments.
How to allow users to choose (e.g., PayPal, Card, UPI, etc.): On your payment page, show different ways to pay (like buttons for "Pay with Card," "Pay with PayPal," etc.).
Unified UI: Try to make the payment experience look consistent no matter which option the user picks. Stripe's PaymentElement can help with this for many payment types.
Routing transactions conditionally: When the user picks a payment method, your website needs to use the right tools and send the right information to the correct payment gateway (Stripe for cards, PayPal for PayPal, etc.). Your backend will also need to handle each type of payment differently.
API key issues: Make sure you've copied your API keys accurately and placed them correctly. (test keys for testing environments and live keys for actual payments)
CORS problems: If you see errors about websites not being allowed to talk to your backend, you need to adjust your backend's CORS settings.
Token expiration or invalidation: Sometimes, the temporary codes (tokens) expire. If this happens, you might need to ask the user to re-enter their payment info or get a new token from Stripe.
Payment failure vs. decline handling: There's a difference between a general payment problem (like a network issue) and a specific reason why a card was declined (like not enough money). Your website should try to show helpful messages to the user in both cases.
Security: Payment gateways keep customer data safe with encryption, so sensitive information is protected from fraud.
Better User Experience: They make checkout faster and easier, which helps reduce cart abandonment.
Flexibility: You can accept multiple payment methods like cards, wallets, and UPI, offering more options to your customers.
Global Payments: Payment gateways let you accept payments in different currencies and countries, which helps you reach more people worldwide.
Compliance: They follow security standards (like PCI-DSS), making sure your business stays compliant and avoids legal issues.
Real-Time Processing: Payment gateways process payments instantly, letting you and your customers know immediately if the transaction is successful.
Stripe— Global, dev-friendly. Great for SaaS, subscriptions, 135+ currencies.
Razorpay— Best in India. Supports UPI, cards, EMI. React SDK ready.
PayPal— Trusted worldwide. Simple setup, one-click checkout.
Paytm— India-focused. Ideal for mobile apps, UPI, QR payments.
PayHere—For Sri Lanka/South Asia. REST API, local/foreign currency support.
Square— Perfect for retail. Syncs online and offline sales.
Braintree— Great for mobile/marketplaces. Split payments, tokenization.
A strong integration secures transactions and builds trust with your users. For React applications, the payhere payment gateway offers an easy and secure way to implement payments, particularly in the merchant section.
From setting up a merchant account and handling sensitive data through tokenization, to designing an intuitive payment integration page and ensuring secure processing on the backend—each step is key to delivering a seamless checkout experience.
With the right setup, solid error handling, and strong security practices, your React JS app can offer a smooth, frictionless payment system that boosts conversions and fuels growth.
Happy coding!
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