via Workflow Automation (iPaaS)

Workflow automation platforms / IPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) are tools that help you automate business processes without the need to write code or host your own software. They are ideal for companies that want business efficiency without the need to invest in a strong IT department, or where the IT department is otherwise occupied.

Shuttle supports several of these platforms:

• Make.com: Make.com offers advanced control, branching logic, and visual flows for building complex automations with minimal code.
• Zapier: Zapier makes it easy for non-developers to automate tasks across thousands of apps with a clean, no-code interface.

If you require a platform not listed please contact [email protected].

What is a Workflow Automation?

Workflow automation is the orchestration of multiple systems and steps to perform a task.

Most automation platforms provide a graphical user interface, allowing non technical users can configure both simple and complex processes like the below:

flowchart LR 
A[Trigger] --> B[Create Payment Link] --> C[Send to Customer]	

Examples include:

• Field agents getting quotes secured:

flowchart LR 
 B[On HubSpot Quote Creation] 
 B --> C[Create Payment Link] 
 C --> D[Email/SMS Customer]

• Event signup automation using WhatsApp

flowchart LR 
 B[On WhatsApp signup message] 
 B --> C[Create Payment Link] 
 C --> D[Reply on WhatApp]

• Chasing overdue invoices

flowchart LR 
 B[On 15th of the Month] 
 B --> C[Loop overdue Xero customers] 
 C --> D[Create Payment Link] 
 D --> E[Email Customer]
 E --> C

• Getting membership feeds paid

flowchart LR 
 B[On Manual Trigger] 
 B --> C[Loop Google Sheet] 
 C --> D[Create Payment Link] 
 D --> E[Email Customer]
 E --> C

Further more, workflows can be triggered by payment notifications, allowing you to provision goods or services. On notification you can get the payment link which will contain extensive information about payment if its already been paid, so you can perform appropriate business functions.

flowchart LR 
  A[Notification] --> B[Filter] --> C[Get Payment Link]
  C --> D{Status?}
  D --> E[Success → Provision Goods]
  D --> F[Pending → Reserve Goods]
  D --> G[Failed → Release Goods & Notify Customer]
  D --> H[Expired → Notify Customer]

Getting Started

To use personalised single-use payment links in your workflow automation, you will need:

• A Shuttle Payment Links account
• A payment provider account (e.g. Stripe) or use our sandbox gateway
• An triggering event, eg an app that you want to trigger the link generation from (e.g. Slack, Whatsapp, Invoicing app, Google Sheets), timing schedule, or manual trigger
• An account with one of the following workflow apps, which supports your triggering event:
  • Zapier 8000+ Integrations - best for wider compatibility
  • Make.com 2500+ Integrations - best for power users

In your workflow tool you can connect to Shuttle via:

1. Install the "Shuttle" connector (search for "Shuttle" in the app store or use a link at the top of this document)
2. Add "Create a Payment Link" action to one of your templates / scenarios (please view a tutorial on the platform if you're not sure how to do this)
3. You will be prompted to "Connect Shuttle", click the button and when prompted select if you are connecting a "Live" or "Sandbox" account. You will then be taken to a login screen to log into Shuttle and select which account to connect. You must have ALREADY created the account in the appropriate LIVE / SANDBOX mode for it to display. If required you can set up a new account, but will need to restart the connection process.

Tip!: We recommend you build your workflow using a Sandbox account, which does not process real payment, and then switch to a LIVE account when you are ready to use with customers. After switching from sandbox to live, always validate a live payment before rolling out to your customers, specifically that is makes it all the way to your bank account.

Also, when switching from sandbox to live, ensure you update ALL templates / scenarios involved in your automation.

Configuring your Workflow

Shuttle provides 4 actions for managing payment links:

• Create a new payment link
• Get a payment link
• Update an existing payment link
• Delete a payment link

In addition, it raises "Payment Notifications" you can use to trigger workflows.

Please see Process Flow for detail on the behaviour of each.

Generating / Updating a Payment Link

Shuttle's workflow integrations support the following fields when creating and updating a payment link:

Get Payment Link

You can fetch a payment link using its ID up to 1 year after it was last updated.

This returns both information about the payment link and information about the payment. Information always returned (where it exists on the payment link):

Information only available after payment attempted:

The key fields you care about are:

• Payment Link Status: When deciding what to do next
• Contract Reference: If you allow the customer to enter a reference
• Transaction Reference: The unique payment ID displayed on the receipt screen and sent to the payment gateway (e.g. "REF-00001234")
• Transaction Amount: The amount of the transaction
• Gateway Status: The response from the payment processor
• Gateway Message: The error message (or at times pending message) returned from the payment processor
• Gateway Reference: The payment reference returned from the payment processor (eg Stripe ID for the payment)
• Payment Method Name: A descriptive name of the payment method used(eg "Visa ending 1234, exp 12/34")
• Payment Method Token: The token representing the payment method used by the payment processor if the card is saved (eg Stripe ID for the saved card)

Payment Notification

Shuttle provides a trigger event called "Payment Notification", this will fire on key events in the payment lifecycle:

• PAYMENT_LINK.CREATED - When a new payment link is created
• PAYMENT_LINK.UPDATE - When a payment link is updated or a pending payment is declined
• PAYMENT_LINK.COMPLETED - When a payment is successfully processed
• PAYMENT_LINK.EXPIRED - When a payment link expires
• PAYMENT_LINK.ARCHIVE - When a payment link is archived/canceled

Each notification contains the following fields you can use to access the payment link for further information:

• action - The event type (e.g., PAYMENT_LINK.COMPLETE)
• payment_link_id - The ID of the payment link
• state1 ... state9 - State fields (if configured)

You should use the payment link action and state fields ro filter which events you care about and call "Get Payment Link" to get the payment link details.