Going Live
What has to be true before an Inkress account can take real card payments — and the usual reasons a first live payment fails.
An unverified account cannot take card payments
Not “a reduced limit” — no card payments at all. If your integration is technically correct and live payments still fail, this is the first thing to check. It is by far the most common cause.
The go-live checklist
Verify the account's identity
Complete identity verification in the dashboard under Verify Account. This is what lifts the account off the starting level and allows it to transact at all.
Choose a billing plan
An account with no active plan cannot accept payments, even when fully verified. Set this under Billing.
Add a payout bank account
Verification alone does not release funds. The payout account is a separate step, and money stays in the Inkress wallet until it is done.
Configure your webhook endpoint
Fulfil on confirmed payments rather than on checkout submission. With 3-D Secure on every card payment, the two are not the same moment.
Run a real transaction
Take one small live payment end to end and confirm your webhook fired and your fulfilment ran.
Verification levels and limits
Verification is a ladder. Each level unlocks a higher monthly collection limit — how much the account can collect from customers in a month. Accounts climb it by completing steps in the dashboard.
| Level | What it takes | Can take payments? |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Email and phone validated | No |
| Identity | Government ID, selfie and a liveness check | Yes |
| Resident & banked | Proof of address, payout bank, bank statement | Yes — higher limit |
| Verified business | Business registration and business bank | Yes — higher limit |
| Enhanced | Tax compliance, source of funds, sanctions screening | Yes — highest limit |
Each level has a base limit and a cap, and an account's effective limit sits somewhere between the two. The dashboard shows the current effective limit and what the next level would unlock — always treat that as the source of truth rather than hard-coding a figure.
Why a first live payment usually fails
The account is not verified
The starting level cannot transact. Complete identity verification in the dashboard.
There is no active billing plan
Payments are blocked until a plan is selected.
3-D Secure was not completed
The customer closed the modal or never finished their bank's verification. The card was fine; the payment still did not go through.
The client timed out
A short timeout that worked before 3-D Secure will now fire while the customer is still with their bank.
Fulfilment ran on submit
The integration treated checkout submission as payment. Move fulfilment onto the confirmed payment webhook.
The monthly limit was reached
The account hit the ceiling for its verification level. Climbing a level raises it.
Appearing in the marketplace directory
Listing in the public marketplace directory is separate from being able to take payments, and has its own requirements: a verified phone number, a verified email address, a logo, an industry, and a suitable store name.
An account that is not listed still works completely — its store page is reachable by direct link and its payment links function normally. Listing affects discovery only.