What the Zoho Checkout integration does
The Zoho Checkout integration brings payment-related actions into your Guided Conversations flows. Instead of asking customers to visit a separate page or wait for a follow-up, you can handle transactions right inside the chat.
Think of the Zoho Checkout integration as a container. Inside it, you get individual action blocks, each one handling a specific part of the payment experience. Right now the integration is available with the Collect Payment block. More blocks are on the way.
Zoho Checkout in GC
| Available now | Coming soon |
|---|
| Collect Payment: accept a one-time payment from a customer during a conversation. | Refund: process a refund directly from the chat flow.
Invoice: generate and send an invoice without leaving the conversation.
And more as Zoho Checkout capabilities expand. |
This article covers the Collect Payment block. Once the other blocks are released, each will have its own guide.
What the Collect Payment block does
You can collect secure, one-time payments right inside a Guided Conversations flow. When customers reach the payment step, they see a payment button in the chat. Clicking it takes them to a secure Zoho Checkout page to complete the payment. Once done, the conversation picks up automatically based on payment status.
This is great for support flows where a payment is part of resolving a request, for example collecting a service fee, processing a replacement order, or confirming a booking, all without the customer ever leaving the conversation.
Zoho Checkout handles all the encryption and PCI-DSS compliance. You never see card details, and neither do your agents.
You can set up the flow to handle three outcomes automatically:
- Success: the payment goes through and the conversation continues.
- Failure: something goes wrong and the customer is offered a way to try again.
- Cancel: the customer decides not to pay and the flow takes a separate path.
Before you start
Ensure you have Administrator or Agent access in Guided Conversations to set up the Collect Payment block, and also permissions to create Zoho Checkout organizations.
Zoho Checkout works with several payment gateways, depending on your region:
- Stripe
- Razorpay
- PayPal
- Zoho Payments
- PayTM
- ICICI Bank
Zoho Checkout setup in GC
Step 1: Add the Collect Payment block to your flow
Setup
1. Open the flow builder and go to the point in the flow where you want to collect payment.
2. Click + Add and navigate to the Integrations section.
3. Select Zoho Checkout.
4. Choose the Collect Payment block. The block settings panel opens on the right side of the screen.
You will see all the fields you need right here: Block Name, Description, Button Name, Organization, Payment Gateway, Currency, Payment Page, Input Variable Mapping, and the option to let customers cancel.
These three fields control what the customer sees in the chat when they reach the payment step.
- Block Name: Give this block a name you will recognize in the flow builder, for example "Payment". This is just for your reference and is not shown to customers.
- Description: This is the message the customer reads in the chat just above the payment button. Use it to clearly explain what they are paying for. You can bold text, add links, or italicize for emphasis.
- Button Name: This is the label on the button customers click to proceed. Something clear like "Pay now" works well. Whatever you write here is what appears as the clickable button in the conversation.
Step 3: Connect a Zoho Checkout organization
The Organization field is where you link the block to a Zoho Checkout account. Your payment gateways and payment pages all live inside an organization. You can pick an existing one or create a new one right from this field.
Creating a new organization
1. Click + New Org in the Organization field.
2. This opens the Add New Org form where you fill in a few details about your account. Here is what each field does:
- Name: This is how your organization appears in the block panel. Pick something recognizable.
- Country: Your choice here determines which payment gateways are available to you.
- State: This unlocks once you select a country.
- Timezone and Base Currency: Set these to match your business location.
3. The right side of the form shows which payment gateways are available for your country.
4. Click Create Org.
5. You will see a confirmation that your organization is ready. Your next step is to set up a payment gateway so you can actually accept money.
6. Click Configure Payment Gateway to jump into Zoho Checkout and complete that setup.
Note
Organization limit: You can have up to 5 organizations. Once you hit the limit, you need to delete one before you can add another.
Important
You will need to finish setting up a gateway in Zoho Checkout before the block can process any payments.
Step 4: Choose a payment gateway
Once you select an organization, the Payment Gateway field shows all the gateways configured for it. The one marked with a star is the default set in Zoho Checkout. You can switch to a different gateway if you have more than one set up.
If no gateways have been added to the organization yet, you will need to add one in Zoho Checkout.
Warning
An orange warning below the Organization field means the selected organization is inactive in Zoho Checkout. You need to reactivate it there, or pick a different organization, before the block will work.
Viewing your organization details
You can click into any organization to see a full summary: who created it, which countries and currencies it supports, and which gateways are active. From this view you can also add a new gateway or open the gateway settings directly in Zoho Checkout.
Note
Not seeing your latest changes? If you just made changes in Zoho Checkout and they are not showing up here yet, use the refresh option on the detail panel to pull in the latest configuration.
Step 5: Pick a currency
The Currency field lists the currencies supported by your selected gateway. Choose the one you want to charge in. When you select a currency, the payment is automatically routed through whichever gateway supports it.
Note
Payment Gateway, Currency, and Payment Page are grayed out until you select an organization. This is by design: each field depends on the one above it.
Step 6: Set up a payment page
The payment page is what the customer sees on the Zoho Checkout side: the title of what they are paying for and the amount. You need to create this from inside Guided Conversations so it appears in the dropdown here.
Creating a payment page
1. Click + New Payment Page in the block panel. A small dialog opens where you give the page a title and an optional description.
2. Click Save and the page is created in Zoho Checkout instantly. It is also automatically selected in the block, so you do not need to go looking for it.
3. A confirmation appears at the top of the panel, and the preview on the left updates to show exactly what the customer will see.
Important
Only payment pages you create from inside this block appear in the dropdown. Pages created directly in Zoho Checkout will not show up here.
Note
One-time payments only. This block supports one-time payments only. Recurring payments are not supported now.
Step 7: Pre-fill customer details with variable mapping
If your flow has already collected information from the customer, such as their name or email, you can pass that information straight to the payment page. This saves the customer from having to type the same details again on the Zoho Checkout form.
How to set up the mapping
1. Click the gear icon next to Input Variable Mapping to open the mapping dialog. You will see two columns: the fields on the payment page on the left, and your flow variables on the right.
2. Match each payment page field to the flow variable that holds the right answer. For example, map the First Name field to the variable where you stored the customer's name earlier in the flow.
3. Click the Field dropdown to see all available fields from your payment page.
4. Click + Add Field to add more rows.
Note
Mapping priority: If you map both Name and Company Name, Company Name takes priority. If you map both Billing Address and Shipping Address, Shipping Address takes priority.
Step 8: Decide whether customers can cancel
Turning on Allow users to cancel the payment adds a Cancel button to the payment block in the chat. This creates a separate branch in your flow so you can handle cancelations differently from failures.
If you turn this off after you have already built out a cancellation path, a confirmation dialog will warn you that the path will stop working.
After a customer attempts a payment, the block routes the conversation to the right path based on the result. You should always set up at least a Success path and a Failure path so the conversation never hits a dead end.
The five payment statuses the block can receive are:
- Pending: The transaction is waiting to be processed.
- Completed: The payment went through.
- Error: A system or gateway error occurred.
- Failed: The gateway declined the transaction.
- Canceled: The customer clicked Cancel.
For each outcome you can:
- Success: send a confirmation message and continue the conversation.
- Failure: show a helpful message and give the customer a way to try again.
- Cancel: acknowledge the cancellation and offer next steps.
Best practice
Always configure both Success and Failure paths before publishing. A flow without a Failure path can leave customers stuck if a payment is declined.
What your customers see
- They see your description message and the payment button in the chat.
- They click the button and are taken to the Zoho Checkout payment page.
- After completing or canceling, they are brought back and the conversation continues.
- The customer sees a confirmation screen.
Channel behavior
In web chat widgets, the Zoho Checkout page opens within the chat interface. In some messaging channels like WhatsApp or social platforms, it may open in a new browser tab instead, depending on how that platform handles links.
What happens if you disable the flow
If you need to turn off a flow that contains a Zoho Checkout block, active conversations will continue until completion, including payment steps. New conversations will no longer start this flow after it is disabled.
This means customers who are already mid-conversation will not be affected. Only new conversations will stop.
A few things worth knowing
Organization access
- Only admins and agents can create Zoho Checkout organizations from within Guided Conversations.
- The person who created an organization can modify its gateways and settings. Other users can use it in flows.
- Each portal supports up to 5 organizations.
Keep your organization active
If a Zoho Checkout organization becomes inactive, any flow that uses it will fail at the payment step. You need to reactivate it in Zoho Checkout or update the block to use a different organization.
Keep the admin account active
The payment block stops working if the admin who created the organization is removed from Guided Conversations or Zoho Checkout. Make sure that account stays active.
Common questions
Q: Can I connect an existing Zoho Checkout account?
A: Not yet. For now, you need to create an organization from inside Guided Conversations. Linking a pre-existing Zoho Checkout account is not supported in this release.
Q: Can I collect subscription or recurring payments?
A: No. GC supports one-time payments only. If you select a recurring payment page, the block will prompt you to choose a one-time page instead.
Q: Why is my payment page not showing up in the dropdown?
A: Only payment pages created from inside this block appear in the list. Pages created directly in Zoho Checkout do not appear here.
Q: How do I issue a refund or check the status of a payment?
A: Refunds and payment status checks are handled in Zoho Checkout or your connected accounting system. You cannot do this from within Guided Conversations.
Q: What is the difference between a failed and a cancelled payment?
A: A failed payment is one the gateway declined, due to an error or insufficient funds. A cancelled payment is one the customer chose to cancel themselves by clicking the Cancel button. These follow separate paths in the flow.
Q: Can I add more than one payment block to the same flow?
A: Yes. You can place multiple Collect Payment blocks at different points in the same flow, each with its own organization, payment page, and amount.
Quick tips before you publish
- Write a clear description so customers know exactly what they are paying for.
- Set up both Success and Failure paths before publishing.
- Use variable mapping to pre-fill the payment form with details already collected in the flow.
- Test the full journey before going live: check that the right gateway, currency, and payment page are selected.
- Make sure the Zoho Checkout organization and the admin account that created it stay active.