API Reference›Recurring Charges

Recurring Charges

Recurring charges let you debit a customer's saved card without requiring them to re-enter their card details. After a customer completes an initial payment, the provider returns an authorization code that you can use for all future charges against that card.

Provider support

Recurring charges are supported by Paystack and Flutterwave. Authorization codes are provider-specific — a code issued by Paystack cannot be used with Flutterwave and vice versa. You must pass the correct provider_id to match the provider that issued the authorization code.

How Authorization Codes Work

When a customer successfully completes a card payment for the first time, the provider returns an authorization_code in the payment webhook payload and in the GET /v1/payments/:id response under metadata.authorization_code. Store this code against the customer record in your database — it is the token you will pass to this endpoint for all subsequent charges.

⚠

Authorization codes work for card payments only. Bank transfer and USSD payment methods do not produce reusable authorization codes.

Charge an Authorization

Use a stored authorization code to debit a customer's card without a checkout redirect. The charge is processed synchronously and returns a payment object.

POST

/v1/charges/authorize

Charges a customer's card using a previously obtained authorization code.

Request headers

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`Authorization`	`string`	Required	Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
`Content-Type`	`string`	Required	Must be application/json

Request body

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`authorization_code`	`string`	Required	The authorization code returned by the provider after the customer's first successful card payment.
`customer_email`	`string`	Required	Email address of the customer being charged. Must match the email used in the original authorization.
`amount`	`integer`	Required	Amount to charge in the smallest currency unit (kobo for NGN).
`currency`	`string`	Optional	ISO 4217 currency code. Defaults to NGN.
`reference`	`string`	Required	Your unique reference for this charge. Alphanumeric, hyphens, and underscores only. Max 255 characters.
`reason`	`string`	Optional	Description or narration for this charge. Shown on the customer's statement where supported.
`metadata`	`object`	Optional	Up to 20 key-value pairs of string:string. Returned in all charge responses.
`provider_id`	`string`	Optional	The provider that issued the authorization code: paystack, flutterwave. Must match the original payment provider.

Example requestbash

curl -X POST https://api.popfab.io/v1/charges/authorize \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "authorization_code": "AUTH_abc123xyz",
    "customer_email": "ada@example.com",
    "amount": 500000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "reference": "SUB-2026-03-001",
    "reason": "March subscription",
    "provider_id": "paystack"
  }'

200 OK — Payment objectjson

{
  "id": "ppfb_pay_01HXA3KBZQM4Z3YWN5E6R7VP8S",
  "reference": "SUB-2026-03-001",
  "amount": 500000,
  "currency": "NGN",
  "status": "success",
  "provider": "paystack",
  "provider_reference": "ps_abc123",
  "customer": {
    "email": "ada@example.com"
  },
  "reason": "March subscription",
  "metadata": {},
  "created_at": "2026-03-23T08:00:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-03-23T08:00:00.000Z"
}

ℹ

Unlike standard payments, recurring charges do not redirect the customer. The charge is processed immediately and the response reflects the final status. Webhooks are still fired for payment.success and payment.failed events.

⚠

Authorization codes are provider-specific. Always store the provider_id alongside the authorization_code in your database and pass it in every recurring charge request. Mismatching the provider will result in a 422 INVALID_AUTHORIZATION error.

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