# Add credit to your balance

> Top up your credit balance with a card or another payment method, and see how Coritan spends that credit.

Source: https://docs.coritan.com/billing/add-credit/

Credit is money you pay in ahead of time. Coritan holds it in US dollars, it never expires, and Coritan spends it before it charges a payment method. Add credit to pay for hourly services, to cover renewals, or to pay an invoice without a card.

## Before you begin

- Sign in to the [dashboard](https://www.coritan.com/dashboard).
- Decide how much to add. One top-up is between $1.00 and $10,000.00.
- Have a way to pay: a saved method, a card, a PayPal account or cryptocurrency.

## Add credit

1. In the sidebar, select **Billing**. The **Add credit** card is on the **Overview** tab. The **Add credit** button on the dashboard's home page opens the same card.
2. Under **Amount**, choose `$10`, `$25`, `$50`, `$100` or `$250`. To enter another amount, choose **Other** and type it in US dollars.
3. Under **Pay with**, choose how to pay:
   - A saved card or PayPal account. Coritan charges it straight away.
   - **Card** (or **New card**) to enter a card.
   - **PayPal** to pay with a PayPal account. PayPal's buttons appear in the card.
   - **Crypto** to send cryptocurrency. [Pay with cryptocurrency](/billing/crypto-payments/) walks through it.
   - Any other provider, which opens its own checkout page.
4. Select the button at the bottom of the card:
   - `Add $25.00` (with your amount) for a saved method or a new card.
   - `Continue to` and the provider's name for a checkout page. Pay there, and the provider brings you back to **Billing**.
   - For PayPal, select PayPal's button and approve the payment in the window that opens. You stay on the page.
5. For a new card, enter it in the **Pay by card** dialog and select **Pay now**. If your bank asks you to confirm a saved card, the dialog is called **Confirm with your bank**.

## Result

A message confirms the top-up, for example `$25.00 added to your balance.` Coritan emails you a receipt. The new balance shows on the **Overview** tab and in the sidebar, and the top-up appears on the **Transactions** tab ([Transactions and payment attempts](/billing/transactions/)).

Once the credit you have added comes to $10.00 or more in total, [hourly billing](/billing/hourly-billing/) unlocks for your account.

Your bank charges the amount in your account's currency, converted from US dollars ([Currencies and countries](/billing/currencies-and-regions/#what-each-payment-is-charged-in)).

## How Coritan spends credit

New orders
: When you order a service, Coritan takes as much of the first invoice as your credit covers. If credit covers all of it, the service starts setting up at once.

Renewals
: Coritan takes each renewal invoice from your credit first, and charges your saved method only for what credit does not cover.

Hourly services
: Coritan takes each hour's charge from your credit ([How hourly billing works](/billing/hourly-billing/)).

Invoices you pay yourself
: Choose **Account credit** in the **Pay** dialog ([Pay an invoice](/billing/invoices/)).

To keep the balance from running out, set up [automatic top-up](/billing/automatic-top-up/).

## Troubleshooting

`Enter an amount between $1.00 and $10,000.00.`
: The amount is outside what one top-up can be. Choose another amount.

**Could not add the credit**
: The payment did not start. The message under it gives the reason. Try again, or choose another way to pay.

`The bank did not approve the payment.`
: Your bank refused the payment, or the check it asked for was not completed. Nothing was added. Try again or pay another way.

`Top-up cancelled. You paid nothing.`
: You left the provider's checkout page before paying.

`Back from checkout. Your balance updates once the payment clears.`
: The provider has not confirmed the payment yet. Check your balance again later; do not pay twice.

`Your bank still needs to confirm this payment.`
: Your bank has not finished its check. Complete it in the card dialog, or wait for the bank and check your balance later.

**Could not confirm the top-up**
: You paid, but Coritan could not confirm the payment when you came back. Wait a few minutes and check your balance. If the credit does not arrive, [contact support](/support/) with the date and amount.

## Related

- [Turn on automatic top-up](/billing/automatic-top-up/)
- [Pay with cryptocurrency](/billing/crypto-payments/)
- [How hourly billing works](/billing/hourly-billing/)
- [Billing](/billing/)

## With the API

Every top-up `amount` is in US dollars, from `1` to `10000`; anything else answers `422`. The payment is charged in `currency` when you send it, and otherwise in your account's currency.

### Charge a saved method

[`POST /billing/topup/manual`](/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-manual) charges a saved method (its `id` from `GET /payments/methods`) and adds the credit when the charge succeeds:

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/billing/topup/manual \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"amount": "25.00", "payment_method_id": 812}'
```

```json
{
  "message": "Top-up successful",
  "new_balance": 37.01,
  "status": "succeeded",
  "base_amount": "25.00",
  "fx_rate": "1",
  "currency": "USD"
}
```

When the bank wants the cardholder to confirm, the answer has `status` `requires_action` and a `client_secret` for Stripe.js in a browser; nothing is credited until the confirmed payment reaches `confirm-payment` below. A declined charge answers `402` with the bank's reason, and a method that is not yours answers `404` with `Payment method not found`.

### Pay by card in a browser

1. Create the payment with [`POST /billing/topup/pay-intent`](/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-pay-intent). Send `amount`, and optionally `gateway_name`, `currency` and `save_method` (`true` keeps the card for later charges). The answer has `status` `requires_payment_method`, a `client_secret` for Stripe.js, `gateway_reference` (the payment's id), `charge_amount` in the charged currency's smallest unit, `base_amount` and `fx_rate`.
2. The cardholder confirms the card in the browser with Stripe.js.
3. Call [`POST /billing/topup/confirm-payment`](/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-confirm-payment) with the query parameters `gateway_name` and `payment_intent_id`. You can add `amount` to check it: the call answers `400` with `amount does not match the completed payment` when it differs from what was paid by more than two cents.

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/billing/topup/confirm-payment?gateway_name=stripe&payment_intent_id=pi_3Qexample&amount=25" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN"
```

```json
{
  "status": "succeeded",
  "gateway_name": "stripe",
  "gateway_reference": "pi_3Qexample",
  "client_secret": null,
  "requires_action_url": null,
  "new_balance": 37.01,
  "credited_usd": 25.0
}
```

It answers `requires_action` while the bank still wants a check, and `402` with `Payment not completed` when the payment failed. Coritan credits each payment once, so repeating the call is safe.

### Pay with PayPal or a checkout page

[`POST /billing/topup/checkout`](/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-checkout) creates a checkout. Send `amount`, `gateway_name`, `return_url` and `cancel_url`. Both URLs must be absolute `http` or `https` URLs on a real host; placeholder hosts such as `example.com` answer `400`.

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.coritan.com/api/v1/billing/topup/checkout \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORITAN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"amount": "25.00", "gateway_name": "paypal", "return_url": "https://www.coritan.com/dashboard/billing", "cancel_url": "https://www.coritan.com/dashboard/billing"}'
```

```json
{
  "checkout_url": "https://www.paypal.com/checkoutnow?token=5O190127TN364715T",
  "session_id": "5O190127TN364715T",
  "token": null,
  "gateway": "paypal",
  "currency": "USD",
  "charge_amount": 2500,
  "base_amount": "25.00",
  "fx_rate": "1"
}
```

Send the payer to `checkout_url`. For most providers, the credit arrives when the provider confirms the payment to Coritan. For PayPal, `session_id` is the PayPal order: once the payer approves it, call [`POST /billing/topup/paypal-capture`](/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-paypal-capture) with the query parameters `order_id` and `gateway_name` (and optionally `amount`). It answers like `confirm-payment`, or `402` with the reason when PayPal refuses the capture.

## API

- `POST /api/v1/billing/topup/checkout`: Hosted checkout to buy USD account credit without a saved payment method (https://docs.coritan.com/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-checkout)
- `POST /api/v1/billing/topup/pay-intent`: Create an in-page Stripe Payment Element intent for a credit top-up (https://docs.coritan.com/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-pay-intent)
- `POST /api/v1/billing/topup/confirm-payment`: Finalize a top-up PaymentIntent after SCA and credit the user balance (https://docs.coritan.com/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-confirm-payment)
- `POST /api/v1/billing/topup/paypal-capture`: Capture an approved PayPal order and credit the platform user balance (https://docs.coritan.com/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-paypal-capture)
- `POST /api/v1/billing/topup/manual`: Manually top up credit balance by charging a payment method (https://docs.coritan.com/api/reference/client/billing/#op-post-api-v1-billing-topup-manual)