Save cards with purchase with the JavaScript SDK

After customers save their credit or debit card, they can select it for faster checkout. Customers won’t have to enter payment details for future transactions. Use the JavaScript SDK to save a payer’s card if you aren’t PCI Compliant - SAQ A but want to save credit or debit cards during checkout.

Availability

Supported countries

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Hong Kong
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States

Prerequisites

This integration requires a PayPal Developer account.
You’ll need to have an existing credit and debit card payments integration. PayPal must approve your account to process advanced credit and debit card payments.
Complete the steps in Get started to get the following sandbox account information from the Developer Dashboard:
- The sandbox client ID and secret of your REST app.
- An access token to use the PayPal REST API server.
This client-side and server-side integration uses the following:
- PayPal JavaScript SDK
- Orders REST API

How it works

PayPal encrypts payment method information and stores it in a digital vault for that customer.

The payer saves their payment method.
For a first-time payer, PayPal creates a customer ID. Store this within your system for future use.
When the customer returns to your website and is ready to check out, pass their PayPal-generated customer ID to the JavaScript SDK. The customer ID tells the JavaScript SDK to save or reuse a saved payment method.
The payer completes a billing agreement.
The JavaScript SDK populates the checkout page with each saved payment method. Each payment method appears as a one-click button next to other ways to pay.

The checkout process is now shorter because it uses saved payment information.

Use cases

Businesses save payment methods if they want customers to:

Check out without re-entering a payment method
Pay after use, for example, ride-sharing and food delivery

You can charge now and save the card in a single flow. Keep your one-time payment session on the client and add a vault directive on your server when creating the order.

1. Set up sandbox to save payment methods

Set up your sandbox and live business accounts to save payment methods:

Log in to the Developer Dashboard.
Under REST API apps, select your app name.
Under Sandbox App Settings > App Feature Options, check Accept payments.
Expand Advanced options. Confirm that Vault is selected.

2. Add checkbox for payers to save card

Add a checkbox element grouped with your card collection fields to give payers the option to save their card.

  <input type="checkbox" id="save" name="save">
  <label for="save">Save your card</label>
</div>

3. Pass checkbox value

Pass document.getElementById("save").checked to your server with the following details in the createOrder() method:

Value of the checkbox
Optional: Card name
Optional: Billing address

No verification
3D Secure

// Initialize the v6 SDK with card-fields component
const sdk = await window.paypal.createInstance({ 
  clientToken, 
  components: ["card-fields"] 
});

// Create a one-time payment session using v6 SDK
const session = sdk.createCardFieldsOneTimePaymentSession();

// Check eligibility and render card fields
if (session.isEligible()) {
  session.NameField().render("#card-name-field-container");
  session.NumberField().render("#card-number-field-container");
  session.ExpiryField().render("#card-expiry-field-container");
  session.CVVField().render("#card-cvv-field-container");
} else {
  // Handle the workflow when credit and debit cards are not available
}

// Submit button event handler
const submitButton = document.getElementById("submit-button");
submitButton.addEventListener("click", async () => {
  try {
    // Create order - server determines verification settings
    const saveCheckbox = document.getElementById("save");
    
    const orderResponse = await fetch("/api/paypal/order/create/", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({
        saveCard: saveCheckbox.checked,
      }),
    });
    
    const orderData = await orderResponse.json();
    const orderId = orderData.id;

    // Submit the session with billing address
    const { state, data } = await session.submit(orderId, {
      billingAddress: { 
        postalCode: "95131"
      },
    });

    // Handle successful transaction
    if (state === "succeeded") {
      // Capture the order
      const captureResponse = await fetch(`/api/paypal/orders/${data.orderId}/capture/`, {
        method: "POST"
      });
      
      const captureData = await captureResponse.json();
      
      // Handle vault details if card was saved
      const vault = captureData?.paymentSource?.card?.attributes?.vault;
      if (vault) {
        // Save the vault.id and vault.customer.id for future use
        console.log('Vault ID:', vault.id);
        console.log('Customer ID:', vault.customer.id);
      }
      
      // Handle successful transaction completion
      console.log('Payment completed successfully');
    }
    
  } catch (error) {
    // Handle any error that may occur
    console.error('Payment error:', error);
  }
});

4. Create order and save card

Server side

Set up your server to call the Orders API. The button that the payer selects determines the payment_source sent in the following sample. This SDK uses the Orders v2 API to save payment methods in the background. Use the following request using the Orders API to add attributes needed to save a card.

First-time payer
Returning payer

Save payment method for first-time payers

This request is for payers who:

Don’t have a payment source saved into the vault.
Selected the save checkbox. The document.getElementById("save").checked value is true.

To run 3D Secure on the card, set the payment_source.card.attributes.verification.method to SCA_ALWAYS or SCA_WHEN_REQUIRED.SCA_ALWAYS triggers an authentication for every transaction, while SCA_WHEN_REQUIRED triggers an authentication only when a regional compliance mandate such as PSD2 is required. 3D Secure is supported only in countries with a PSD2 compliance mandate.

Note: In the following requests, the payment_source.attributes.vault.store_in_vault with the value ON_SUCCESS means the card is saved with a successful authorization or capture.

curl -v -X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders 
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-H "Authorization: Bearer 'ACCESS-TOKEN'"
-d '{
  "intent": "CAPTURE",
  "purchase_units": [{
    "reference_id": "d9f80740-38f0-11e8-b467-0ed5f89f718b",
    "amount": {
      "currency_code": "USD",
      "value": "100.00"
    }
  }],
  "payment_source": {
    "card": {
      "name": "Firstname Lastname",
      "billing_address": {
        "address_line_1": "123 Main St.",
        "address_line_2": "Unit B",
        "admin_area_2": "Anytown",
        "admin_area_1": "CA",
        "postal_code": "12345",
        "country_code": "US"
      },
        "attributes": {
        "customer" : {
            "id": "'PayPal-generated customer id'"
        },
        "vault": {
          "store_in_vault": "ON_SUCCESS"
        },
      }
    }
  }
}

Response

Pass the order id to the JavaScript SDK. The SDK updates the order with the new card details. PayPal handles any PCI compliance issues. After the SDK is updated, it triggers the onApprove() method, which receives an object containing the orderID. You can authorize or capture the order when you have the orderID.

Note: The request to save the payment method is made when the order is created through payment_source.attributes.vault.store_in_vault. Vault details are available only after an order is authorized or captured.

  {
    "id": "5O190127TN364715T",
    "status": "CREATED",
    "intent": "CAPTURE",
    "payment_source": {
      "card": {
        "brand": "VISA",
        "last-digits": "1881",
        "billing_address": {
          "address_line_1": "123 Main St.",
          "address_line_2": "Unit B",
          "admin_area_2": "Anytown",
          "admin_area_1": "CA",
          "postal_code": "12345",
          "country_code": "US"
        }
      }
    },
    "purchase_units": [{
      "reference_id": "d9f80740-38f0-11e8-b467-0ed5f89f718b",
      "amount": {
        "currency_code": "USD",
        "value": "100.00"
      }
    }],
    "create_time": "2021-10-28T21:18:49Z",
    "links": [{
        "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/5O190127TN364715T",
        "rel": "self",
        "method": "GET"
      },
      {
        "href": "https://www.sandbox.paypal.com/checkoutnow?token=5O190127TN364715T",
        "rel": "approve",
        "method": "GET"
      },
      {
        "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/5O190127TN364715T",
        "rel": "update",
        "method": "PATCH"
      },
      {
        "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/5O190127TN364715T/capture",
        "rel": "capture",
        "method": "POST"
      }
    ]
  }

5. Authorize or capture order and save card

Server side

Set up your server to call the Orders v2 API:

Call the authorize order endpoint if the intent passed was AUTHORIZE.
Call the capture order endpoint if the intent passed was CAPTURE.

Request

Add a payment_source.card instruction for vault. Use your desired amounts, URLs, and business policy.

curl -v -X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/YOUR-ORDER-ID/{authorize or capture}
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-H "Authorization: Bearer 'YOUR-ACCESS-TOKEN'"
-d
'{
  "intent": "CAPTURE",
  "purchase_units": [{
    "amount": { "currency_code": "USD", "value": "100.00" }
  }],
  "payment_source": {
    "card": {
      // 3DS (optional): see 3DS guide for attributes.verification + experience_context
      "attributes": {
        // "verification": { "method": "SCA_WHEN_REQUIRED" },
        "vault": {
          "store_in_vault": "ON_SUCCESS" // or "ALWAYS" per your business policy
        }
      }
    }
  }'

Response

  {
    "id": "5O190127TN364715T",
    "status": "COMPLETED",
    "payment_source": {
      "card": {
        "brand": "VISA",
        "last_digits": "4949"
        "attributes": {
          "vault": {
            "id": "nkq2y9g",
            "customer": {
                "id": "695922590"
            },
            "status": "VAULTED",
            "links": [{
                "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v3/vault/payment-tokens/nkq2y9g",
                "rel": "self",
                "method": "GET"
              },
              {
                "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v3/vault/payment-tokens/nkq2y9g",
                "rel": "delete",
                "method": "DELETE"
              },
              {
                "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/5O190127TN364715T",
                "rel": "up",
                "method": "GET"
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "purchase_units": [{
      "reference_id": "d9f80740-38f0-11e8-b467-0ed5f89f718b",
      "payments": {
        "captures": [{
          "id": "3C679366HH908993F",
          "status": "COMPLETED",
          "amount": {
            "currency_code": "USD",
            "value": "100.00"
          },
          "seller_protection": {
            "status": "NOT_ELIGIBLE"
          },
          "final_capture": true,
          "seller_receivable_breakdown": {
            "gross_amount": {
              "currency_code": "USD",
              "value": "100.00"
            },
            "paypal_fee": {
              "currency_code": "USD",
              "value": "3.00"
            },
            "net_amount": {
              "currency_code": "USD",
              "value": "97.00"
            }
          },
          "create_time": "2022-01-01T21:20:49Z",
          "update_time": "2022-01-01T21:20:49Z",
          "processor_response": {
              "avs_code": "Y",
              "cvv_code": "M",
              "response_code": "0000"
          },
          "links": [{
              "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/payments/captures/3C679366HH908993F",
              "rel": "self",
              "method": "GET"
            },
            {
              "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/payments/captures/3C679366HH908993F/refund",
              "rel": "refund",
              "method": "POST"
            }
          ]
        }]
      }
    }],
    "links": [{
      "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/5O190127TN364715T",
      "rel": "self",
      "method": "GET"
    }]
}

In the response from the Authorize or Capture request, the Orders v2 API interacts with the Payment Method Tokens v3 API to save the card. The payment_source.card.attributes.vault stores the card information as the vault.id, which can be used for future payments when the vault.status is VAULTED.

Save approved payment source

If the payment has been authorized or captured, the payer doesn’t need to be present to save a payment_source. To keep checkout times as short as possible, the Orders API responds as soon as payment is captured. If the attributes.vault.status returned after payment is APPROVED, you won’t have a vault.id yet. An example of the attributes object from this scenario is in the following sample:

  "attributes": {
    "vault": {
      "status": "APPROVED",
      "links": [
        {
          "href": "https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/5O190127TN364715T",
          "rel": "up",
          "method": "GET"
        }
      ]
    }
  }

The Payment Method Tokens API still saves the payment source even after the Orders API returns its response and sends a webhook after the payment source is saved. In order to retrieve a vault_id when an APPROVED status is returned, you’ll need to subscribe to the VAULT.PAYMENT-TOKEN.CREATED webhook. The Payment Method Tokens API sends a webhook after the payment source is saved. An example of the VAULT.PAYMENT-TOKEN.CREATED webhook payload is shown in the following sample:

  {
     "id":"WH-1KN88282901968003-82E75604WM969463F",
     "event_version":"1.0",
     "create_time":"2022-08-15T14:13:48.978Z",
     "resource_type":"payment_token",
     "resource_version":"3.0",
     "event_type":"VAULT.PAYMENT-TOKEN.CREATED",
     "summary":"A payment token has been created.",
     "resource":{
        "time_created":"2022-08-15T07:13:48.964PDT",
        "links":[
           {
              "href":"https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v3/vault/payment-tokens/9n6724m",
              "rel":"self",
              "method":"GET",
              "encType":"application/json"
           },
           {
              "href":"https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v3/vault/payment-tokens/9n6724m",
              "rel":"delete",
              "method":"DELETE",
              "encType":"application/json"
           }
        ],
        "id":"nkq2y9g",
        "payment_source":{
           "card":{
              "last_digits":"1111",
              "brand":"VISA",
              "expiry":"2027-02",
              "billing_address":{
                 "address_line_1":"123 Main St.",
                 "address_line_2":"Unit B",
                 "admin_area_2":"Anytown",
                 "admin_area_1":"CA",
                 "postal_code":"12345",
                 "country_code":"US"
              }
           }
        },
        "customer":{
           "id":"695922590"
        }
     },
     "links":[
        {
           "href":"https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/notifications/webhooks-events/WH-1KN88282901968003-82E75604WM969463F",
           "rel":"self",
           "method":"GET"
        },
        {
           "href":"https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/notifications/webhooks-events/WH-1KN88282901968003-82E75604WM969463F/resend",
           "rel":"resend",
           "method":"POST"
        }
     ]
  }

In this example, the resource.id field is the vault ID, and resource.customer.id is the PayPal-generated customer ID. You can now style your card fields and test a purchase.

Payment processor codes

Payment processors return the following codes when they receive a transaction request. For advanced card payments, the code displays in the authorization object under the response_code field. The following sample shows the processor response codes returned in an authorization (avs_code) and capture call (cvv_code) response:

  "processor_response": {
    "avs_code": "Y",
    "cvv_code": "S",
    "response_code": "0000"
  }

See the Orders API response_code object to get the processor response code for the non-PayPal payment processor errors.

6. Pay with saved payment methods

When a payer returns to your site, you can show the payer’s saved payment methods with the Payment Method Tokens API.

List all saved payment methods

Make the server-side list all payment tokens API call to retrieve payment methods saved to a payer’s PayPal-generated customer ID. Based on this list, you can show all saved payment methods to a payer to select during checkout.

Show saved card to payer

Display the saved card to the payer and use the Orders API to make another transaction. Use the vault ID the payer selects as an input to the Orders API. Use supported CSS properties to style the card fields.

7. Test your integration

Test your vault integration in the PayPal sandbox.

Copy the sample request code.
Change 'ACCESS_TOKEN' to your access token.

Save payment method

On the checkout page, enter the card information and select the option to save the card. You can use test card numbers for testing.
Capture the transaction.
Log in to sandbox with your merchant account and verify the transaction.

Pay with a saved payment method

Use the list all payment tokens API to retrieve all the payment methods saved for the payer.
Capture the payment by passing the payer-selected vault ID to the Orders API.
Log in to the sandbox with your merchant account and verify the transaction.

8. Integrate front end

The following sample shows how a full script to save cards might appear in HTML:

<head>
  <!-- Add meta tags for mobile and IE -->
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
</head>
<body>
  <script src="https://www.paypal.com/sdk/js?components=card-fields&client-id=YOUR-CLIENT-ID&currency=USD&intent=capture&merchant-id=YOUR-MERCHANT-ID"></script>
  <div align="center"> or </div>
  <!-- Advanced credit and debit card payments form -->
  <div class='card_container'>
    <div id='card-number'></div>
    <div id='expiration-date'></div>
    <div id='cvv'></div>
    <div id='card-holder-name'></div>
    <label>
<input type='checkbox' id='vault' name='vault' /> Vault
    </label>
    <br /><br />
    <button value='submit' id='submit' class='btn'>Pay</button>
  </div>
  <!-- Implementation -->
  <script>
    // Create the card fields component and define callbacks
    const cardFields = paypal.CardFields({
createOrder: async (data) => {
  const result = await fetch("https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders", {
    method: "POST",
    body: JSON.stringify({
intent: "CAPTURE",
purchase_units: [{
  amount: {
    currency_code: "USD",
    value: "100.00"
  }
}],
payment_source: {
  card: {
    attributes: {
verification: {
  method: "SCA_ALWAYS"
},
vault: {
  store_in_vault: "ON_SUCCESS",
  usage_type: "PLATFORM",
  customer_type: "CONSUMER",
  permit_multiple_payment_tokens: true,
},
    }
  },
  experience_context: {
    shipping_preference: "NO_SHIPPING",
    return_url: "https://example.com/returnUrl",
    cancel_url: "https://example.com/cancelUrl",
  },
},
    }),
    headers: {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Authorization": "Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN",
"PayPal-Request-Id": "UNIQUE_ALPHANUMERIC_KEY"
    },
  })
  const {
    id
  } = await result.json();
  return id;
},
onApprove: async (data) => {
  const {
    orderID
  } = data;
  return fetch('https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v2/checkout/orders/\${orderID}/capture/', {
    method: "POST",
    body: JSON.stringify({
payment_source: {
  attributes: {
    vault: {
store_in_vault: "ON_SUCCESS",
usage_type: "PLATFORM",
customer_type: "CONSUMER",
permit_multiple_payment_tokens: true,
    },
  },
  experience_context: {
    shipping_preference: "NO_SHIPPING",
    return_url: "https://example.com/returnUrl",
    cancel_url: "https://example.com/cancelUrl",
  },
},
    }),
    headers: {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Authorization": "Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN",
"PayPal-Request-Id": "UNIQUE_ALPHANUMERIC_KEY"
    },
  })
  // Retrieve vault details from the response and
  // save vault.id and customer.id for the buyer's return experience
  return await res.json();
},
onError: (error) => console.error('Something went wrong:', error)
    });
    // Render each field after checking for eligibility
    // Check eligibility and display advanced credit and debit card payments
    if (cardFields.isEligible()) {
cardFields.NameField().render("#card-holder-name");
cardFields.NumberField().render("#card-number");
cardFields.ExpiryField().render("#expiration-date");
cardFields.CVVField().render("#cvv");
    } else {
// Handle workflow when credit and debit cards are not available
    }
    const submitButton = document.getElementById("submit");
    submitButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
cardFields
  .submit()
  .then(() => {
    console.log("submit was successful");
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error("submit erred:", error);
  });
    });
  </script>
  </html>

Testing

Use the following card numbers to test transactions in the sandbox:

Test number	Card type
`371449635398431`	American Express
`376680816376961`	American Express
`36259600000004`	Diners Club
`6304000000000000`	Maestro
`5063516945005047`	Maestro
`2223000048400011`	Mastercard
`4005519200000004`	Visa
`4012000033330026`	Visa
`4012000077777777`	Visa
`4012888888881881`	Visa
`4217651111111119`	Visa
`4500600000000061`	Visa
`4772129056533503`	Visa
`4915805038587737`	Visa

Test the following scenarios:

Transaction succeeds and card is saved to the vault. Verify in the merchant dashboard.
Transaction fails and the instrument is not saved with ON_SUCCESS.
3DS success, cancellations, and failures behave as expected

Troubleshooting

Make sure you’ve placed the vault directive under payment_source.card.attributes during order creation.
Verify currency and amount consistency between session context and server payloads.
Add missing break; statements in client switch handling of state.

Next steps

Go live with this integration.
- Complete production onboarding to be eligible to process cards with your live PayPal account.
- Be sure to swap the credentials and API URL from sandbox to production when going live with your integration.
Follow Use payment method token with checkout for subsequent or recurring transactions.
You can get a payment token, list all payment tokens, delete a payment token, and more with the Payment Method Tokens API.
Keep saved cards up-to-date with the real-time account updater.

Payment methods

Save payment methods

Features

Save cards with purchase with the JavaScript SDK

Availability

Prerequisites

How it works

Use cases

1. Set up sandbox to save payment methods

2. Add checkbox for payers to save card

3. Pass checkbox value

4. Create order and save card

Server side

Save payment method for first-time payers

Response

5. Authorize or capture order and save card

Server side

Request

Response

Save approved payment source

Payment processor codes

6. Pay with saved payment methods

List all saved payment methods

Show saved card to payer

7. Test your integration

Save payment method

Pay with a saved payment method

8. Integrate front end

Testing

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Payment methods

Save payment methods

Features

​Availability

​Prerequisites

​How it works

​Use cases

​1. Set up sandbox to save payment methods

​2. Add checkbox for payers to save card

​3. Pass checkbox value

​4. Create order and save card

​Server side

​Save payment method for first-time payers

​Response

​5. Authorize or capture order and save card

​Server side

​Request

​Response

​Save approved payment source

​Payment processor codes

​6. Pay with saved payment methods

​List all saved payment methods

​Show saved card to payer

​7. Test your integration

​Save payment method

​Pay with a saved payment method

​8. Integrate front end

​Testing

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Availability

Prerequisites

How it works

Use cases

1. Set up sandbox to save payment methods

2. Add checkbox for payers to save card

3. Pass checkbox value

4. Create order and save card

Server side

Save payment method for first-time payers

Response

5. Authorize or capture order and save card

Server side

Request

Response

Save approved payment source

Payment processor codes

6. Pay with saved payment methods

List all saved payment methods

Show saved card to payer

7. Test your integration

Save payment method

Pay with a saved payment method

8. Integrate front end

Testing

Troubleshooting

Next steps