From first sign-in to first live payment
Onboarding typically takes a few weeks from account provisioning to going live. The steps below are what you'll work through during that time — some in your first session, some as you build out your user base and test your integrations.
- 1
Sign in to the portal
Your administrator login is at accounts.paytia.com. On first sign-in you'll be prompted to set your own password — the temporary one provided at handover is for that first access only. There are two account types: administrators who manage the service, and payment users who process transactions through Agent Capture Assist.
- 2
Connect your payment gateway
Head to the payment gateway section in the admin portal. This is where you add your gateway credentials and configure how Paytia routes authorisation requests through to your payment service provider. Your account starts in test mode — no real money moves until you switch it live.
- 3
Review your feature settings
Under Settings > Feature settings you'll find the main toggles for your account — whether Payment Keyphone is active, whether card expiry is stored, and whether the cardholder name comes back on the webhook after each transaction. Your onboarding team will have agreed the right combination for your setup and can confirm anything you're unsure about.
- 4
Configure your payment screen fields
The Configure user screen lets you control which fields appear on the secure payment form, which are required, and which are sent through to your payment service provider. If address verification (AVS) is enabled for your account, you'll also set up the billing address fields on the Customer / AVS Detail tab.
- 5
Set up your telephony
Under Configure telephony you decide how caller IDs are presented on secure payment calls, which voice assistant your customers hear during the payment flow, and how CLI and DDI numbers are forwarded to your phone system. These settings will match the call-routing design you agreed during onboarding.
- 6
Add payment users
Before anyone can take payments, they need a user account. Go to the Add payment users section to create accounts for the agents or staff who'll use Agent Capture Assist. If you want to give colleagues administrative access to the portal, create role templates first under Administrative user roles, then assign users to them.
- 7
Add your trusted telephone numbers
The Trusted telephone numbers list tells Paytia which numbers your agents call from, or which lines inbound calls are routed through. Add these before you go live so the system can recognise and handle calls correctly.
- 8
Test end to end in test mode
With test mode active, you can run complete transactions using a test card — no real money moves. Run a few payments from end to end, check that data comes back correctly to your systems, and make sure your team are comfortable with the flow. If anything isn't right, raise it with our support team before you go live.
- 9
Switch to live
Once you're happy that everything works correctly in test mode, switch your account to live from within the portal. From that point, real payments are processed through your connected gateway.
Two types of user — and why it matters
Paytia has two distinct account types. Getting this right from the start keeps your permissions clean and makes it easier to manage access as your team grows.
Administrator
The main account admin and any sub-administrators you set up to help manage the service. Administrators sign in to the portal to configure settings, add users, manage trusted numbers, and review activity.
Payment user
Any agent or member of staff who needs to take payments through Agent Capture Assist. Payment users sign in to process transactions — they don't have access to the configuration screens.
The five sections you'll use most
Once you're signed in at accounts.paytia.com, these are the admin portal sections you'll work through during setup.
Payment gateway configuration
Add or amend your payment gateway credentials. This is also where you switch test mode on and off — so you'll come back here when you're ready to go live.
Add payment users
Create the user accounts for anyone who'll process transactions in Agent Capture Assist.
Trusted telephone numbers
Add the numbers your agents call from or that inbound calls are routed through. Paytia uses this list to handle calls correctly.
Administrative user roles
Create role templates that define what sub-administrators can see and do in the portal.
Sub-administrator users
Add sub-admins and assign them to the roles you've created.
Feature settings — what each toggle does
Under Settings › Feature settings you'll find the controls that govern how payments are taken and what data comes back to your systems. Your onboarding team will have agreed the right combination for your setup — but here's what each one means in practice.
Payment Keyphone
When this is on, customers can enter their payment details using their telephone keypad. If your service uses Agent Capture Assist or a Paytia API integration instead, this is typically switched off so payment entry stays on your chosen channel and can't be triggered accidentally through the keypad route.
Card expiry storage
When enabled, Paytia stores the card's expiry date alongside each transaction. This is useful if you need expiry information for follow-on or scheduled payments, or for reconciliation downstream.
Cardholder name on webhook
When this is on, the cardholder name captured on the payment screen is included in the webhook sent back to your systems after each transaction. That means your CRM or back office can automatically match and store the name against the payment record.
Telephony settings
The Configure telephony section covers the call side of your payment flows. There are three things to set here.
Caller presentation
Controls the number shown on inbound and outbound secure payment calls — either the caller's own number or a Paytia number, depending on your agreed call-flow design.
Voice assistant
The language and voice your customers hear when they're guided through the payment. We support multiple languages and voice styles — your onboarding team will have confirmed the right one for your customers during setup.
SIP call settings
Determines how CLI and DDI numbers are passed to your phone system on inbound and outbound calls, and whether they're formatted as national or international numbers. This keeps your phone system seeing the correct calling and dialled numbers throughout.
Test mode — what it is and how to use it
Your account starts in test mode. This means you can run complete end-to-end transactions with a test card — no real money moves and nothing goes through your live gateway. Test mode is there so you can confirm the whole flow works correctly before you're accepting real payments.
Use any future expiry date and any three-digit security code with your test card. Run several transactions and check that data comes back correctly to your systems. Make sure your agents or team members are comfortable with the payment flow before you switch.
When everything looks right, you switch the account from test to live from within the portal — in the payment gateway configuration section. From that point, real payments will be processed.
Where to get help
The Paytia knowledge base at paytia.com/help covers how the service works, with screenshots and training material for the main features. It's a good first stop if you're unsure how something is configured or want to understand what a setting does.
For anything that needs the team — a configuration question, help with user setup, or something not behaving as expected during testing — email us at techsupport@paytia.com. We can also walk you through any part of the setup on a call if that's easier.
Related Glossary Terms
Questions about getting set up?
Our team can walk you through configuration, user setup and your first live payment. Get in touch and we'll help.
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