EDU-18305 Payments Overview guide Update

docs/guides/Getting-Started/payments-overview.md

@@ -1,42 +1,79 @@
 ---
 title: "Payments"
 slug: "payments-overview"
+excerpt: "Understand how VTEX Payments connects merchants to providers and supports payment provider, anti-fraud, and gift card integrations."
 hidden: false
-createdAt: "2022-04-28t21:34:56.911Z"
-updatedAt: "2024-06-28T00:00:00.444Z"
+createdAt: "2022-04-28T21:34:56.911Z"
+updatedAt: "2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z"
 ---
-> **Help us improve our documentation!** Tell us about your experience with this article by completing [this form](https://forms.gle/fQoELRA1yfKDqmAb8).
+> ℹ️ **Help us improve our documentation!** Tell us about your experience with this article by completing [this form](https://forms.gle/fQoELRA1yfKDqmAb8).
 
-## Understanding VTEX Payments architecture
+VTEX connects merchants to payment providers through a gateway-based architecture. The [VTEX Payment Gateway](https://help.vtex.com/tutorial/what-is-a-payment-gateway--2KH9Wdi7F6swOU4amECSOk) communicates with external providers via connectors built on standardized protocols, supporting credit and debit cards, digital wallets, [Pix](https://help.vtex.com/pt/docs/tutorials/pix-faq), [boleto](https://help.vtex.com/docs/tutorials/registered-ticket-flow), gift cards, customer credit, and other payment methods.
 
-VTEX's payment systems offer extensive resources to support various payment methods, conditions, and integrations. See below some articles that show a little more about the concepts and our payments architecture:
+For the complete payments documentation — including implementation guides, payment methods, tokenization, testing, security, and configuration — see the [Payments category](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-guide).
 
-- [Payments introduction](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-guide)
-- [Payment Provider Protocol](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-payment-provider-protocol)
-- [Payment Methods](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-payment-methods)
-- [Purchase Flows](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-purchase-flows)
+## How VTEX Payments works
 
-## Developing a payment integration at VTEX
+When a customer places an order, the checkout sends the payment request to the VTEX Payment Gateway. The gateway routes the request to the appropriate connector, which communicates with the external provider to authorize, settle, or refund the transaction.
 
-Once you understand how payments are processed on VTEX, you can join our platform by developing integrations as a payment, anti-fraud, or external gift card provider:  
+The key components are:
 
-### Payment provider integration
+- **Payment Gateway:** the VTEX system that processes all payment transactions and routes them to the correct provider.
+- **Connector:** a provider affiliation that bridges the gateway and the external provider. Connectors are built using integration protocols.
+- **Provider:** the external service (PSP, acquirer, anti-fraud, or gift card provider) that processes the transaction.
 
-Payment providers can implement their integrations using our [Payment Provider Protocol](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-payment-provider-protocol). This protocol enables providers to create a payment connector that interacts with our [Gateway](https://help.vtex.com/tutorial/what-is-a-payment-gateway--2KH9Wdi7F6swOU4amECSOk) and contains the endpoints described in our [Payment Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/payment-provider-protocol#overview). Besides developing the connector, providers must also test them and ensure they follow the required security standards before they can be available to the stores.
+There are three [purchase flows](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-purchase-flows) available: **Transparent** (the shopper stays on the VTEX checkout), **Redirect** (the shopper is sent to the provider's page), and **Payment App** (custom payment UX built with VTEX IO).
 
-To learn all the steps necessary to develop and customize your payment integration on our platform, access the following articles:
+## Integration paths
 
+VTEX supports three types of payment-related integrations. Each uses a dedicated protocol that defines the endpoints your connector must implement.
+
+### Payment provider
+
+Payment providers build connectors using the [Payment Provider Protocol (PPP)](https://help.vtex.com/docs/tutorials/payment-provider-protocol). The protocol defines how the provider communicates with the VTEX Gateway for authorization, settlement, refund, and cancellation operations. Providers can build their connector either as an external middleware or using the [Payment Provider Framework](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-payment-provider-framework) on VTEX IO.
+
+After development, connectors must pass a [homologation process](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-payment-provider-homologation) and meet [PCI DSS compliance](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-pci-dss-compliance) requirements (when applicable), or use the [Secure Proxy](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-secure-proxy) as an alternative before going live.
+
+See the following resources to implement and publish your connector:
+
+- [Implementing a Payment Provider](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-implementing-a-payment-provider)
 - [Integrating a new payment provider on VTEX](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/integrating-a-new-payment-provider-on-vtex)
-- [Payments configuration guides](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-configuration-guides)
+- [Payment Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/payment-provider-protocol)
+
+### Anti-fraud provider
+
+Anti-fraud providers integrate risk analysis into the payment flow through the [Anti-fraud Provider Protocol](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/how-the-integration-protocol-between-vtex-and-antifraud-companies-works). This protocol defines endpoints for sending transaction data, receiving risk assessments, and updating analysis status.
 
-### Anti-fraud provider integration
+To get started with your anti-fraud integration:
 
-Anti-fraud solutions are essential to ensure secure payment transactions by carrying out risk analyses. VTEX offers integration capabilities for anti-fraud systems through the [Anti-fraud Provider Protocol](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/how-the-integration-protocol-between-vtex-and-antifraud-companies-works). This protocol is an agreement between VTEX and providers, defining a set of rules that must be implemented during the development of integrations. Each integration must include a set of endpoints defined in our [Anti-fraud Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/antifraud-provider-protocol#overview).
+- [Pre-analysis anti-fraud flow for debit card transactions](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/implementing-a-pre-analysis-antifraud-flow-for-debit-card-transactions)
+- [Anti-fraud Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/antifraud-provider-protocol)
 
-### External gift card provider integration
+### Gift card provider
 
-On VTEX, gift cards are treated as a payment method, and their transactions are processed at Checkout. In addition to [our native solution](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-api), VTEX allows external gift card providers to implement integrations using our Giftcard Provider Protocol. Through this protocol, providers can develop a middleware containing the endpoints described in our [Giftcard Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-provider-protocol#overview) and connect with our [Giftcard Hub](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-hub-api#overview). You can check more details about gift cards in the articles below:
+On VTEX, gift cards are a payment method processed at Checkout. External providers can integrate their gift card services using the Giftcard Provider Protocol and connect with the [Giftcard Hub](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-hub-api), which aggregates multiple providers. VTEX also provides a [native gift card system](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-api).
 
-- [Gift card introduction](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/gift-card-integration-guide)
-- [Gift card system architecture](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/gift-card-integration-guide-system-architecture)
+Related articles:
+
+- [Gift Card integration guide](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/gift-card-integration-guide)
 - [Managing VTEX gift cards](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/managing-vtex-gift-cards)
+- [Giftcard Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-provider-protocol)
+
+## Key APIs
+
+Use these APIs to manage payment transactions, connectors, and related services:
+
+| API | Description |
+| --- | --- |
+| [Payment Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/payment-provider-protocol) | Endpoints for payment connectors (authorization, settlement, refund, cancellation). |
+| [Anti-fraud Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/antifraud-provider-protocol) | Endpoints for anti-fraud provider integration. |
+| [Payments Gateway API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/payments-gateway-api) | Endpoints for managing transactions, payment rules, and gateway affiliations. |
+| [GiftCard API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-api) | Endpoints for managing native VTEX gift cards. |
+| [GiftCard Hub API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-hub-api) | Endpoints for aggregating multiple gift card providers. |
+| [Giftcard Provider Protocol API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/giftcard-provider-protocol) | Endpoints for external gift card provider integration. |
+| [Customer Credit API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/customer-credit-api) | Endpoints for managing customer credit accounts and invoices. |
+| [Card Token Vault API](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/api-reference/card-token-vault-api) | Endpoints for card tokenization and vault operations. |
+
+## Next steps
+
+- [Payments category](https://developers.vtex.com/docs/guides/payments-integration-guide) — complete documentation covering implementation, payment methods, tokenization, testing, security, and operations.