How to accept payments for a Telegram subscription: business, WayForPay, and your own shop

Why accepting payments is a separate stage

Creating a workspace, linking a channel, and adding a plan takes minutes right inside Telegram. But for money to actually arrive you need two things outside the app: a registered business and your own merchant shop with a payment provider. That's a multi-day process — so you can launch your page today and connect payments in parallel.

Step 1. Register a business

No acquirer will approve you without a registered business. In Ukraine that's usually a ФОП (sole proprietor on the simplified system). Pick activity codes that match what you do (information services, online retail, and so on) and open a business bank account.

This is the longest step — budget a few days for it. The rest can be set up in a single evening.

Step 2. Choose a payment provider

When you register a shop, any provider asks for a website — the address where payment happens. In our case that's your page on the platform (your products storefront), which is already live on the web at its own link. There's no separate site to build.

• WayForPay — supported today, popular with Ukrainian sole proprietors
• Other regional providers — in development
• All of them need a website (your platform page) and your business documents

Step 3. Create the shop and add your keys

In the provider's dashboard, create a separate shop specifically for the platform. In its settings, give the address of your page (not some other website). Once approved, copy the merchant keys (Merchant account and Secret key) and paste them under "Payment providers" in your workspace.

Important: if you already have a ready-made payment button from the provider, it won't work here. The platform has to initiate payments itself, control the trial period and recurring charges, so it needs the merchant keys — not a static button.

Step 4. Turn on recurring payments

Automatic charges each billing period are a separate option at the provider. Email your provider's support and ask them to enable recurring payments for your shop. Without it subscribers can still pay, but every period — manually.

What if you need to refund

Refunds are handled by your provider — the money usually reaches the buyer's card in 3-5 business days. The platform admin shows every payment and its status, so you always know exactly what to refund.

Set it up once, and the platform then invoices, renews subscriptions, and sends payment reminders on its own.