# Payment model {#en_platform_payment_model_overview}

An article about the general model of initiating and processing payments via the platform.

The Ecommpay payment platform is used for processing *payments*. A payment in the payment platform is a set of tasks to transfer funds between the merchant and their customer.It can be a transfer of funds from the customer to the merchant \(*purchase*\), or from the merchant to the customer \(*payout*\). Refunds are processed within the purchase and, therefore, are not considered a separate payment type. However, payments also include *payment instrument verification* that can involve transferring a zero amountor placing a hold on the customer account for a specified amount and subsequent cancellation of this holding.

There are several ways to initialise a payment. You can send an *HTTP request* by using the Gate API or the Payment Page APIor perform certain actions in the Dashboard interface. Besides, payments can be initiated with the use of other tools for working with the payment platform.

If a request to perform a payment is successfully accepted for processing, in the payment platform the `payment` object and the first \(or the only one\) `operation` object associated with this payment are created.

![](images/payment%20model/en_gate_payment_model_1.svg)



When the payment takes more that one operation, normally the merchant needs to send the request for initiating each subsequent operation. However, in some cases, the payment platform automatically initiates the subsequent operation, for example, automatic debit operations performed as part of a COF purchase.

General information about processing payments via the Ecommpay payment platform is provided in the [Payment processing](en_platform_payment_model.md) section, while technical information is provided in the sections with information about the platform's interfaces.

**Parent topic:**[Payment processing](en_platform_payment_model.md)