One Unified Payment Gateway API for Every Gateway You Connect
NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, and PayPal each have their own API, their own field names, and their own error codes. Midcove replaces all four with one unified payment gateway API — the same request and response shape no matter which gateway your merchant account is boarded with. Integrate once, and it just works.
Integrate once, regardless of gateway
A merchant's MID might sit on NMI today and Stripe next year. Instead of writing and maintaining four separate integrations, your team builds against Midcove's REST payments API once and lets us handle the routing underneath. The endpoint, the payload, and the response never change — only the gateway behind them does.
Everything is documented with full request and response examples in the Midcove API docs, and the payment API for developers page walks through authentication, environments, and webhooks end to end.
- Integrate once regardless of which of the four gateways your MID is boarded with.
- Every sale, void, refund, and lookup call follows one consistent request and response shape.
- Switch or add a gateway later without touching your integration code.
- Webhooks fire in the same payload format across every gateway, so one handler covers them all.
POST /v1/transactions/sale
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_51Nx...
{
"mid": "mid_8k2p91",
"amount": 4200,
"currency": "USD",
"card": {
"number": "4111111111111111",
"exp_month": "09",
"exp_year": "2027",
"cvv": "123"
},
"order_id": "ORD-10493"
}One unified payment gateway API for the whole transaction lifecycle
The same gateway-agnostic integration handles the money moving in, the money going back, and everything you need to know in between.
Sales & authorizations
Charge a card against any boarded MID with one endpoint. AVS and CVV checks run on every request, and results come back in one normalized response format.
Virtual terminal processingVoids & refunds
Void a pending sale or refund a settled one with the same call shape on every gateway. The action always routes back through the MID that took the original payment.
Refund management softwareTransaction lookups
Query any transaction by ID, order reference, or MID and get its full status history — the same record your team sees in the dashboard.
Transaction management dashboardTokenized card data
Card numbers are tokenized and encrypted in transit and at rest, in a platform built to align with PCI DSS requirements — the same posture on every gateway.
Security & PCI alignmentWebhooks in one format
Status changes, refunds, and disputes arrive as webhook events with one payload structure, no matter which gateway processed the underlying transaction.
Payment API for developersReporting & exports
Pull transaction data across every connected MID for your own reporting pipeline, or lean on Midcove's built-in reports and exports instead.
Payment reporting softwareFrom your app to any gateway in three steps
You call one endpoint; Midcove does the translation. That's the whole idea.
Call the Midcove API
Send a sale, void, refund, or lookup request to one REST endpoint, referencing the MID you want to charge against. Authentication is a standard bearer key.
Midcove routes it
We match the MID to its boarded gateway — NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, or PayPal — translate the request into that gateway's native format, and send it on.
Get one response back
The result returns in the same normalized shape every time, and a webhook follows if the status changes later. Your code never sees gateway-specific quirks.
One integration, any mix of the four gateways
Because the integration is gateway-agnostic, the same code that charges a Stripe-boarded MID today charges an NMI-boarded MID tomorrow. Merchants running several accounts pair the API with multi-gateway payment processing to reach every connected MID from a single build — one API, multiple gateways, zero rewrites.
To be precise about what that means: Midcove routes each request to the MID you name in the call. It's a payment orchestration API in the integration sense — one surface over four gateways — not a smart-routing engine. There's no automatic failover or least-cost routing; you always decide which account takes the sale.
- Point a request at any boarded MID by changing one field, not your codebase.
- Migrate gateways without a code cliff — old and new MIDs run through the same integration.
- Role-based access decides which team members and keys can act on which accounts.
- Every API transaction lands in the same dashboard your operations team already uses.
Why not integrate each gateway directly?
You can — plenty of teams have. The cost shows up later: four SDK upgrade cycles, four sets of error codes to map, four webhook formats to parse, and a rewrite every time a MID moves. A change as small as a new required field on one gateway becomes a sprint.
With a unified API, that maintenance burden sits on Midcove's side of the line. When a gateway changes its interface, we absorb it; your request and response shapes stay put.
A drop-in plugin when you don't want to write code
Not every business has an engineering team, and not every checkout needs a custom build. Midcove ships a drop-in plugin for standard checkout pages that uses the same unified layer underneath — you get the one-integration benefit without writing a single API call.
Many merchants use both: the plugin for the storefront, the REST API for billing systems, back-office tools, or anything custom. Either way, you're connecting the merchant account you already have through our payment gateway integrations — no new MID, no re-underwriting, and most merchants go live the same day.
API access is included on every plan, starting with Starter at $49/month for a single boarded MID. See the full breakdown on the pricing page.
Decision-maker's summary
- One integration project instead of four — less build time, less ongoing maintenance.
- No gateway lock-in at the code level: switch or add gateways without a rebuild.
- Drop-in plugin option means launch doesn't wait on developer availability.
- You keep your existing MID and processor relationships throughout.
Unified API Questions, Answered
Do I need a different integration for each gateway?
No. Midcove's unified API gives you one payment gateway API to integrate against. It works the same whether the MID behind it is boarded with NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, or PayPal.
Which gateways does the unified payment gateway API support?
Exactly four: NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, and PayPal. You can connect one merchant account or several, in any mix of the four, and reach all of them through the same integration.
What happens if I switch or add a gateway later?
Your integration code doesn't change. Because every request and response follows the same shape, adding or switching a boarded MID to a different gateway doesn't require rewriting your sale, void, or refund calls.
Is the unified API a wrapper around each gateway's own API?
Yes. Midcove sits between your application and the gateway. You call Midcove's API once, and Midcove routes the request to the correct boarded MID and gateway behind the scenes, translating to and from each gateway's native format.
Is it a REST API?
Yes. The unified API is a REST API with JSON requests and responses and bearer-key authentication. Full endpoint references and request examples are in the Midcove API docs.
Do webhooks work the same way across gateways?
Yes. Webhook events use the same payload structure regardless of which gateway processed the underlying transaction, so your webhook handler doesn't need gateway-specific logic.
Does the unified API automatically route transactions between gateways?
No. Every request names the MID it should charge against, and Midcove sends it to that account's gateway. There is no smart routing, least-cost routing, or automatic failover — you always control which account takes each sale.
I'm not a developer. Can I still use Midcove?
Yes. Midcove includes a drop-in plugin for standard checkout pages that requires no custom code. The REST API is there for teams that want to build billing systems, back-office tools, or a custom checkout on top of it.
How is card data handled through the API?
Card data is tokenized and encrypted in transit and at rest, and the platform is built to align with PCI DSS requirements. AVS and CVV checks run on card transactions, and role-based access controls who can use which keys and accounts.
Do I need a new merchant account to get API access?
No. You connect the merchant account you already have with NMI, Authorize.Net, Stripe, or PayPal — no new MID and no re-underwriting. API access is included on every plan, and most merchants go live the same day.
Build on one API, not four
See full request examples and get API access for the merchant account you already have.