Zoho CRM Integration¶

Accept credit card payments directly inside Zoho CRM through Blackstone. The Blackstone Online Gateway extension adds a payment panel to your Deals, Contacts, and Invoices, so your team can charge a card, send a payment link, and issue refunds without ever leaving a record - and every transaction is saved back to the record automatically.

How it works¶

flowchart LR
  A["Open a record<br/>in Zoho CRM"] --> B["Blackstone widget<br/>Charge / Link"]
  B --> C["Blackstone charges<br/>the card"]
  C --> D["Result returned<br/>to the widget"]
  D --> E["Payment saved as<br/>a Note on the record"]

1. You open a Deal, Contact, or Invoice and the Blackstone Payments widget appears.
2. You charge a card, or generate a payment link for the customer.
3. Blackstone charges the card and returns an authorization.
4. The payment is recorded as a Note on the record, building a per-record history.

Before you begin¶

Install from the Zoho Marketplace¶

1. Find the extension¶

Search for Blackstone Online Gateway in the Zoho Marketplace and click Install. Choose whether to install for all users or for specific profiles and roles.

2. Grant permissions¶

The extension needs to read Deals, Contacts, and Invoices, and to create and read Notes - this lets it pre-fill amounts and save your payment history. After installing, the payment widget appears automatically in the right-hand panel of the supported records.

Configure your credentials¶

Credentials are entered once by an administrator and stored securely inside your Zoho organisation. Regular users never see or type them.

1. Open the settings¶

Go to Setup → Marketplace → Installed Extensions → Blackstone Online Gateway → Settings.

2. Enter your details and test¶

Fill in AppKey, AppType (default 1), Merchant ID (MID), Cashier ID (CID), Username, and Password. Tick Sandbox / Test Mode while testing, click Test Connection to verify, then Save Configuration.

Where the widget appears¶

The Blackstone Payments panel shows up on the right-hand side of these records and fills in details for you automatically:

The widget has up to four tabs: Charge, Payment Link, History, and (for admins) Config.

Charge a card¶

1. Open a record and check the amount¶

Open any Deal, Contact, or Invoice. On the Charge tab the amount is pre-loaded from the record - adjust it if needed.

2. Enter the card and charge¶

Type the card number, expiration, CVV, and name on card. Optionally add the billing address and tax, then click Charge Now. Approved payments show an authorization number and reference; declined payments show the reason.

Send a payment link¶

Use a payment link when you want the customer to pay themselves on a secure Blackstone page - no card details are entered in the CRM.

1. Generate the link¶

Open the Payment Link tab, enter the amount and description, and choose Fixed (a set amount) or Open (the customer chooses). Click Generate Payment Link.

2. Share it¶

Copy the link and send it to your customer by email or message. They complete payment on Blackstone's secure hosted page, including any 3-D Secure step, which is handled automatically.

Review the payment history¶

The History tab shows every payment made on that specific record. Open the tab and click Search to see each transaction with its date, authorization/reference, amount, card, and status.

Refunds¶

Full and partial refunds are supported. In the History tab, click Refund on an approved row and confirm. On success the row status changes to REFUNDED and the record's Note is updated automatically.

3-D Secure & saved cards¶

3-D Secure adds a bank verification step (such as an SMS code or a banking-app approval) before a payment goes through, reducing fraud and chargebacks. If your Blackstone account has it enabled, the customer may see a quick challenge during checkout - on payment links this is fully automatic.

For repeat customers you can securely save a card for future payments. The full card number is never stored; only a secure token that represents the card is kept, so next time you can pick the saved card and charge with one click.

Going live¶

Troubleshooting¶