# Railbed, in plain language

> A short reference for the words you will see in checkout, the dashboard and your payment records.

Source: https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/glossary/ · Updated: 2026-09-26 · Railbed by DeepWork user guide

## Payment and checkout terms

| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Payment link | A request for one payment with a set amount; useful for an invoice or deposit |
| Checkout page | A reusable product page; every buyer creates a separate payment |
| Pricing table | A reusable checkout with several plans and optional two-way price choices |
| Payment widget | A compact checkout placed inside your own website |
| Buy button | A website button that opens a Railbed checkout in an overlay |
| Tracking link | A shareable, status-only view of a payment request |
| Reference | Your own invoice or order label, attached to a payment |
| Payment ID | Railbed's identifier for one payment, beginning with pay_ |
| Order | The purchase record containing items, totals, customer and one or more payment attempts; see [Orders](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/orders.md) |
| Customer | The purchase history associated with one email address in one mode; see [Customers](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/customers.md) |
| Payment attempt | One try at paying an order; a retry can belong to the same order |
| Success URL | The thank-you destination opened from checkout after payment confirmation |
| Smart Routing | The checks and preferences that choose eligible card providers for a buyer |
| Provider | The licensed service whose page takes the buyer's card details and payment |

## Wallet and money terms

| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| USDC | The dollar-denominated stablecoin used for merchant settlement |
| Polygon | The blockchain network used for that settlement |
| Self-custody wallet | A wallet whose private keys you control |
| Payout wallet | Your saved public Polygon address for receiving settlement |
| Deposit address | A payment-specific intermediate address; it is not the wallet setting you should change |
| Settlement | The funds transfer associated with a confirmed payment |
| Net receipt | The reported amount that reached your wallet after applicable fees |
| Held payment | A payment marked Being reviewed because confirmation checks need attention |
| Accept as paid | Your explicit decision to accept an eligible held payment with the amount that arrived |

## Integration terms

| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Test mode | A separate environment of simulated payments; no card is charged |
| Live mode | The mode for real card payments |
| API key | A private credential that lets your server or plugin access Railbed in a specific mode |
| Webhook | A signed notification from Railbed to a server when a payment event happens |
| Signing secret | A private value your receiver uses to verify a webhook |
| Fulfilment | Your delivery record, separate from payment status; see [Orders and fulfilment](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/orders.md#payment-and-fulfilment-are-separate) |
| Idempotency | Retrying the same operation without accidentally creating the same order's payment twice |

For the meaning of a specific status and what to do next, see [Payments and statuses](https://railbed.io/docs/user-guide/payments.md#understand-each-status). For API fields and event payloads, use the [developer reference](https://railbed.io/docs/api.md).