The Rise of Online Payments: Why PaymentSheet is the Way to Go
In today’s digital age, online payments have become the norm. With the pandemic accelerating the shift towards contactless transactions, mobile apps have had to adapt quickly to meet the demand. Many developers are turning to Stripe to integrate online payments into their React Native Android and iOS projects. But with two options to choose from – PaymentSheet and Elements – which one should you opt for?
The Case for PaymentSheet
PaymentSheet is a pre-built checkout panel that allows users to enter their card details and proceed with payment seamlessly. In contrast, Elements requires more configuration and control from the developer. Here are just a few reasons why PaymentSheet stands out:
- Less Configuration: With PaymentSheet, Stripe has already taken care of most of the configuration for you. This means you don’t have to worry about managing different card configurations for various countries.
- Error Handling: PaymentSheet takes care of error handling, alerting users to any issues with their payment method. This reduces the burden on developers and ensures a smoother user experience.
- Data Privacy: PaymentSheet ensures that you don’t need to store any sensitive data on your servers, protecting you from accidentally breaching data privacy laws.
Building a Donation App with Expo and React Native
Now that we’ve made the case for PaymentSheet, let’s put it into practice. We’ll build a donation app using Expo and React Native, with PaymentSheet handling the payment processing.
Setting Up the Project
To get started, you’ll need Node installed on your machine, a code editor (such as Visual Studio Code), a Stripe account, and the Stripe CLI installed. You’ll also need a working knowledge of Node and React Native.
Creating a Node.js Server
First, we’ll create a Node server to handle Stripe operations. We’ll use Express to create a REST API and the cors package to enable communication between our server and client. We’ll also install the stripe package to interact with Stripe services.
Initializing an Express Server and Handling Stripe Operations
Next, we’ll create a basic server boilerplate and initialize an Express app. We’ll then create a POST route to handle donations and create a PaymentIntent.
Creating a Webhook
To test Stripe webhooks locally, we’ll use the Stripe extension in Visual Studio Code. We’ll create a route to handle Stripe webhook requests and verify the signature to ensure the request is from Stripe.
Creating the App with Expo and React Native
Now that our server is set up, we can move on to our Expo and React Native app. We’ll create a new folder for our app and install the Stripe package for Expo.
Configuring Stripe in React Native
We’ll create a new component called Checkout.js and import the StripeProvider. We’ll then create a basic layout and map the states with the text boxes.
Handling the Donate Function
Finally, we’ll handle the donate function by converting the values to integers, checking for errors, and initializing the PaymentSheet using the initPaymentSheet() function.
What’s Next?
Congratulations! You’ve successfully integrated PaymentSheet into your Expo app. Now it’s time to play around and explore the possibilities. Try using Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside PaymentSheet, or experiment with different payment scenarios. With LogRocket, you can instantly recreate issues in your React Native apps and prioritize bugs to ensure a seamless user experience.