Linking mechanism

The Linking Mechanism allows our system to connect multiple corresponding payments, providing a clear audit trail for funds. Links are represented as a single object or an array, depending on whether the link type can reference one or multiple related entities. For example, a Gateway Payment is automatically linked back to the original Incoming Accounts Payment, a Reversal is linked to the transaction it corrects, and a refunded transaction is linked to an array of transactions that refunds it. This mechanism is essential for accurate reporting and reconciliation, as it allows your system to easily track the lifecycle of funds.

Transaction links are represented using HTTPS route–style identifiers, making them easy to reference, traverse, and resolve via the API.

Self links exist for every transaction, providing a reference to the transaction itself. Other links are present only when a transaction has an actual connection to another transaction(s), such as a reversal or a gateway payment.

This mechanism is essential for accurate reporting and reconciliation, as it allows your system to easily track the full lifecycle of funds.

Link Type	Description
self	Links the transaction to itself.
reversal	Links a transaction to its reversal.
refundedBy	Links a transaction to its refunds.
refundOf	Links a refund to its source transaction.
gatewayPayment	Links a transaction to the payment gateway.
correspondingInternal	Links transaction to its corresponding internal transaction.
accountHolderVerification	Links a transaction to an account holder verification process.

Example for internal transaction:

"_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://accounts.sandbox.volt.io/transactions/ba637b22-1077-4c39-9e48-2d20cd0c5b20",
      "method": "GET"
    },
    "correspondingInternal": {
      "href": "https://accounts.sandbox.volt.io/transactions/2b8e068f-b82e-49f0-8073-70f3c37434a3",
      "method": "GET"
    }
  }

Example for transaction refunded by two partial refunds:

"_links": {
    "self": {
      "href": "https://accounts.sandbox.volt.io/transactions/ba637b22-1077-4c39-9e48-2d20cd0c5b20",
      "method": "GET"
    },
    "refundedBy": [
      {
        "href": "https://accounts.sandbox.volt.io/transactions/2b8e068f-b82e-49f0-8073-70f3c37434a3",
        "method": "GET"
      },
      {
        "href": "https://accounts.sandbox.volt.io/transactions/129af519-a903-4350-99b0-6c8834043487",
        "method": "GET"
      }
    ]
  }