Approvals
Approve or reject payments via API and dashboard.
How approvals work
Atlar takes a security-first approach to payments. When a credit transfer or direct debit is created:
- 1.If no approval chains are configured, the organization owner must approve the payment.
- 2.If approval chains exist but the payment does not match any chain's conditions, the owner must also approve.
- 3.Approval chains can be configured for auto-approval (straight-through processing) for certain conditions.
Payment lifecycle
Rejected payments get status REJECTED. Returned payments get status RETURNED.
403 when approving? That's expected with default settings
By default, only the organization owner (a human user) can approve payments. Programmatic access users do not have the owner role, so calling the approve endpoint will return a 403 with "required approver roles didn't match user role".
To approve via the API, either configure an approval chain (see below) that allows your programmatic user's role to approve, or approve manually from the Dashboard → Approvals. Rejecting a payment does not require the approver role.
Approve a payment via API
/payments/v2/credit-transfers/{id}:approveApprove a pending credit transfer. The approving user must have the required role on the approval step.
curl -X POST 'https://api.atlar.com/payments/v2/credit-transfers/{{paymentId}}:approve' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{ "approvalStepId": "{{approvalStepId}}" }'Reject a payment
/payments/v2/credit-transfers/{id}:rejectReject a pending credit transfer.
curl -X POST 'https://api.atlar.com/payments/v2/credit-transfers/{{paymentId}}:reject' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{ "approvalStepId": "{{approvalStepId}}" }'Dashboard: Approvals
The Approvals page shows all payments pending your approval. Click 'Approve' or 'Reject' directly from the list or detail view.
Configuring approval chains
Approval chains let you define rules for when payments need approval and who can approve them. Common patterns:
- ●Auto-approve payments below a certain amount threshold
- ●Require dual approval for payments above EUR 10,000
- ●Require specific role-based approval for certain currencies or accounts
Dashboard: Approval Chains
Configure approval chains under Settings > Approval Chains. Define conditions (amount, currency, account) and approval steps.
Default: manual approval required
Auto-approval is an opt-in feature. Atlar defaults to requiring manual approval by the organization owner for every payment. This security-first approach ensures no funds leave without explicit authorization.