Install and set up

Complete these core setup steps one time, then integrate the payment methods you need.

Prerequisites

You'll need the following before integrating the SDK:

• A PayPal developer account, a client ID, and your merchant ID from the PayPal Developer Dashboard.
• A server-side integration that can create and capture orders with the Orders v2 API. For vault flows, your server must create setup tokens and payment tokens with the Payment Method Tokens v3 API.
• App Links configured for your return URL before testing HTTPS with domain verification.
• Android Studio targeting Android SDK 23+.

1. Add the SDK

The SDK ships as per-feature modules. Add only what you use. Every feature module includes CorePayments transitively. Add fraud-protection, which provides device data used to reduce declines, plus the module for each payment method you integrate.

Replace X.Y.Z with the current v3 release:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.paypal.android:fraud-protection:X.Y.Z'      // device data (risk signals)

    // Add the module(s) for the method(s) you integrate:
    implementation 'com.paypal.android:paypal-payments:X.Y.Z'       // PayPal Checkout + Vault
    implementation 'com.paypal.android:payment-buttons:X.Y.Z'       // PayPal buttons
    // implementation 'com.paypal.android:card-payments:X.Y.Z'     // Card (ACDC)
}

2. Initialize CoreConfig

You build every client (PayPalClient, CardClient) from a single CoreConfig. No network calls occur at initialization.

Replace <YOUR_CLIENT_ID> and <YOUR_MERCHANT_ID> with your actual values:

val config = CoreConfig(
    clientId       = "<YOUR_CLIENT_ID>",
    merchantId     = "<YOUR_MERCHANT_ID>",       // Required: encrypted merchant account ID, no default
    coreEnvironment = CoreEnvironment.SANDBOX,   // CoreEnvironment.LIVE for production
    bnCode         = null                        // Partner integrations only
)

Reuse this config across every method client. Switch CoreEnvironment.SANDBOX to CoreEnvironment.LIVE for production.

3. Register your return links

PayPal checkout sends the buyer to the PayPal app, or an in-app browser, and back to your app through an Android App Link. Register the App Link on the activity that handles the return. A single intent filter can handle both the return and cancel URLs when they share the same domain and path prefix:

<activity android:name=".CheckoutActivity" android:exported="true" android:launchMode="singleTop">
    <intent-filter android:autoVerify="true">
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
        <data android:scheme="https" android:host="example.com" android:pathPrefix="/merchant-app" />
    </intent-filter>
</activity>

App Switch also supports a custom URL scheme if the App Link fails. The SDK requires either returnAppUrl or fallbackSchemeUrl. Register both to ensure the buyer can return to your app.

Register the fallback scheme separately:

<intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
    <data android:scheme="merchantapp" />
</intent-filter>

Define the matching URL config one time to pass to each method's session or checkout call:

val urlConfig = ReturnToAppUrlConfig(
    returnAppUrl      = "https://example.com/merchant-app/return",
    cancelAppUrl      = "https://example.com/merchant-app/cancel",
    fallbackSchemeUrl = "merchantapp://return"   // Recommended: at least one of returnAppUrl / fallbackSchemeUrl must be non-blank
)

Verification checklist

Before testing, confirm that you configured your App Links correctly so PayPal can return the buyer to your app:

• you set the android:autoVerify="true" attribute
• your domain serves a valid /.well-known/assetlinks.json with your app's SHA-256 fingerprint
• the buyer has Open supported links enabled. If Android cannot verify the App Link, Android opens the return in a browser and checkout still completes through the in-browser path.

Next steps

Integrate a payment method:

• PayPal Checkout: one-time checkout, save payment methods with or without purchase, Pay Later, and PayPal Credit.
• Card (ACDC): card payments and saving cards.