# Overview

Merchants can use the Omnichannel API to request and accept payments from
customers through Google Pay by requesting a single identifier (like a phone number)
in their purchase flow. This API provides a server-side interface for merchants
to initiate a payment call to Google and complete the payment process for a
purchase, making it compatible with various platforms.

Requesting and accepting payments from your customers using the Omnichannel API
generally involves the following steps:

- Merchants pre-populate the user's phone numbers (or ask for input) on their app or website.
- Once the user confirms the populated information, the merchant makes a server call to request payment
- The Google Pay app directs the user to complete the payment.
- The merchant verifies the payment status with their PSP before proceeding to
  confirm the purchase. The merchant can also poll on the transaction status from
  Google to confirm the status.

  ![Omnichannel API payment flow](https://developers.google.com/static/pay/india/api/images/omnichannel-payflow.png)