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Payments for Licensed Online Pharmacies
Approved pharmacies can add customer-initiated payment-app checkout without storing cards or leaving settlement in an acquirer balance.
Restricted categories require prior written approval from Peer. Production access is subject to merchant, product, and jurisdiction review.
Licensing does not remove card-not-present risk controls
Online pharmacies may face registration, specialist underwriting, rolling reserves, and tighter card-not-present review even when fully licensed.
Peer Pay changes the payment rail only. A patient approves a transfer, proof verifies it, and the pharmacy receives USDC; prescribing, dispensing, identity, and delivery controls continue exactly as required.
What changes with Peer Pay
Peer Pay is checkout software, not a payment processor or merchant account. The patient starts a payment from a supported app, a cryptographic proof verifies the transfer, and USDC settles to a self-custodial wallet controlled by the pharmacy. Peer does not hold the merchant's funds, so this flow has no processor balance, rolling reserve, or payout schedule.
That different settlement path does not change the underlying sale. The merchant still owns product eligibility, licensing, customer checks, fulfillment, refunds, taxes, disclosures, and every rule that applies in the places it serves.
How the payment works
- Create the order. Use a hosted payment link, ecommerce integration, embedded checkout, or Scan to Pay at the counter.
- The patient chooses a supported app. They review the recipient and amount, then approve the payment on their own device.
- Wait for proof. Peer verifies the transfer before the order is marked paid. A screenshot is not payment confirmation.
- Reconcile settlement. USDC reaches the wallet controlled by the pharmacy, and the dashboard keeps the payment tied to the order.
When the fit is strongest
- You want a second payment rail that does not create a processor-held balance.
- Your customers already use supported payment apps and can approve each purchase themselves.
- You can receive USDC in a self-custodial wallet and reconcile it into your own operations.
- You are licensed everywhere you dispense and can link each payment to a valid prescription and patient order.
Before you launch
- Peer Pay does not provide prescribing, pharmacy verification, patient screening, or dispensing authorization.
- Only lawful cash-pay orders backed by valid prescriptions may use the flow.
- Online pharmacy is restricted and requires prior written approval from Peer.
FAQ
Does payment confirmation mean the prescription may be dispensed?
No. Payment status and clinical or dispensing authorization are separate. The pharmacy must complete every required review before fulfillment.
Can an unlicensed online pharmacy use Peer Pay?
No. The service is available only to approved pharmacies licensed in every jurisdiction where they dispense.