Payhawk Labs is a program designed to give customers early access to Beta features, enabling them to test, provide feedback, and support the Product team in improving usability and validating ideas before a wider release to all Payhawk users.
What is Payhawk Labs?
The Payhawk Labs app within the Payhawk web portal is where Payhawk administrators can do the following:
Explore Beta features.
Enable and test new features early.
Provide feedback to influence product development. Help articles for Beta features are available only in English.
Access help articles directly from the Payhawk portal.
Create a Sandbox account, so you can test and explore features in a non-live and safe production environment.
All Beta features in Payhawk Labs are free during their Beta phase. Before they enter their general availability (GA) phase, Payhawk administrators will receive a notification and a grace period of up to 4 weeks to upgrade their plan if needed.
When a Beta feature is released, Beta participants will receive an email with details on improvements, and the feature will become available to all eligible users.
What are Open and Closed Beta features?
Beta features in Payhawk Labs are categorized as either Open Beta or Closed Beta.
Open Beta features can be enabled at any time.
Closed Beta features require a request for access, as availability may be limited or restricted to a selected number of users.
For more details, refer to the article on enabling and managing Open and Closed Beta features.
What is a Sandbox account?
A Sandbox account is a testing environment which allows you to safely experiment with Beta features and understand how they work before enabling them in your live production accounts. You can add any number of eligible Beta features to your Sandbox account.
Each Payhawk account is eligible for creating a single Sandbox from Payhawk Labs.
If the Payhawk account belongs to a group, only Group Payhawk administrators can create a Sandbox for the group.
If the Payhawk account is a single entity outside of a group, only a Payhawk administrator can create a Sandbox.
The Sandbox is created by using a template Payhawk demo account, which includes sample users. Only the Payhawk administrator who creates the Sandbox is added as a real user. If other users need access, they must request it from the Payhawk administrator who can add them following the standard employee invitation process.
The Sandbox is displayed and operates as a completely separate entity and is not part of the Payhawk group account, which ensures it does not interfere with real group and entity settings. Since the Sandbox is independent from live production accounts, its settings are not inherited from them, but they can be configured as needed.
Because the Sandbox is a software-only testing environment, some payment-related features may not function optimally compared to live production accounts - it provides a safe space to explore and test new features without affecting real financial operations.
Notifications for enabled Beta features
When a Beta feature is enabled, Payhawk administrators at both the entity and group levels will receive an email notification confirming their enrolment in the Payhawk Labs program and the activation of the Beta feature.
When a Beta feature is enabled for a single entity outside of a group, the Payhawk administrator who activated the feature, along with all other Payhawk administrators of that entity, will receive an email confirming that the feature has been provisioned and is now available for use.
When a Beta feature is enabled for a group Payhawk account, the Group Payhawk administrator who activated the feature, along with all other Group Payhawk administrators, will receive an email confirming that the feature has been provisioned for the group account and is now available for use.
Viewing information for enabled Beta features
In the Payhawk Labs app, you can view additional details about activated Beta features.
Enabled in [number] entities shows the number of entities for which the Beta feature has been activated at the group level. To see the detailed list of these entities, hover over the label.
Enabled [number] days ago provides information on when the Beta feature was activated and by whom. To view these details, hover over the label.
Learn more links to help articles related to the Beta feature. Help articles for Beta features are available only in English.
This feature is enabled in the Sandbox account indicates that the selected Beta feature has been activated in a Sandbox environment.
Subscribing and unsubscribing to Payhawk Labs newsletter
In addition to enabling Beta features for your account, Payhawk Labs offers a newsletter subscription that provides updates on Beta features, research, and events. By subscribing, you can stay informed and may influence decisions within the product development process.
The Payhawk Labs newsletter includes:
Information about new Beta features.
Updates on discovery topics, research, and events.
Notifications about Beta feature updates and improvements.
Emails about the transition of features from Beta to general availability, including details on enhancements.
The Payhawk Labs newsletter toggle remains disabled for Payhawk administrators who have not personally enabled the Beta feature. Any Payhawk administrator can activate the subscription toggle for themselves. However, administrators who enable a Beta feature are automatically subscribed to the newsletter.
To subscribe, go to Settings > Payhawk Labs and click on Subscribe now. You can unsubscribe at any time by using the link in any newsletter email you receive.
Submitting feedback for Beta features
Feedback and issues related to Beta features are handled exclusively by Payhawk’s Product team. Regardless of the feedback channel you use, all Beta feature-related feedback is directed to the Product team. For example, if you share feedback with the Payhawk Support team, it will be rerouted accordingly, and a member of the Product team will follow up with you.
To provide feedback on a Beta feature, Settings > Payhawk Labs and click on the Send feedback button of that feature.
Some Beta features may display a Feedback button on the screen where they're used too, thus allowing you to share your insights.
All collected feedback is carefully analyzed by the Payhawk Product team to improve the usability and functionality of the Beta feature. It also helps validate ideas and implement necessary refinements before the feature is released to all Payhawk users.