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# Payment Channels

## Overview

A payment channel lets a payer lock up TIP-20 funds once, then pay a payee repeatedly with signed
off-chain vouchers instead of a transaction per payment. The payee settles vouchers onchain whenever
they want, and either side can close the channel to reconcile the final balance. This is ideal for
high-frequency, low-latency payments such as pay-as-you-go billing.

[See the Payment Channels guide](https://docs.tempo.xyz/guide/machine-payments/pay-as-you-go)

## See More

<Cards>
  <Card icon="lucide:plug" title="Open & Fund a Channel" description="Open a channel, deposit funds, and read its state." to="/tempo/guides/payment-channels/open" />

  <Card icon="lucide:receipt" title="Send & Settle Vouchers" description="Sign off-chain vouchers and settle them onchain." to="/tempo/guides/payment-channels/vouchers" />

  <Card icon="lucide:circle-x" title="Close & Withdraw" description="Close a channel and withdraw the remaining balance." to="/tempo/guides/payment-channels/close" />

  <Card icon="lucide:square-function" title="channel.open" description="Open and fund a TIP-20 payment channel." to="/tempo/actions/channel.open" />
</Cards>