Connect Stripe

Your site needs a Stripe account before it can accept card paymentsA record of money received against an order, such as a card charge, a bank transfer, or cash taken at the door. An order can have several payments. When they add up to the order total, the order is fully paid; until then it is partly paid. at checkout. Go to Payments → Stripe to set one up.

Setting up is two steps. First you add a Stripe account, by creating a new one, linking one you already have, or entering its keys. Then you turn on payments for it. Adding an account never starts taking money on its own, so you can get an account ready well before you go on sale.

Payments → Stripe

Your connection status, the accounts you have added, and the options for adding another.

Choose how to add an account

There are three ways, depending on your situation:

• Sign up with Stripe: the recommended option if you do not already use Stripe. It creates a new Stripe account for your site and walks you through Stripe’s own setup.
• Connect existing Stripe account: links a Stripe account you already use, for example if you take payments elsewhere and want to reuse the same account.
• Use your own API keys: an advanced option that adds an account by pasting its keys directly instead of linking it. Use this only if the two options above do not fit how your Stripe account is managed.

With nothing set up yet, the first two options are on the Connect a payment account card and the third is under Advanced. Once you have added an account, all three move under Add another payment account.

You can have one Stripe account that we set up for you. Once you have that account, Sign up with Stripe is no longer offered, and a note there names the account you already have. You can still link another Stripe account or add one with its keys. To work on the account you have, use the options listed with it: Turn on payments when it is ready, Continue setup while it is not, or Remove if you want to start again.

Sign up with Stripe

1. Select Sign up with Stripe. You are taken to Stripe’s own setup, hosted on their site.
2. Stripe asks for the details it needs to verify your business and pay out to you: your business type and details, the people responsible for the account, and the bank account you want paid out to.
3. Complete each step Stripe asks for, then you are returned to Payments → Stripe.
4. Your account appears there marked Not taking payments. Select Turn on payments to start taking them.

You do not have to finish everything in one sitting. If you leave before Stripe has everything it needs, your connection shows as Setup incomplete with a note on what is outstanding. Select Continue setup to pick up where you left off.

Stripe sometimes takes a while to finish checking a new account. If yours is not ready the moment you get back, come back to Payments → Stripe later: once Stripe is done, the account shows as Not taking payments with Turn on payments beside it.

Note

If you leave Stripe’s setup without completing it, or choose not to continue partway through, you are returned to Payments → Stripe with no changes made. You can start again whenever you are ready.

Link an existing Stripe account

1. Select Connect existing Stripe account. You are taken to Stripe to sign in.
2. Sign in and approve the connection to your site.
3. You are returned to Payments → Stripe, with that account added and marked Not taking payments.
4. Select Turn on payments.

Note

If you sign in to the account your site is already taking payments through, there is nothing to turn on. That account carries on exactly as before, and your site keeps your current keys on file so the change can be undone and the earlier connection is cleaned up automatically. If a message appears, see Managing your Stripe connection to learn what it means.

Use your own API keys

This option is under Advanced when you have not added an account yet, and under Add another payment account once you have.

1. In your Stripe dashboard, open the API keys page and copy your secret key and publishable key.
2. Paste both into the form and select Save keys. Your site checks the keys with Stripe before saving them.
3. The account is added and marked Not taking payments. Select Turn on payments.

If you paste keys for the account your site is already taking payments through, the new keys replace the old ones straight away and nothing else changes. There is no second step in that case.

Keys are never shown again

Once a secret key is saved, your site does not display it again, even to you. If you need to change it later, generate a new key in Stripe and paste it in again.

Turn on payments

Adding an account and taking payments through it are deliberately separate steps. However you added the account, the last step is the same:

1. On Payments → Stripe, find the account you want to use.
2. Select Turn on payments.
3. Read what the confirmation screen says the change affects, then select Turn on payments again.

Your site starts taking card payments through that account straight away, and the page shows it as Taking payments.

Note

If you set an account up at Stripe some time ago and your site is still not taking payments, this is the step to check. An account that has finished its Stripe setup waits on Payments → Stripe until you turn payments on for it.

How to tell your connection is ready

Before you add anything, the page shows Connect a payment account and the options above. Once you have an account, the card at the top of the page carries a label for where your connection has got to:

• Taking payments: this is the account your site takes card payments through. Checkout is ready.
• Not taking payments: the account is set up and ready to use, but nothing goes through it yet. Select Turn on payments.
• Setup incomplete: you started with Stripe and did not finish. Select Continue setup to go back and finish.
• Action needed: Stripe needs more information before the account can accept payments. The page says what, and you provide it in your Stripe dashboard.
• Under review: Stripe is checking what you submitted. There is nothing for you to do until it finishes.
• Needs Stripe support: Stripe has restricted the account and has not told your site why. Contact Stripe support to find out what is going on.
• Not supported: Stripe cannot enable card payments for this account. Add a different account instead.

Any other accounts you have added are listed below under Available connections, each with a button to start taking payments through it, or to move payments to it if another account is taking them already.

Once one of your accounts shows Taking payments, checkout is ready to take card payments.