Asking a customer for payment details

A payment method request emails a customer a secure link to save their own payment details without logging in. This works for a tribe (one location, branch or business unit inside your organisation) and for a team member buying through their profile. Cards are available when a card gateway is configured; Bank Account (ACH) also appears for a USD store when US bank accounts are enabled on the organisation payment provider.

NEVER TAKE CARD DETAILS OVER THE PHONE OR BY EMAIL

Do not write them down, put them in a ticket, or type them in on a tribe's behalf. The card request exists precisely so nobody in your team ever handles a card number — use it every time, including when someone offers to read it to you.

Sending one

Send it from Accounts Receivable, against the customer. They receive an email explaining why it is needed and a link that requires no login.

The message adapts to the situation — no card on file, a card that has expired, or a request to confirm the existing one — so the recipient understands what has happened without you writing anything.

Saving an ACH bank account

Open the payment link and read the Bank Account (ACH) authorization, then select Agree and Continue. Stripe guides you through connecting and verifying your bank account. If verification needs small deposits, use Verify bank account to finish it. The account stays marked Verification pending until Stripe confirms it.

SAVING IS NOT PAYING

Saving a bank account through this link does not pay the outstanding balance. A bank debit takes 3–5 business days to settle after it is submitted. The order remains processing until the payment clears; a saved account awaiting verification cannot be charged.

Staff can see the saved bank name, last four digits and verification status under Network Store → Customers → customer → Payment Methods. The same section offers Add Bank Account when ACH is available. Use Request Payment Method when the customer needs to enter their own details remotely. The organisation that owns the store receives the payments, including purchases by tribes and team members.

The link expires

Requests are valid for 14 days. That is deliberate: the link needs no login, so anyone holding the email can use it, and a link that lived forever in an inbox would be a standing risk.

If it lapses, send another. Re-sending is free and refreshes the expiry.

Sending in bulk

After a run of failed renewals, or before a first billing cycle, you can send requests to many tribes at once. Filter to the group that needs one — tribes that failed, or those on the dashboard's Will be billed, no card tile — and send them together.

BEST TIME TO SEND IN BULK

A week before a first renewal run, to everyone with no card saved. It converts a wave of failed payments into a handful.

After they add a card

The card is stored against the customer and used for future renewals. An outstanding renewal is picked up at the next retry, or you can charge it once the card is in place rather than waiting.

If they do not respond

Check the email reached the right person — the billing contact is often not the person who bought.
Re-send; the first one is frequently missed.
Contact them directly. At this point it is a relationship problem rather than a payments one.
Escalate through your normal receivables process if the balance keeps ageing.