Take card payments: connect Stripe
To take money by card on your site, for concert tickets or for gifts on your Donate page, your choir needs an account with Stripe, a company that processes card payments. You connect it once, from your account page. The money then goes from your buyers and donors straight to your choir. This page is for the account holder and the treasurer. Premium plan
How the money moves
- Your choir has a Stripe account of its own, in your choir's name. You complete its details with Stripe yourself, and we do not see what you enter there.
- A buyer or donor pays on a secure page run by Stripe. The payment goes into your Stripe account, and Stripe pays it out to your choir's bank account.
- We never receive, hold or pass on the money, and we never see card numbers.
On what it costs, your account page says:
Sell tickets on your site and take payment by card. The money goes straight to your choir through a Stripe account of its own; Stripe's fees are the only charge, and we take nothing.
The License Terms, section B7, put it this way:
Payments from your buyers and donors go to your Stripe account; we do not receive, hold or transfer those funds. Stripe's processing fees, and any platform fee we charge on these transactions as shown on our pricing page, are deducted from each payment. Stripe, not us, decides account verification, payouts, holds and reserves.
At this version we charge no fee on these payments, and the home page says the same: "Card payments for your tickets go to your own Stripe account; Stripe's fees are the only charge on them." Stripe's own fees are on Stripe's pricing page and depend on your country.
Before you start
- Your site must be on the Premium plan. On Free or Starter the Taking payments section shows the description above followed by "Part of the Premium plan." See Move to a paid plan.
- Your account needs a country, because your Stripe account is opened in it. Without one the section reads "Choose your country under "Your details" first: your Stripe account is opened in it." See Your details and country.
- Have to hand: details of your choir as an organisation, and the bank account payments should go to. Stripe decides what it asks for, and it may ask for proof of identity from someone who acts for the choir.
Connect
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Sign in to your account. In the Hosted site card, find Taking payments.
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Press Connect with Stripe. You are taken to Stripe's own pages.
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Answer Stripe's questions. As the page says: "You will be asked about your choir and for the bank account payments should go to. It takes about ten minutes, and you can stop and come back." What you enter there goes to Stripe, not to us.
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When you finish, or stop, Stripe returns you to your account page, which tells you where things stand.
The Stripe account is opened with the email address you sign in with as its contact address, and your site's name as its name. It comes with a full Stripe dashboard of your own.
The states of "Taking payments"
| What the section shows | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Connect with Stripe | Nothing has been started. | Press it. |
| "Stripe still needs some details from you before your site can take payments." and Continue with Stripe | You started but did not finish, or Stripe has asked for more. | Press Continue with Stripe and complete what is asked. You carry on from where you stopped. |
| "Stripe is checking the details you gave. Your site can take card payments as soon as that is done; this page will say so." and Review your details with Stripe | You have given everything, and Stripe is verifying it. | Wait. This is Stripe's check and we cannot hurry it. Use the button only if you want to look at or correct what you gave. |
| "Your Stripe account is connected, and your site can take card payments." and Open your Stripe dashboard | Done. | Go and set up what you want to sell. |
The notice at the top of the page when you return from Stripe matches the state:
| Notice | State |
|---|---|
| "Your Stripe account is connected. Your site can now take card payments for tickets." | Connected |
| "Thank you. Stripe is checking the details you gave; your site can take card payments as soon as that is done." | Being checked |
| "Stripe still needs some details before your site can take card payments. Use "Continue with Stripe" below to finish." | Unfinished |
Your site is told the moment Stripe approves the account, and again if Stripe ever changes its mind. You do not need to press anything for it to notice.
One connection, two uses
The notice mentions tickets, but the same connection serves both things your site can take cards for:
| Where you switch it on | Read | |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket sales | Admin panel, Ticketing | Set up tickets for a concert |
| Gifts on your Donate page | Admin panel, Site Settings, Donate page, Take gifts by card on this page | Take gifts by card on your Donate page |
In the admin panel, Ticketing tells you which side of the line you are on. Before connecting it shows "Take card payments for tickets. Connect a Stripe account for your choir and buyers can pay by card on your site; the money goes straight to you." with a link, Set it up in your account, and until then your site offers free tickets and, where you allow it, ones to pay for on arrival. Afterwards it shows a label, Buyers can pay by card.
Make your prices match your Stripe account
Your site has a currency for its prices, chosen when the site was made. Your Stripe account is paid out in the currency of the country it was opened in:
| Stripe account's country | Paid out in |
|---|---|
| Canada | CAD |
| United States | USD |
| United Kingdom | GBP |
| Australia | AUD |
| New Zealand | NZD |
| Ireland, France, Germany, Netherlands | EUR |
If the two differ, Ticketing warns you: "Your Stripe account is paid out in CAD, so card payments in USD are converted by Stripe, for a fee." (with your own two currencies), and offers a link such as Use CAD instead. Press it, or use Change the currency, to make your prices match. The numbers stay as they are: a ticket at 25 becomes 25 in the new currency, and orders already made keep the currency they were made in.
The same setting is Currency in Site Settings, Choir: see Your choir's name, place, currency and time zone.
Where everything is afterwards
| To | Go to |
|---|---|
| See payments, and what Stripe took in fees | Your Stripe dashboard: Open your Stripe dashboard on your account page |
| See or change when and where money is paid out | Your Stripe dashboard |
| Answer a dispute (a buyer's bank reversing a payment) | Your Stripe dashboard |
| Refund a ticket order | The order in the admin panel: Cancel an order or give a refund |
| Refund a gift | Online gifts and refunds |
| See who bought what | Admin panel, Ticketing: Find an order and download the list |
As the account page says: "Payments, payouts to your bank, refunds and disputes are all in your Stripe dashboard."
Your responsibilities as the seller
Your choir is the seller, not us. The terms say:
You are the seller or recipient of these funds and the merchant of record. You are responsible for your refund policy, event changes and cancellations, disputes and chargebacks, taxes, and any receipts required by law, including official donation receipts. We are not a party to transactions between you and your buyers or donors.
Your agreement for the Stripe account is with Stripe directly, and Stripe decides whether to approve the account and when to pay out.
In practice: decide what you will do when a concert is cancelled or someone asks for their money back, and say so on your Tickets page; find out whether tax applies to your tickets where you are; and keep the Stripe sign-in with someone who will still be with the choir next year.
Disconnect Stripe
There is no button. The account page says: "To disconnect your Stripe account from your site, which stops card payments on it, write to support@choirmastercms.com." Write from the address you sign in with.
Disconnecting stops new card payments on your site. Your Stripe account remains yours, with its history.
If something goes wrong
These appear in red at the top of your account page.
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Create your site first." | Create your site. |
| "Taking payments on your site is part of the Premium plan." | Move to Premium. |
| "Choose your country under "Your details" first: your Stripe account is opened in it." | Set Country under Your details and press Save. |
| "That did not go through to our payment provider. Try again in a minute." | Stripe could not be reached, or would not open an account as asked. Wait a minute and try again. If it keeps happening, and especially if your country is set to Somewhere else, write to support@choirmastercms.com. |
Other things that come up:
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| A link in an email from Stripe, or a page of Stripe's, says it has expired | Go back to your account page and press Continue with Stripe. You are given a fresh one. |
| The section has said "Stripe is checking" for days | Press Review your details with Stripe to see whether Stripe is waiting for something, and check your email for a message from Stripe. |
| It was connected and now says Stripe needs more details | Stripe sometimes asks for more as an account grows. Press Continue with Stripe. Your site cannot take cards until it is settled. |
| You dropped from Premium | Ticketing and donor records are hidden, so nothing can be sold or given by card on the site. The Stripe account is untouched. |