Payment Cards

Payment cards let you collect payments from your customers’ credit and debit cards. The platform currently supports Stripe as the card payment provider. Once set up, you can collect payments automatically when invoices are due, or collect individual payments manually.

The platform does not collect or store card numbers. Customers supply their card details to Stripe, and the platform holds only a reference to the Stripe payment method. All sensitive card data remains with Stripe.

Adding a Payment Card

Customer Self-Service (Recommended)

The easiest way to add a payment card is to send the customer a payment link. They enter their card details directly through Stripe’s secure form, and the card appears on their record automatically. See Sending Payment Links below.

Manual Addition

To add a card manually:

1. View the customer’s record
2. Go to Add menu > Payment Card
3. Enter the card details:
   • Cardholder Name: The name on the card
   • Card Type: Visa, Mastercard, or other supported type
   • Last Four Digits: The last four digits of the card number
   • Expiry Date: The card’s expiry date
   • Card Storage Method: Set to Stripe for provider-managed collection
   • Card Collection Order: The priority for this card when the customer has multiple cards. 1 is collected first.
   • Use For Collection: Which collection types this card can be used for (manual, automatic, or both)
   • Use For Payment Types: Restrict to specific payment types, or leave blank for all types
4. Click Save

Stripe Provider Fields

When using Stripe, you also need to supply:

• Provider Customer Reference (required): The Stripe customer ID (beginning cus_)
• Provider Reference (recommended): The Stripe payment method ID (beginning pm_). If you leave this blank, the platform will automatically use the customer’s most recent card in Stripe for any collection.

The other provider fields (Provider Key, Provider Token) are updated automatically when the platform syncs with Stripe, for example when a webhook is received or a scheduled update runs. You do not need to fill these in yourself.

Important: If you are adding cards through your own Stripe integration rather than the platform’s payment links, make sure the Stripe request is configured to allow future payments on the card. Without this, the platform will not be able to collect against it.

Sending Payment Links

You can send customers a link to add their card or make a payment without needing a portal login.

Via the Actions Menu

1. View the customer’s record
2. Go to Actions menu > Generate Payment Links
3. The system generates a no-login URL for card payment
4. Copy the link and send it to the customer

The customer follows the link and enters their card details through Stripe’s secure payment form.

Via Correspondence

You can include payment links in billing emails and other correspondence. The platform provides template variables that insert the correct URLs automatically. See Correspondence Workflows for details on setting up templates with payment links.

Payment Collection

Manual Collection

To collect a specific payment by card:

1. View the payment record
2. Go to Actions menu > Collect from Card
3. Select which payment card to use
4. The system submits the charge to Stripe

Automated Collection: On Delivery

The system can create and submit a card payment automatically when an invoice is emailed, printed, manually delivered, or downloaded by the customer through MyAccount.

When triggered by delivery, the system collects the current due balance for the delivered invoice.

This behaviour is controlled by system parameters. Contact your system administrator to enable or adjust delivery-triggered collection.

Automated Collection: Time-Based

The system can also create card payments on a schedule based on invoice due dates:

• Create: The system creates the payment a set number of working days before the invoice due date
• Submit: The system submits the payment to Stripe a set number of working days before the due date

Your system administrator can adjust these timings to suit your billing cycle.

Card Status

Payment cards have four statuses:

Status Actions

• Mark Expired: Change an active card to expired status
• Mark Invalid: Flag a card as declined or problematic
• Mark Current: Return an expired or invalid card to active status

Field Locking

Once a card reaches confirmed status, the following fields become read-only to protect the verified details:

• Cardholder Name
• Card Type
• Last Four Digits
• Expiry Date
• Card Storage Method
• Provider Token, Provider Customer Reference, Provider Reference, Provider Key

To update these details, the customer should add a new card via a payment link.

Payment Status

Card payments move through these stages:

1. Pending: Payment created, waiting to be submitted to Stripe
2. Processing: Submitted to Stripe, awaiting confirmation
3. Collected: Payment received successfully
4. Failed: Charge was declined or unsuccessful

Failed payments include the provider’s decline code for troubleshooting. Common reasons include insufficient funds, expired cards, and bank-declined transactions.

If automatic collection fails or no eligible card exists, the system creates a TODO alerting you to the issue.

Managing Cards

Multiple Cards

A customer can have more than one payment card. The Card Collection Order field controls which card the system uses first for automatic collection. Set 1 for the primary card, 2 for the backup, and so on.

Replacing a Card

When a customer’s card expires or is replaced:

1. Send them a new payment link to add the replacement card
2. Once the new card is confirmed, mark the old card as expired
3. Update the Card Collection Order if needed

The old card remains on the customer’s record for audit purposes.