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Beyond payments

Save a customer's payment method when they use it for a payment

Learn how to save your customer's payment details for future purchases when they make a payment.

Use the Checkout Sessions API to save payment details during a purchase. This is useful for situations such as:

  • Charging a customer for an e-commerce order and storing the payment details for future purchases.
  • Initiating the first payment in a series of recurring payments.
  • Charging a deposit and storing the payment details to charge the full amount later.

Compliance

You’re responsible for your compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and network rules when saving a customer’s payment details. These requirements generally apply if you want to save your customer’s payment method for future use, such as displaying a customer’s payment method to them in the checkout flow for a future purchase or charging them when they’re not actively using your website or app. Add terms to your website or app that state how you plan to save payment method details and allow customers to opt in.

When you save a payment method, you can only use it for the specific usage you have included in your terms. To charge a payment method when a customer is offline and save it as an option for future purchases, make sure that you explicitly collect consent from the customer for this specific use. For example, include a “Save my payment method for future use” checkbox to collect consent.

To charge a customer when they’re offline, make sure your terms include the following:

  • The customer’s agreement to your initiating a payment or a series of payments on their behalf for specified transactions.
  • The anticipated timing and frequency of payments (for example, if the charges are for scheduled installments, subscription payments, or unscheduled top-ups).
  • How you determine the payment amount.
  • Your cancellation policy, if the payment method is for a subscription service.

Make sure you keep a record of your customer’s written agreement to these terms.

Note

When using Elements with the Checkout Sessions API, only cards are supported for saved payment methods. You can’t save other payment methods, such as bank accounts.

Set up Stripe
Server-side

First, register for a Stripe account.

Use our official libraries to access the Stripe API from your application:

Command Line
Ruby
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Java
Node.js
Go
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No results
# Available as a gem
sudo gem install stripe
Gemfile
Ruby
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# If you use bundler, you can add this line to your Gemfile
gem 'stripe'

Create a Customer
Server-side

To set a card up for future payments, you must attach it to a Customer. Create a Customer object when your customer creates an account with your business. Customer objects allow for reusing payment methods and tracking across multiple payments.

Compare Customers v1 and Accounts v2 references

If your Connect platform uses customer-configured Accounts, use our guide to replace Customer and event references in your code with the equivalent Accounts v2 API references.

Command Line
cURL
Stripe CLI
Ruby
Python
PHP
Java
Node.js
Go
.NET
No results

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers \
  -u "
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
:" \
  -d name="Jenny Rosen" \
  --data-urlencode email="jennyrosen@example.com"

Successful creation returns the Customer object. You can inspect the object for the customer id and store the value in your database for later retrieval.

You can find these customers in the Customers page in the Dashboard.

Enable saved payment methods

Caution

Global privacy laws are complicated and nuanced. Before implementing the ability to store customer payment method details, work with your legal team to make sure that it complies with your privacy and compliance framework.

To allow a customer to save their payment method for future use, specify the saved_payment_method_options.payment_method_save parameter when creating the Checkout Session.

Saving a payment method requires a Customer. Pass an existing customer or create a new one by setting customer_creation to always on the Checkout Session.

Command Line
cURL
Stripe CLI
Ruby
Python
PHP
Java
Node.js
Go
.NET
No results

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/checkout/sessions \
  -u "
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
:" \
  -d "line_items[0][price]"=
"{{PRICE_ID}}"
 \
  -d "line_items[0][quantity]"=2 \
  -d mode=payment \
  -d ui_mode=custom \
  -d customer_creation=always \
  -d "saved_payment_method_options[payment_method_save]"=enabled

After you create the Checkout Session, use the client secret returned in the response to build your checkout page.

Note

In the latest version of Stripe.js, specifying enableSave to auto is optional because that’s the default value when saved payment methods are enabled on the Checkout Session.

The Payment Element automatically displays a consent collection checkbox when saved payment methods are enabled on the Checkout Session. You can explicitly configure this behavior using elementsOptions on initCheckout.

checkout.js

const checkout = stripe.initCheckout({
  clientSecret,
  elementsOptions: {
    savedPaymentMethod: {
      // Default is 'auto' in the latest version of Stripe.js - this configuration is optional
      enableSave: 'auto',
    }
  }
});

Reuse a previously saved payment method

Each saved payment method is linked to a Customer object. Before creating the Checkout Session, authenticate your customer, and pass the corresponding Customer ID to the Checkout Session.

Note

In the latest version of Stripe.js, enableRedisplay defaults to auto when saved payment methods are enabled on the Checkout Session.

The Payment Element automatically redisplays previously saved payment methods for your customer to use during checkout when saved payment methods are enabled on the Checkout Session.

Command Line
cURL
Stripe CLI
Ruby
Python
PHP
Java
Node.js
Go
.NET
No results

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/checkout/sessions \
  -u "
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
:" \
  -d "line_items[0][price]"=
"{{PRICE_ID}}"
 \
  -d "line_items[0][quantity]"=2 \
  -d mode=payment \
  -d ui_mode=custom \
  -d customer=
"{{CUSTOMER_ID}}"

You can explicitly configure the redisplay behavior using elementsOptions on initCheckout.

checkout.js

const checkout = stripe.initCheckout({
  clientSecret,
  elementsOptions: {
    savedPaymentMethod: {
      // Default is 'auto' in the latest version of Stripe.js - this configuration is optional
      enableSave: 'auto',
      // Default is 'auto' in the latest version of Stripe.js - this configuration is optional
      enableRedisplay: 'auto',
    }
  }
});
Proxying: stripe.com/docs/payments/save-during-payment ✕