Stripe is the payment processor that Planning Center uses to process online transactions. It offers straightforward pricing and top-tier security to give you confidence in allowing your congregants to make online payments.
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Straightforward Pricing:
Stripe's rate does not fluctuate with volume. Using Stripe and Planning Center together gives you a low rate, and Planning Center doesn't take any percentage of the fee.
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Top-Tier Security:
No card/bank account data is stored on Planning Center servers. Stripe handles all payment data, and Planning Center displays and charges payment methods using tokens.
Stripe offers industry-leading fraud prevention and PCI compliance. Stripe has been audited by a PCI-certified auditor and is certified as a PCI Level 1 Service Provider, the most stringent level of certification available. You can confirm Stripe's certification in Visa's Global Registry of Service Providers.
Can I use another payment processor?
An active Stripe account is required to set up and use Giving. You can create a free account or connect an existing account during the Giving setup process, and then you can find information about your connected Strip account from the Stripe Info page.
Only Stripe can be used to process donations directly in Giving. However, if you prefer another platform for payment processing, you can manually enter donations into batches using payment sources.
You could also use one of the third-party Giving integrations or build your own integration using the open API for Giving.
After a person makes a donation or payment, the following occurs:
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Stripe deducts the processing fee from each transaction.
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As transactions clear, they are bundled together into Stripe Payouts and scheduled for deposit.
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The payout is deposited into your church bank account.
Caution
ACH is only available for our US customers. This is currently unavailable to our Canadian customers.
Stripe’s deposits to your bank are set by default to pool together successful transactions from the past two days and initiate a payout to your bank. Because these payouts need to wait for transactions to clear, the length of this process can vary depending on the selected payment method.
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Cards: Clear in 1-3 business days; payout in 2-5 business days
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ACH: Clear in 4 business days; payout in 5-8 business days
Tip
If you prefer deposits to be paid out weekly or monthly, you can adjust your payout schedule from within your Stripe account settings here: https://dashboard.stripe.com/account/payouts.
Note: Only automatic payouts will work with Planning Center, so do not change settings to manual payouts.
When using Stripe for Planning Center donations or payments, you are a customer of both Planning Center and Stripe. Though you've connected your Stripe account to your Planning Center account, these accounts are separate, so Planning Center cannot access your Stripe login credentials.
To ensure that your account remains secure, we strongly suggest taking these steps:
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Know who your Stripe administrators are. By default, this is the person who created the account, but you can add others as well.
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Enable two-factor authentication. This feature adds another level of security, verifying each login with a text message or authentication app to ensure your login information is not compromised.
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Stripe can reliably reach you at the email on your Stripe profile. Stripe will contact you when issues need to be resolved or verified directly in your account.
Notice
The owner of your Stripe account should keep a record of your Stripe login information.
If you need to change or disconnect your Stripe account from your Planning Center account, contact our Support Team by selecting the ? in the top right of any page in Planning Center.
If you have any other issues, consult the corresponding page in Stripe or contact Stripe's support team directly to resolve the issue.
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Issue |
Solution |
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Stripe login |
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Stripe settings changes |
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"This account cannot make live charges" error |
Stripe has likely sent an email to your Stripe administrator requesting information. |
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Payouts no longer deposited to bank account |
Stripe account info needs to be updated or verified. See balances, holds, and payout dates on your Balance Overview page in Stripe. |
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Declined card |
View your Stripe Payments page for decline details, and ask the donor to contact their bank. |