What This Does
Whenever you pay an invoice in Rhythm, you choose the payment method from the same picker. Members use it in the Portal, anonymous payers use it from a shared invoice link, and staff use it in the Console when they enter a payment for a customer.
The picker shows the payment options available for that specific payment. You might see cards or bank accounts already on file, options to add a new card or bank account, and digital wallets when your association uses Rhythm Payments. Depending on the screen, you might also see non-electronic options, such as a purchase order number or a note that a check is on the way.
When you enter a card or bank account number in the picker, Rhythm never receives that number. The details go directly to your association’s payment processor, and the processor sends Rhythm a token for future charges without storing the number in Rhythm. Cards you save now use Rhythm Payments' own tokens, which your association's merchant accounts use for later charges.
Because Rhythm never receives or stores the card or bank account number, most associations using Rhythm Payments do not need a separate PCI submission for Rhythm itself. Your organization may still need to complete its own PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire, and an auditor or acquiring bank may ask for supporting documentation. If a PCI questionnaire asks for payment-application details, such as a processor's PA-DSS listing status, get that information from your payment processor rather than Rhythm because the processor handles and vaults the card data.
When to Use It (and Not)
Use the picker whenever a screen asks you to choose how to pay. That includes receiving a payment in the Console, making a payment in the Portal, or paying a shared invoice link as a guest.
Do not use this picker to remove or replace a card already on file for someone else. For that, see Manage a Contact's Saved Payment Methods.
Prerequisites
- You’re on a screen that includes the payment method picker, such as Receive Payment in the Console or Make a Payment in the Portal.
- To choose a saved card or bank account, the payer must already have one on file. Anonymous payers never see saved methods, so they must enter a new one.
- To save a new method for later, someone must be signed in. Anonymous payers can pay with a new card or bank account, but Rhythm never saves it.
- Some payment methods, such as Apple Pay, usually require domain verification or wallet setup in the payment provider's own dashboard. Those steps matter only after Rhythm has turned that payment method on for your association; access to the provider's setup screens and documentation is not enough by itself.
- If you're paying without signing in, use the same email address each time. This helps Rhythm match the payment to your existing contact instead of creating a new one.
Steps
- On the payment screen, review the sections in the picker. Depending on who’s paying and what the screen allows, you may see saved cards, saved bank accounts, Add a New Card, Add a New Bank Account, digital wallet buttons, and other payment options. These fields do not open automatically when the page loads, so choose the option you want first.
- To use a card or bank account already on file, select it from the list. Saved methods show their type and last four digits, such as a Visa ending in a specific set of digits or a bank account labeled as checking.
- To use a new card, choose Add a New Card. Enter the card number, expiration date, and security code in the fields shown. Your association’s payment processor decides which fields appear, and the card-brand icon appears after you start typing the number. On some screens, adding the card and submitting the payment are separate steps. For example, a button labeled Add Credit Card attaches the card to this payment, so typing the numbers alone does not select a payment method. If you do not have a card reader, you can complete this step on any device, including a phone or tablet, and let the payer type their own card instead of swiping it. If the cardholder-name field is required and the card belongs to a company or school instead of a person, try entering the organization’s name there.
- To use a new bank account, choose Add a New Bank Account and enter the account and routing numbers. The helper text on this screen sometimes still mentions credit card encryption; that is only a wording issue. Bank account details are encrypted and tokenized the same way. Rhythm does not compare the numbers you enter with the payer's other saved methods, so double-check them before you submit.
- For a new card or bank account, enter the billing address if the form asks for one. If you want to use the organization's billing address instead of the contact's, switch the payer to the organization first, then choose the address from the organization's record. Card authorization can check the full billing address, not just the postal code, and some associations check it as soon as you enter the card instead of waiting until the payment is processed. Completing every required field lets you save the card, but it does not guarantee the processor will accept those same details on a future charge.
- To keep this card or bank account for next time, check Securely save this card on my account for later use. This box appears only when you’re signed in and the screen allows saving. It is usually checked by default, so clear it if you want to use the method only this once. The button that adds the card or bank account to your payment is separate from this checkbox. Even when that button is labeled something like Save Card, you can still complete the payment without saving the method, as long as the box above it is unchecked.
- If your association accepts Google Pay or Apple Pay, those buttons appear with the card and bank account options. Choose one to pay with the wallet already set up on your device or browser.
- If the screen offers other ways to pay, such as payroll deduction, billing an organization, a purchase order number, or a note that a check is on the way, choose one of those instead of a card or bank account. On the invoice payment screen, these options depend on the Type you choose at the top of the screen. Change Type first if you do not see the option you expect.
- Continue with the payment on the host screen, such as Process Payment in Receive Payment or Make Payment in the Portal.
Variants
- Saving for later. If you leave Securely save this card on my account for later use unchecked, or you pay anonymously, Rhythm uses the card or bank account only for this payment. Rhythm never adds it to your saved methods. The card or bank account still goes to the processor and is tokenized for that one transaction, so seeing it encrypted or masked on the page during checkout does not mean it was saved. If you check or uncheck the save option after you have already entered card details, the processor clears those fields and you need to enter them again. That behavior comes from the processor's own fields, not Rhythm. An unsaved bank account is sent to the processor under a generic, anonymous identity instead of being linked to the payer, so the processor's own transaction record may not show the payer's name. If your association uses Payrix, a card that is not saved may not show an expiration date afterward because Rhythm does not get that detail back from Payrix unless the card is saved.
- By processor. Your association’s payment processor determines which fields you see for a new card or bank account. For some associations, you type the card into Rhythm’s fields. For others, you type it into fields the processor provides inside the page. Either way, the number goes to the processor, not to Rhythm. When the processor provides the fields, such as with Payrix, it also controls the validation messages. For example, the wording of an invalid-expiration-date error comes from the processor, not Rhythm. Payrix no longer places a temporary $1 authorization hold when it verifies a new card; a $0 verification does not create a visible hold. You may also see a "message format error" in the authorization log right after adding a card. That is normal and comes from an instant check that the card is valid, not from a failed payment.
- Digital wallets. Google Pay and Apple Pay appear only for associations that use Rhythm Payments, and only when your device and browser support the wallet. Rhythm Payments accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Wallet payments also require Google Pay and Apple Pay to be enabled on your association's Rhythm Payments account. If they are not enabled, the wallet buttons may not complete a payment even when they appear, and the payer may need to use another payment method. A card that appears in someone's saved methods because they linked it through Google Pay shows only for that person. Other users do not see it, and turning off Google Pay stops it from appearing. If your association uses Stripe, only the payment methods enabled in Stripe should appear as options. Stripe's one-click checkout for returning payers must be turned on in both Stripe and Rhythm before it is available.
- Paying by bank account for a large amount. When possible, ask the payer to sign in and pay from their own record instead of using a public payment link. A signed-in payment identifies the payer more clearly and is less likely to run into extra verification delays before the funds clear.
- What a host screen allows. Not every screen offers every option. A screen may show only cards, only bank accounts, or neither. It also controls whether other payment options, such as a purchase order number, appear at all. The public payment page from a shared invoice link never allows saving a method, offers only a new card or bank account, and may not ask for a cardholder name. When it does not ask for a cardholder name, Rhythm uses the name and email already associated with the payment. Whether a bank account option appears depends on your association's electronic-check setting for that screen. Turning electronic checks on adds the option, and turning them off removes it. That setting is different from the one that lets payers save a method, so turning saved payment methods back on does not also turn on bank-account payments if electronic checks are off. Invoice payment types are a fixed list. You can choose from what Rhythm offers, but you cannot add a custom one. For an invoice created by a "pay later" option, Rhythm stamps a copy of the credit card mode and range settings onto that invoice when it is generated, so a later payment screen, such as this picker or Receive Payment, can still tell whether a card should be offered or disallowed for it. Electronic checks can only be turned on or off for everyone, not for one individual or organization. Receiving payment later on an invoice created from a "pay later" option, such as an invoice/pay-later membership, may not let you split that payment across two methods, even though other screens do. Some payment options are built into the Console for every Rhythm account and cannot currently be hidden, even if your association does not use them.
Result
The method you chose is ready for the host screen to use when you submit the payment. It might be a saved card or bank account, a new one you just entered, a wallet payment, or another payment option. If you checked the save box, the new card or bank account also appears the next time you or staff open the picker for the same payer, usually right away in both the Console and the Portal.
Side Effects
When you check the save box, you make that card or bank account available for future charges. That includes automatic or recurring charges your association may set up, such as installment schedules or membership renewals that use a card on file. If your association uses Rhythm Payments, these recurring charges currently work with saved cards only; a saved bank account cannot be used for an automatic recurring charge yet. A method that appears saved on a payer's record does not guarantee that a usable charge token exists for every merchant account. If your association adds a new merchant account later, an older saved method may need to be entered again before it can charge through that account. The same picker and saving rules apply whether you're paying an order, an invoice, or a membership renewal, and whether the payment is later refunded or partially refunded.
What to Do If It Fails
"You have not selected a payment method." You submitted the payment without choosing or adding a method. Choose a saved method, or add a new card or bank account, then submit again.
The processor rejects the card or bank account. Correct the details and try again. If the card still fails, try another card or bank account. An error shown while an order is being prepared for payment, even one that does not name a specific decline reason, is usually caused by the card being used rather than a problem with the order itself. Retrying with a different card or payment method is the most direct way to confirm that.
The card or bank account fields don't load, and you're on a VPN. Some users on a VPN have been unable to load the credit card information fields. As an interim step, turn off the VPN and try again. If turning off the VPN does not help, or the fields fail again later, let Support know.
A payment is declined for an address or ZIP mismatch, with no clear on-screen error. This decline is usually tied to how the billing address is entered or selected on the form, not to a general outage. The payer may not see an obvious error message even though the card issuer rejected the address. Confirm the exact billing address on file for the card, and have the payer enter it manually exactly as their card issuer has it instead of relying on an autofilled or previously selected address.
A saved payment method authorizes and then immediately fails, with no order created. This can happen when the saved payment method itself has a linkage problem. Rhythm Payments may show what looks like an approval or a new token, but the charge is voided right behind it, no funds are captured, and no order or completed payment is created. Have the payer add the card again as a new payment method instead of retrying the same saved one.
The decline message is generic and doesn't say why the card failed. A generic retry message can hide an issuer-side or billing-detail problem, such as an address or ZIP mismatch, that Rhythm's own error text does not spell out. The reverse also happens: a front-end message about an address mismatch can hide a plain issuer decline as the real, more actionable cause. Available funds on the card do not rule out this kind of decline. When the authorization record shows a generic decline from the card issuer, the most useful next step is usually to have the cardholder confirm the exact reason directly with their card issuer instead of continuing to retry in Rhythm.
The billing address field no longer fills in automatically. Rhythm no longer prepopulates the billing address on the payment form the way it may have in the past, so the payer needs to enter it themselves.
You don't see the save box. Either nobody is signed in, or the screen you’re using does not allow saving. Ask the payer to sign in, or use the method for this payment only.
Checkout fails only when you choose to save the card. If clearing Securely save this card on my account for later use and trying again lets the same payment through, the problem was with saving the method, not with the payment itself.
A donation added during membership or event checkout won't process. Adding a donation while submitting a membership application or event registration for immediate card payment can sometimes make the payment fail. If that happens, finish the membership or registration without the donation, then pay the donation separately after it has its own invoice. A donation paid with an already-saved bank account can also fail with a validation error that mentions
card_type, even though electronic check is a valid option. Try a different saved or new method if that happens.The processor rejects the card or bank account. Correct the details and try again. If the card still fails, try another card or bank account. The table below explains some specific messages.
| Message or Symptom | Likely Cause | What To Do |
|---|---|---|
| A generic decline, authorization failure, or a vague message like "Unable to process transaction" | The card-issuing bank usually declined the charge for its own reasons. Common causes include a billing ZIP mismatch, the bank's own step-up verification by text or app, a security alert on the card, or the card reaching its spending limit. This does not mean Rhythm Payments is down, even when the message does not include enough detail to separate a user-fixable decline from a processor-side issue. | Confirm that the billing ZIP matches the card and retry before assuming the saved method's token is bad. If it still fails, try a different card or payment method. When a different method succeeds, the issue was usually with the original card, not Rhythm. Several different cards failing the same way is not, by itself, evidence of a country-wide problem. Escalate to Support only if the failure continues after retrying with another method. |
| "International transactions are not allowed," shown even though your association accepts them | The card issuer, or fraud screening on the processor's side, may be blocking the transaction. Rhythm Payments does not block by country on its own. | Ask the payer to contact their card issuer. If this keeps happening for a country you accept, contact Support so the processor's fraud settings can be reviewed. |
| A card is declined as a possible duplicate when it's used again for a similar amount and billing address shortly after an earlier attempt | Some processors, including BluePay, automatically flag repeated charges like this, even for a different order or contact. | Wait a short time and try again, or ask an administrator whether the attempt can be cleared in the payment gateway. What is available depends on how the gateway is configured. |
| "…invalid authentication values" while adding or charging a card on an Authorize.Net account | Authorize.Net rejected the request. This can affect both saving a new card and checking out with one. | Contact Support with the error details. |
| A card declines on an Authorize.Net account with no readable reason shown | Authorize.Net does not pass a descriptive decline reason back to Rhythm. | Look up the gateway error code in your Authorize.Net account, or contact Support for help interpreting it. |
| A card is declined for invalid information on an Authorize.Net account, but a payment profile for it still exists afterward | Authorize.Net can create or keep a saved payment profile even when the transaction itself was declined for invalid card details; the decline does not always prevent the profile from existing. | Check the contact's saved payment methods before assuming none was created, and remove the profile if it should not be there. |
| A membership renewal payment is declined on a BluePay account | BluePay declined the authorization, and the renewal screen only shows that it failed. | Check the BluePay account for the detailed decline reason. |
| "NO CREDIT ACCT: 39" on a Worldpay account | The card is invalid or was deactivated, often because it was replaced. | Ask the payer to use a current card. |
| An error about incorrect VITAL identification numbers | The merchant account has a configuration issue; the card is not the problem. | Contact Support with the error details. |
| "invalid account number" | Either the card details were entered incorrectly, or there is a gateway or merchant-account configuration issue. | Enter the card details again first. If it still fails, contact Support, and contact BluePay too if that is your processor. |
| A 403 error during payment | This is generally an access, HTTPS, or connection issue. | Reload the page over a secure connection and try again. |
| "the referenced resource does not exist [no_such_record] (field:token)," even though a card is saved on the profile | This can be a billing ZIP or address mismatch rather than a missing card. | Confirm that the billing ZIP matches the card's billing address, then try again. |
| A server error says a record can't be found while saving or using a card | This can be isolated to one contact instead of a wider payment problem, and it can happen whether or not the save option is checked. | Try again, or contact Support with the contact's details if it continues. |
| An invoice payment keeps failing even though a payment method looks saved | The saved method's underlying record can be missing, or null, even though it shows in the picker. Removing and re-adding it does not always fix this. | Contact Support. |
| A saved card shows as Visa even though it's another brand, such as Mastercard | This is a display issue in the Console, and it does not affect whether the payment can be processed. | You can usually continue. Contact Support if the payment itself also fails. |
| "No mid available for txn funding currency" while paying with Google Pay or Apple Pay | This points to a wallet-method configuration problem on the processor's side. | Try a different payment method, and contact Support to confirm the wallet is enabled. |
| "Exceeds withdrawal frequency limit" | The payer's bank has limited transaction activity on that account. | Ask the payer to try again later, or contact their bank. |
- BluePay-specific issues. BluePay is being phased out as a payment processor, so some BluePay gateway issues may not be fixed. If you run into a persistent BluePay problem, ask about moving to a current processor. If international payers on a BluePay account cannot complete a card payment, Support can generate a hosted payment form link for you to share with them as a workaround.
- Card fields don't appear, are greyed out, or won't accept input. This is usually a payment-security control, not a Rhythm outage. Payment pages are protected against anonymous or suspicious traffic linked to carding attacks. VPNs, masked networks, virtual desktops, and some shared or flagged networks can trigger that protection by hiding the fields entirely or loading them without letting you type. Your payment processor enforces this protection, not Rhythm, and Rhythm cannot override it for compliance and legal reasons. Disconnect from the VPN, or switch networks, and reload the page. Before contacting Support, capture the exact error message or a full-page screenshot. That helps identify whether the cause is the network, the browser, or the gateway.
- Fields still don't work after you've switched networks. Try a different supported browser, such as Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, and clear its cache. These are good first checks, but they will not explain a decline that is actually coming from the card issuer, so also review the specific decline message if the payment keeps failing. If a public payment link still shows no card fields after clearing cache, restarting the browser, and even generating a new link, treat it as a possible issue on Rhythm's or the processor's side rather than your own setup, and contact Support with a screenshot.
- A payer is in a country the gateway blocks. Some payment gateways block card entry entirely for certain countries, separately from any VPN restriction. When that happens, the card fields do not appear and no card works for that payer. Use another payment method, such as a bank account or check, instead.
- Payment fails again immediately after a few tries. Rhythm Payments can temporarily block more card attempts from the same IP address as a fraud-prevention measure. This usually happens after around six failed authorizations, whether they used the same card or different ones and whether they came from the same person or others sharing the network. The block clears after about five minutes, so wait and try again.
- You don't see the save box. Either nobody is signed in, or the screen you’re using does not allow saving. Ask the payer to sign in, or use the method for this payment only. An administrator can also turn off the save-card option for checkout entirely from Finance & Billing › Setup › Other Settings; check there if the box is missing for everyone.
Tip
If you’re staff entering a payment for someone and the picker shows no saved methods for a customer you expected to have one on file, check whether your association recently changed its payment processor. Methods saved under a previous processor do not appear in the current processor’s list. Older saved cards may also stop showing an expiration date on membership records and in queries until they are saved again under the new processor. If your association is moving stored payment methods to Rhythm Payments, start by asking the previous processor for the stored payment tokens. They may also ask for Rhythm's PCI compliance statement, a PGP key, and a destination contact email. If a transfer is already underway, they may also ask for a reference to the original request. If the transfer stalls, check whether the exported file needs to be resent, since some processors keep it available for only about a week. After the tokens arrive, they still need to be matched to the right contact or membership record in Rhythm before automatic renewals use them instead of the old processor.
Tip
If Rhythm asks you to complete a CAPTCHA challenge, it is usually tied to retrieving a stored payment method or token. That includes when the Console checks whether a customer has one on file. It should happen only occasionally within a security window, not on every page load. It should not appear just for viewing the Orders tab or other finance screens that do not touch saved payment methods. If you see it repeatedly outside that pattern, contact Support.
Warning
Never type a card or bank account number anywhere except in this picker’s fields. Rhythm never asks for card numbers by email or through any other form.