When your association uses Stripe as its payment processor, you can save a card, bank account, or another Stripe payment method, such as a linked wallet, for future charges. If your association set up the payment page to allow it, you can save a payment method without signing in to the portal.
Prerequisites
- Your association uses Stripe as the payment processor for the page you are using.
- If you save a payment method while signed in, your portal sign-in is linked to your contact record.
Save a Payment Method
- Open the payment page your association gave you.
- Choose the payment method you want to save, such as a card or a US bank account, if the page offers a choice.
- Enter the details Stripe asks for.
- Submit the form.
Result
Stripe verifies the payment method, and Rhythm saves it for future charges that support saved payment methods. If you are signed in, Rhythm saves the method to your contact record with this association.
Saving Without Signing In
Some payment pages let you save a card or bank account with Stripe even when you are not signed in to the portal and do not have a contact record yet. For example, your association might send you a public payment link directly. Rhythm still saves the payment method, but it connects the method to the information collected on the payment page instead of to an existing contact.
Creating an Account with Google Can Skip the Contact Form
If you create an account with Google while checking out in a bookstore, you can return to checkout without seeing the usual contact form. In that case, the contact record Rhythm creates for you can be missing details such as your email address or work address. If this happens, add the missing details from your profile after checkout.
Tip
If you plan to make repeated payments, sign in to the portal first when the page allows it. This links your saved payment method to your contact record, so you can find and manage it later. See View and Remove Saved Payment Methods.
Verifying a US Bank Account
If you save a US bank account for a payment page that accepts only bank accounts, not cards, Rhythm asks Stripe to verify the account instantly. You verify it by signing in to your online banking through Stripe. This replaces the older method of verifying a bank account with small test deposits, which can take a day or two before the account is usable.
If Stripe does not support instant verification for your bank, you cannot save that bank account through this method. If the payment page accepts both cards and bank accounts, instant verification is not required in the same way, and a saved bank account may need the slower deposit-based verification before it can be charged.
If Something Goes Wrong
If Rhythm cannot find your existing saved payment methods record at Stripe when you try to add another payment method, such as after an unrelated Stripe issue, it creates a fresh record for you instead of failing outright. This keeps saving available, but in rare cases a payment method you saved earlier under the old record may no longer appear next to your new one. If a saved card or bank account you expected to see is missing, try saving it again, and contact your association if the problem continues.
In some cases, saving fails before you reach card entry, with an error about being unable to obtain a client secret. This has been observed when a phone number synced to your contact record is unusually long or includes characters Stripe does not expect. If you see this error, check your profile’s phone number for stray characters or extra length.
Switched Payment Processors Recently?
If your association recently set up a different Stripe account, an existing public payment link may still point to the old setup. Ask your association for a new public payment link, or generate one, before trying to pay again.