Recurring Payments, or subscriptions, are automatic transactions processed at scheduled intervals (e.g., weekly, monthly, annually) for ongoing access to a product or service. This model relies on "saved card" details and allows merchants to build predictable revenue streams without manually invoicing the customer every cycle. FAQs: What happens if a customer's card expires?Stripe’s card updater [...]

A Pre-Authorization (Pre-Auth) acts as a temporary "hold" on a customer's credit card funds without actually charging them immediately. This is commonly used by hotels, car rentals, and service providers to ensure the customer has sufficient funds to cover the final bill or potential damages. The merchant can "capture" the funds later or release the [...]

A Payment Request (often called a Payment Link) is a URL generated by a merchant that directs a customer to a pre-hosted checkout page to pay for goods or services. This is ideal for remote billing, invoicing via email or SMS, and collecting payments without needing a dedicated website or coding knowledge. FAQs: Can I [...]

PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Using a third-party app like Charge for Stripe simplifies this, as the app uses tokenization to ensure raw card data is never stored [...]

A Micro-deposit is a small amount of money (usually less than $1.00) sent by a payment processor to a user's bank account to verify that the account details are correct and that the user owns the account. This is commonly used when setting up bank payouts or setting up Direct Debit payments (ACH, SEPA) for [...]

A Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-digit number assigned to a business by card networks (Visa, Mastercard) to classify the type of goods or services they sell. The MCC influences interchange fees, tax reporting, and whether certain card types (like Health Savings Account cards) can be used at that business. FAQs: How do I [...]

KYC (Know Your Customer) is a mandatory identity verification process required by financial regulations to prevent money laundering, fraud, and terrorism financing. When setting up a Stripe account or using payment platforms, merchants must provide personal and business details (such as government ID, tax numbers, and addresses) to prove they are who they claim to [...]

A Dispute (often called a chargeback) occurs when a cardholder questions a transaction with their card issuer and asks for their money back. This can happen due to fraud, unrecognized charges, or goods not received. When a dispute is filed, the payment amount is immediately deducted from the merchant's account along with a dispute fee [...]

The Contactless Limit is the maximum transaction amount allowed for a "Tap to Pay" or NFC (Near Field Communication) transaction that does not require a PIN or signature verification. This limit is set by card schemes and local financial regulators and varies significantly by country (e.g., £100 in the UK, $200 CAD in Canada). Transactions [...]

Application Programming Interface (API) Keys are unique strings of code used to authenticate and identify a user or application when communicating with a payment processor like Stripe. In the context of Charge for Stripe, API Keys function as the secure bridge that connects the mobile app to your Stripe dashboard, allowing the app to process [...]