Payment integration
Don't connect to our taxes.
API token?
Stripe Integration
Pro
Contra
data security/GDPR
use of LexOffice - Stripe does not work. (automisation of accounting)
Good Reads
In the wild
Cable experiments
The Cable uses GoCardless to manage subscriptions through direct debits and Stripe for one-off card payments (e.g. gift memberships).
We get quite a few support questions about payments from our members so good admin tools for this are crucial. Admins and users need to be able to:
See active contribution
Modify contribution amounts
See detailed payment history (possibly admin only?)
Cancel contribution
Change payment source (bank account/card)
Restart contribution
Unresolved questions for us:
What to do when a member wants to change their payment cycle from annual to monthly, they've already paid for a full cycle so do we issue a refund? Currently just not supported
Stripe
Payment methods supported: https://stripe.com/en-gb-nl/payments/payment-methods-guide#payment-methods-fact-sheets
Pros:
Supports multiple payment methods
Has very detailed API documentation
A very developer friendly experience
Easy to debug webhooks etc.
By far the largest number of payment methods supported
Natively supports lots of subscription features
Cons:
No PayPal support
GoCardless
Payment methods supported: Bacs in UK and SEPA in EU
We use GoCardless mostly because it used to be the only payment system that supported UK direct debits (Bacs) but that is no longer the case.
Pros:
Not sure
Cons:
Very limited payment methods
Very basic dashboard with almost no analytics
Developer tools are almost non-existent
Very hard to analyse what objects are relevant in webhooks
A very basic model of subscription, it's more of just a payment schedule
e.g. Subscriptions and payments are very loosely connected, a subscription creates payments but then has no knowledge of if they've succeeded or failed. It's hard to work out simple things like know when the subscription is active until, you have to manually check the payments.
Payment retry system retries over 4 weeks, more aimed at paying for a service that has already been fulfilled than an ongoing membership
Poor support
Braintree
Payment methods supported: https://www.braintreepayments.com/gb/features/payment-methods
I haven't used Braintree much, it is owned by PayPal and is there challenger product to Stripe. Seems to have a decent API and subscription model.
Pros:
Looks like it has feature parity with Stripe in terms of API
Native PayPal support
Cons:
No direct debit support (Bacs/SEPA)
Other options
There are probably lots of other options out there, including some that build on top of these systems. However for each layer you add there will be a service charge and I haven't really seen a system out there adds necessary functionality, although I've never looked into things like tax requirements.
Features that might be useful:
Tax functionality? I don't know anything about this area so I don't know what these would be, at the Cable we process things like reclaiming VAT etc.
Ability for users to update their payment details. In all the systems above you have to create your own UIs for updating payment details, this isn't very complicated but maybe there is something out there that does it all already?
Conclusions
Ignore GoCardless. I would opt for Stripe over Braintree because it offers more local European payment methods and I'm more familiar with it, but I think it's a close call. Braintree's native PayPal support is a big bonus. Lots of active debate on the internet about this:
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