Connect Stripe & get paid out
Onboard once with Stripe to take card payments on quotes, invoices and booking deposits — and have the money paid out to your own bank.
Settings & integrations10 in this section
Settings → Payments is where you switch on card payments for your shop. You onboard once through Stripe — Stripe collects your bank details and verifies your ID — and after that customers can pay quotes, invoices and booking deposits by card, with the money landing in your Stripe account and paying out to your bank. Service VIN never touches your bank login or a customer's card number; that all happens on Stripe's own hosted pages.
Your shop becomes a Standard Stripe account — a full Stripe account you log into and control. That means you are the merchant of record: your business name shows on the customer's card statement, the money is your money, and Stripe pays it out to your bank on its rolling daily schedule. Service VIN keeps a small commission on each payment (see the rate card below) and stays out of the money path otherwise. Only owners and managers can set this up; everyone else sees the page read-only with a "Ask an owner or manager" note.
Turn on card payments
- 1
Click Set up payments
On Settings → Payments, the Set up payments button sends you to Stripe's hosted onboarding. On a first click Service VIN quietly creates your connected account behind the scenes, then hands you off to Stripe.
- 2
Finish Stripe onboarding
On Stripe's pages, add your bank account for payouts, your business details, and verify your identity (KYC). This is about a five-minute job. If you leave partway through, the button comes back as Finish setup so you can pick up where you left off.
- 3
Wait for Stripe to verify
When you return, the status badge reads Under review while Stripe checks your details — usually a few minutes. Hit Refresh status to pull the latest. Once Stripe clears you, the badge flips to Active and the in-app Pay now buttons go live.
- 4
Clear any outstanding items
If Stripe still needs something (a bank account, a business website, an ID document), the page lists it under "Stripe needs a few more details." Click Finish setup to jump back into Stripe and supply it.
Reading the status badge
Two Stripe flags drive all of this. Charges enabled means you can accept a card right now — this is the flag Service VIN checks before it shows a Pay now button on a quote, invoice or booking. Payouts enabled means Stripe will move your collected balance to your bank. They usually turn on together, but Stripe can enable charges while still holding payouts until, say, you add a bank account — so you might be taking payments before the first payout lands. The requirements list on the page tells you exactly what's still missing.
Where payouts go and when. Payouts land in the bank account you entered during onboarding, on Stripe's rolling daily schedule (the first one takes a little longer while Stripe establishes your account). To change your bank, adjust your payout schedule, or see your balance and payout history, click Open Stripe dashboard on the Payments page once you're Active — Standard accounts log straight into their own Stripe dashboard.
Your processing rate. The rate card on the same page sets what customers are charged per card payment — a percentage plus a fixed fee in your currency. Because you're a Standard account, Stripe's own processing cost (roughly 2.9% + 30¢) comes out of your charge directly, and the rate you set here is Service VIN's commission on top of that. So a smaller number than you might expect still earns real margin. Change it any time with Save rate; it applies to future payments only.
Refunds come out of your balance
Issue refunds from the invoice or payment inside Service VIN — the refund is charged to your Stripe balance and Service VIN's commission on that amount is handed back too, so the customer is made whole from your funds, not ours. The same goes for chargebacks: if a customer disputes a charge, Stripe pulls the disputed amount straight from your balance (or your bank if it goes negative). That's the trade-off of being the merchant of record.
What this powers. Once you're Active, a Pay now button appears on invoices and on the shared quote/invoice pages in the customer portal, and online bookings can collect a deposit by card at the time of booking (turn on "Require a deposit to book" under Settings → Online booking). Turn payments off and bookings still work — you just won't collect a live deposit.
Troubleshooting
You finished Stripe onboarding but the badge still says "Under review".
Why: Your latest status from Stripe hasn't synced into the page automatically yet.
Fix: Click Refresh status to pull the latest straight from Stripe. If the badge keeps reverting on its own, ask your operator to check the payments setup.
You're Active but a customer still can't see a Pay now button.
Why: Pay now only appears when charges are enabled; a payment link may also need the invoice to have a balance due.
Fix: Check the badge reads Active on Settings → Payments, then reopen the invoice — Pay now shows once there's an outstanding balance.
Stripe keeps asking for "a few more details" and won't go Active.
Why: There's an outstanding requirement — commonly a bank account for payouts, a business website, or an ID document.
Fix: Read the list on the Payments page, click Finish setup to return to Stripe, and supply what it names.
Money is being collected but nothing pays out to your bank.
Why: Charges are enabled but payouts aren't — usually a missing bank account or a Stripe verification hold.
Fix: Open Stripe dashboard, add or fix your bank account and clear any verification prompts; payouts start on Stripe's daily schedule once cleared.
Common questions
Whose name shows on the customer's card statement?
Yours. Each charge is created directly on your own Stripe account, so you're the merchant of record and your business name appears on the statement.
How long until I get my first payout?
Payouts run on Stripe's rolling daily schedule once payouts are enabled, but the very first one takes a bit longer while Stripe establishes your account. You can see the exact timing and change your schedule in your Stripe dashboard.
Can I take a payment before payouts are enabled?
Sometimes. Stripe can switch on "charges enabled" (so Pay now works) while still holding "payouts enabled" until you finish something like adding a bank account. The money is safe in your Stripe balance and pays out once that clears.
How do I refund a customer?
From the invoice or payment inside Service VIN. The refund comes out of your Stripe balance and the commission on it is returned, so the customer gets the full amount back.
Does Service VIN hold my money?
No. Funds are collected into your own Stripe account and pay out to your bank. Service VIN only takes its commission on each charge — it's never in the path for your balance or any loss.