Payment Processing
Memberful requires a Stripe account to process credit card payments. We manage the member subscriptions within Memberful and store the credit cards with Stripe. When it's time to charge, we charge the customer's credit card in Stripe.
In this article, discover more about Stripe, understand how our transaction fees operate, and find answers to other frequently asked questions about payments.
In this help doc:
- What is Stripe?
- Is Stripe available in my country?
- How does it work?
- How do my customers pay me?
- How do our transaction fees work?
- Do you support other payment processors?
- How do I handle disputes or chargebacks?
What is Stripe?
Stripe is a full-stack credit card payment processor. They're a lot like PayPal but with simpler pricing (no hidden fees), a cleaner interface, and more modern security features that don't require us to handle sensitive customer credit card data.
If you don't have a Stripe account, you can sign up and connect directly from Memberful. The Stripe sign-up form is short and simple, and should take less than five minutes. Memberful connects to your Stripe account with a click (visit Account → Activate account). It's free to sign up for Stripe, and they have simple transaction-based pricing.
Is Stripe available in my country?
Stripe is available in more than 45 countries. Check here to see if your country is supported.
Please note that Stripe does not support the collection of application fees in the countries listed below. As a result, Memberful cannot support businesses in these countries:
- Brazil
- India
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Thailand
If Stripe isn't available in your country yet, you can use Stripe Atlas to easily incorporate a U.S. company, set up a U.S. bank account, and activate payments with Stripe.
How does it work?
Stripe connects with your bank and handles the back-end credit card processing for Memberful. They automatically deposit any payments you receive through Memberful directly to your bank account. They also provide you with the appropriate documents and exports for bookkeeping and tax reporting.
Do you support SCA and 3D Secure 2?
We use Stripe's latest technology to fully comply with EU requirements for SCA and 3D Secure 2.0. You can read more about it in this blog post.
How do my customers pay me?
Once you've connected to your Stripe account, your customers pay you with any major credit card (
Visa, 
Mastercard, 
American Express, 
Discover, 
JCB) from anywhere in the world. They can also pay you through 
Apple Pay or 
Google Pay.
How do our transaction fees work?
Once your customer completes a purchase or renewal, we’ll apply a flat transaction fee of 4.9%. Stripe charges you an additional credit card processing fee that varies by country. See Stripe pricing for more details.
Do you support other payment processors?
We don't support any other payment processors at this time.
How do I handle disputes or chargebacks?
Occasionally, members may dispute a charge through their credit card provider. Stripe forwards the necessary evidence to the card issuer to facilitate resolving the chargeback. Addressing any disputes quickly and professionally will help keep your Stripe account in good standing. You'll find more details and how to prevent them here.
Related help docs:
- What happens with failed payments?
- How do I switch Stripe accounts?
- How do I select my currency?
- How do I collect taxes?