The four online payment apps
Storeep has four apps that take online card payments. Each has its own guide:
- Stripe: cards almost anywhere, with optional Apple Pay and Google Pay.
- PayPal: buyers pay with their PayPal account.
- CMI: Moroccan bank card gateway.
- Paystack: cards, bank transfer, USSD and mobile money in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire and Egypt.
You can run any of them together, and with cash on delivery or bank transfer. For phone wallets, see Mobile Money. Not sure which to pick? See Which payment app should I use?
How an online payment works
- The buyer picks the method at checkout and places the order.
- They are sent to the gateway's own secure page to pay. Storeep never sees their card details.
- After paying, they come back to your thank you page.
The money goes straight to your own Stripe, PayPal, CMI or Paystack account. It does not pass through Storeep.
What happens to the order
- Until the payment is confirmed, the order is saved as Abandoned. If the buyer cancels or the card is refused, it stays Abandoned.
- When the buyer comes back to your thank you page and the gateway confirms the payment, the order becomes Done and is marked Paid. The order page shows a Paid with tag with the gateway name.
If a buyer paid but closed the page before coming back to your store, the order can stay Abandoned. Look for the payment in your gateway dashboard. If it is there, open the order and change its status to Done, which also marks it paid. More in What do the order statuses mean?
Currencies
The currency that counts is the currency of the market the buyer is shopping in.
- Stripe charges in the market's currency. If Stripe does not support it, the amount is converted to US dollars.
- PayPal always charges in US dollars, converted from the market's currency.
- CMI only shows for markets priced in MAD, EUR or USD.
- Paystack only shows for markets priced in NGN, GHS, KES, ZAR, XOF, EGP or USD.
Several Stripe or PayPal accounts (sharing payments)
Stripe and PayPal let you connect several accounts and share payments between them. Each new account is added with the Add new Stripe account or Add new PayPal account button and shows in the accounts table. Choose a Method:
- Use one chosen account always: every payment goes to the account you pick in Account.
- Switch account after a number of payments: each account takes the Number of use you set (1 to 99 payments), then the least used account takes over.
- Switch account after an amount is reached: each account takes payments until it reaches the Amount you set in USD, then the account that received the least takes over.
Only paid orders count. The table marks the account taking payments now with Current in use, and shows the Usage number or Usage amount of each account. To connect several accounts in one sitting, use a different browser for each, so one login does not replace the other.
To remove accounts, tick them and choose Delete Stripe accounts or Delete PayPal accounts. If you delete the account in use, another account takes over. If you delete every account, the app's settings are cleared and you connect again from the start.
When a payment cannot start
If the gateway refuses to open the payment page, the buyer sees a message asking the account owner to reconnect the account, and the order stays Abandoned. For Stripe and PayPal, Storeep also emails the connected account's email address with the subject Payment gateway error and the gateway's own error message. Each app's guide lists the usual causes.
Common questions
- Why does my gateway not show at checkout? See what each method needs before it shows.
- How do I test? Paystack accepts test keys. Stripe, PayPal and CMI always take real payments, so place a small real order and refund it from your gateway dashboard. See each app's guide.
- Are my keys safe? Never share your CMI Store key or your Paystack Secret key with anyone.