MemberPress Payments

MemberPress simplifies registration and subscription payments by offering several payment options. It collects offline payments and integrates with Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Authorize.net for online payments.

This document explains how MemberPress payment gateways work and how MemberPress processes payments.

You’re reading the MemberPress Getting Started guide:

Getting Started With MemberPress
Activate Your MemberPress License
Enabling Features With MemberPress Add-ons
MemberPress Settings And Default Pages
MemberPress Memberships And Groups
Protect Content With MemberPress
MemberPress Payments
Building Directories And Communities With MemberPress

MemberPress Payment Gateways

When you enable a payment gateway in MemberPress settings, it adds a payment option to your registration pages.

You can offer one or several payment methods, supporting both offline and online payments.

Note: Each payment method requires its own payment gateway.

If you enable the MemberPress shopping cart, the cart checkout uses the same gateways. Each gateway has an Enable for cart option, disabled by default. The cart checkout supports Stripe and offline payments only. PayPal, Square, and Authorize.net work on registration pages only.

Online vs. Offline Payments

Offline payments are not collected on your website. Members pay by bank transfer or another method outside the site. When a member chooses an offline payment method, MemberPress creates a transaction and marks it as pending. You update its status manually once the payment arrives in your bank account.

Online payments are processed instantly by payment processors like Stripe, PayPal, or Square. Payment processors act as intermediaries that let merchants charge credit cards. During registration, MemberPress sends the user to a secure payment form provided by the processor. Once the payment completes, MemberPress creates and updates the transaction automatically. It activates or deactivates the subscription based on the payment status.

Payment forms appear either on a separate page or embedded in the registration page. Either way, the payment processor hosts them. Users submit their card details to the processor, never to your website.

Note: To accept payments, you must configure at least one payment gateway in MemberPress settings.

Setting Up Payment Methods

To accept payments, configure a payment method for each gateway:

1. Navigate to Dashboard > MemberPress > Settings > Payments tab.
2. Click Add Payment Method at the bottom of the page.

3. Name the payment method. This label appears on registration pages.
4. Choose whether to display the Payment Label, Icon, or Description for this payment method on registration pages.
5. Select a Gateway for this payment method. For offline payments, choose Offline Payment and configure the offline payment gateway.

Note: This feature is available with the MemberPress Growth and Scale plans. If you’re subscribed to the Launch plan, you can upgrade the MemberPress plan to use it.

6. For online payments, connect the payment method to a processor. Choose between Stripe, PayPal Complete Payments, Square, and Authorize.net. The dropdown also offers PayPal Standard (Legacy) for older setups. Each online gateway has its own settings and limitations.

Note: PayPal and Square are available with the MemberPress Growth and Scale plans. If you’re subscribed to the Launch plan, you can upgrade the MemberPress plan to use them.

Note: Authorize.net is available with the MemberPress Scale plan only. If you’re subscribed to any other plan, you can upgrade the MemberPress plan to use it.

7. Click the Update Options button to save changes.

Note: As an alternative or an addition to the built-in gateways, you can add a custom gateway.

Processing Online Payments

Online and offline payments follow different processes. Online payments require communication between MemberPress and the connected payment processor.

Important: MemberPress applies a transaction fee to all Stripe transactions on the Launch plan.

The process also differs for one-time and recurring subscriptions.

One-Time Subscriptions

For one-time subscriptions, the processor handles the payment in the following steps:

1. On registration, MemberPress sends the membership terms and user data to the processor.
2. The processor collects the card details securely and processes the payment.
3. The processor returns the transaction data to MemberPress.
4. MemberPress uses the received data to create the transaction on your website.
5. The one-time subscription becomes active. It expires when the transaction on your website expires.

Note: MemberPress does not collect or store card details on your website. Payment processors collect card details through their secure payment forms.

Recurring Subscriptions

Recurring subscriptions add a few steps:

1. On registration, MemberPress sends the transaction data and also creates a subscription on the payment processor.
2. The processor collects the payment details, processes the payment, and returns the data to MemberPress.
3. MemberPress creates the transaction and the subscription on your website.
4. MemberPress links the transaction to the subscription.
5. The recurring subscription becomes active. When the current transaction expires, the subscription renews.

On renewal dates, the processor charges the user automatically based on the subscription created at registration. When MemberPress receives the renewal data, it adds a new transaction to the existing subscription. The new transaction extends the subscription by one period.

Note: MemberPress does not initiate renewals. Payment processors renew all subscriptions automatically without further communication with MemberPress.

The processor keeps renewing the subscription until a member or an administrator cancels it in MemberPress. Canceling in MemberPress tells the processor to stop renewals.

Warning: Deleting subscriptions, transactions, users, or the MemberPress plugin does not cancel recurring subscriptions. You can cancel subscriptions at Dashboard > MemberPress > Subscriptions.

Processing Offline Payments

Offline payments are simpler to process because no external service is involved. On the other hand, you manage them manually.

The process depends on your offline gateway settings. The Admin Must Manually Complete Transactions option is on the Payments tab at Dashboard > MemberPress > Settings. By default, this option is disabled.

With the option disabled, new transactions get the Complete status. The subscriptions become active at once.

This means members gain access to protected content before you confirm the payment.

Manually Completing Offline Payments

The recommended setup enables the Admin Must Manually Complete Transactions option. New transactions then get the Pending status, and their subscriptions stay inactive.

You update the transaction status manually after confirming the payment. When a user chooses the offline payment method, the process includes the following steps:

1. MemberPress creates a transaction with the Pending status on your website.
2. For recurring subscriptions, MemberPress also creates the related subscription.
3. You collect the offline payment from the user (for example, by bank transfer). This includes sending a (proforma) invoice if your country requires it.
4. Once the payment arrives, navigate to Dashboard > MemberPress > Transactions and find the user’s transaction.
5. Click the Pending status under the Status column to open the dropdown.
6. Change the status to Complete, and click Save.

As a result, the subscription becomes active, and the user gains access to the protected content.

For recurring subscriptions, MemberPress does not create new transactions on renewals. For each renewal, collect the offline payment first. Then add the new transaction manually to the existing subscription.