BlueLena Guide: Stripe is a user-friendly online payment processing platform. With Stripe Direct, publishers can create and customize subscription plans, set billing intervals, and implement trial periods to attract and retain subscribers.

Note: This is a resource guide for Stripe as a subscriptions management/monetization platform AND payment processor. If you’re only using Stripe as a payment processor, in conjunction with a separate subscriptions management platform (Memberful, Newspack, Wallkit) check out this article.

Why would I use Stripe Direct?

Streamline subscription management:

  • Publications often rely on subscriptions to monetize their content. Stripe simplifies subscription management, allowing publications to set up and manage recurring payments.
    • Subscription plans: Allow publications to create and manage various subscription plans, defining pricing, billing intervals and other parameters.
    • Recurring billing: Automates the recurring billing process, charging subscribers at predefined intervals without manual intervention.
    • Trial periods: Enables publications to set up trial periods, allowing potential subscribers to experience the service before committing to a paid subscription.
    • Billing cycles: Provides flexibility in billing cycles, allowing businesses to choose billing frequencies that suit their subscription model, such as monthly or annually.

Customer portal: Offers a customer portal where subscribers can manage their subscriptions, update payment information and view billing history. For documentation on how to enable your customer portal, click here.

Why should I use Stripe Direct over other platforms?

  • Ease of use: 
    • Stripe is fairly straightforward, allowing publications to quickly set up and manage subscriptions on their websites. 
  • Flexibility in payment options:  
    • Stripe supports a wide range of payment methods, including, credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and even international payment methods. 
  • Subscription management features: 
    • Stripe allows publications to set up various subscription plans, trial periods, and promotional offers. 
    • Stripe also offers automated billing.
  • Analytics and reporting: 
    • Stripe offers detailed analytics and reporting tools, providing publications with insights into subscriber behavior, payment performance and revenue trends.

How do I set up my Stripe account?

If you’re looking to create a Stripe account, you can learn more about this process and setup here.

***Note that to ensure subscribers have a place where they can manage their subscription/account, you’ll first need to setup the customer portal.

Is a contact required to link with a phone number?

Customers are not required to link a phone number to their account. Learn how to enable/disable phone number collection here.

How does a subscriber login to their account?

You can direct a subscriber to log into your Stripe account by following the guide on this link here. Additionally, we’ve listed the process below and highlighted the section of most importance, which states that once you create the customer portal you can link this on your website. Therefore, the exact instructions for a subscriber logging into the portal will depend on where your publication places the customer portal link on your site, and you’ll need to direct them here.

How do I switch payment tiers?

If you’re looking to enable customers to upgrade their subscription plan, you can learn more about this process here. Refer specifically to the section named “Checkout Experience” for details on how a subscriber can change their payment tier.

How do I issue a refund or cancel a payment?

  • If you’re looking to issue a refund, you can learn more about this process here. 
  • If you’re looking to cancel a subscription on behalf of a subscriber, click here.
    • Allowing your customers to cancel their subscription within the customer portal is enabled by default. Learn more about this here.

How to update a subscriber’s payment method?

In order for a subscriber to update their payment information on Stripe, the publication needs to send a link. You can learn more about this process here.

If however a subscriber requests that the publisher updates their payment method for them, please follow the steps listed below:

  • First, log into your Stripe account and then search the user’s email address up top in the search bar
  • Next, scroll down on their profile until you see the section labeled “Payment Methods”
  • Click the “+” icon off the right and then select “Add Card”. Proceed to enter the relevant card details into the modal
  • Once this is done, save those changes and then next to the new card you just added, you’ll see a “…” icon off to the right again.
  • Click that icon and then select “Set as default”.
  • Finally, delete the old card on file, and you will have completed the process of manually updating a subscriber’s payment method.

How do I use Stripe Direct reporting?

If you’re looking to better understand your publication’s performance via reporting, you’ll first need to login to your Stripe account and then navigate here. You can also locate the full list of the available subscriptions reporting metrics here.

How do I manually create a new subscriber within Stripe?

If a contact is unable to make payment from their end and needs assistance, you can go into Stripe and manually setup their subscription/profile following the instructions here.

ACH Direct Debit

If you’re looking to accept ACH Direct Deposits, you can learn more about this process here. All e-checks are considered ACH.