How do I sign up to accept card payments?
How do I sign up to accept card payments?
To do this, both in person and online – including Apple Pay and Google Pay – you’ll need to set up a Stripe account (we’ve teamed up with them to process card payments for our customers).
Start by tapping Get set up under ‘Accept card payments’ in the ‘Get Paid’ tab of your mobile app.
We’ll then redirect you to Stripe’s website where you can follow the steps to sign up. You must be authorised by your business to create a Stripe account. And you’ll need to give them an email address and phone number that you’ll use to log in.
Stripe will also ask you for some information about your business. So you might want to have this handy before you apply (don’t worry if you need to take a break from the application to find something though – they’ll save what you’ve done so it’ll be there for you to finish whenever you’re ready).
Information you’ll need to give Stripe
They’ll ask for:
your business’ name, address and phone number
the business type – if you’re a sole trader, choose ‘Individual / Sole trader’, and if you’re a limited company it’s ‘Company’
the business’ structure – if you’re a limited company, choose ‘Private company’
your VAT number (if you have one)
the industry you work in (choose from a drop-down list)
your website – Stripe use this to verify your business. Don’t worry if you don’t have a website. You can also use your business’ Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn page. If you don’t have anything online at all, you’ll need to talk to Stripe’s support to verify your business in another way
a description of your product or service in a few sentences e.g. ‘I carry out plumbing in East Glasgow. I get paid immediately after providing the service’
If your business is a limited company, you’ll also need to give Stripe:
the registered business name and address
your Companies House registration number
the business’ trading name (if it’s different from your registered name as a limited company)
You’ll also need to add information about the business’ representatives. As you’ve already got the authority to open the account for your business, this might well be you. If it isn’t, you’ll need to add the name of an executive, senior manager or someone else who’s responsible for controlling and managing your business. You’ll need to give them the person’s:
legal name
date of birth
home address
role in the business e.g. owner, chief executive officer, partner, etc.
phone and email
As well as this you’ll need to give Stripe information on your business’:
owners – names, emails and home addresses of anyone who owns 25% or more of your business (Stripe need this for regulatory reasons)
directors – names, emails and home addresses for anyone listed as a director at Companies House
executives – names, emails and home addresses for anyone who has significant management responsibility for your business
Finally, add some details about fulfilment – how you normally provide your products or services (choose from a drop-down list).
Setting up a Direct Debit
Once you’ve added all your business details, you’ll need to give Stripe your bank account details, and agree to set up a Direct Debit from it. Find out why you have to set up a Direct Debit. This should be the account you want Stripe to pay your customers’ card payments in to.
They’ll also take their fees from this account, and use it for customer refunds or disputed payments. Note that if your account balance is zero or negative, they’ll still take money for refunds or fees. Find out more about this.
Once you’ve set that up, you’ll need to add your customer support details. These will help your customers recognise that they’ve paid your business when they look at their card statements. They include:
a statement descriptor – what your customers will see on their card statements. You can just use your business name here, or whatever you use when you talk to your customers to identify yourself. It must be more than five characters long
a shortened descriptor – to make it easier to fit on the card statement. It can be your business name again or a shorter version of it
your customer support number – the phone number you’d like your customers to use for any questions
When you’ve added all the information you need to, tap ‘Done’ and we’ll bring you back to your Monzo app.
Stripe will then review your application, and we’ll let you know when your account is good to go.
How long will it take for my Stripe to approve my account?
They’ll review your application as soon as you submit it. This should only take a few minutes, but it might take longer if they need more information. If that’s the case, they’ll email you.
Once Stripe activates your account, you’ll be able to start taking card payments straight away. Stripe will pay these into your linked account a few working days after a customer pays for something. This might take a bit longer if it’s your first time getting money from your Stripe account or if they need to run more checks.
You can also set yourself up to take contactless card payments – find out how.
Already got a Stripe account?
You’ll need to create a new Stripe account to accept card payments using Monzo. Use the same email address for the Stripe account you already have.
Then, when you log in you’ll see two separate accounts in the top left – one showing all your Monzo/Stripe activity, and another showing anything else. So you can easily keep your Monzo requests apart from your other activity.
Need to add more people to your Stripe account?
You can do this at any time from your Stripe dashboard.
