Connect Stripe
You choose how your members pay. For card and direct debit Selfdesk opens a prefilled Stripe account; money only moves after Stripe approves it.
Stripe is the rail your members pay on by card or direct debit. Your space gets its own Stripe account, and the payments land directly on it, not on an account of Selfdesk. Without Stripe the invoice stays a document your member transfers money against.
What you have already entered in Selfdesk we pass on to Stripe: legal form, name, phone, register number, website and your bank account, and for a company or association the address too. As a sole trader you give Stripe your home address; Selfdesk does not have it. First Stripe asks for your email address and mobile number: that is how you sign in there. After that Stripe only asks for what only Stripe needs (see below).
In the app
- Open Payments in the management section.
- Under How may your members pay? tick the boxes: Bank transfer,
Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Direct debit (SEPA). Card and direct
debit show what one payment costs on your most expensive plan.
Payments with the question how your members may pay - Bank transfer only: tap Save. You do not need Stripe then.
- With card or direct debit: tap Continue to Stripe, check the details there and add the rest.
- If you come back and details are still missing, it reads Complete Stripe Setup with the number of open items. Continue Setup takes you back to Stripe.
- Once everything is approved it reads Stripe Connected with Payments Enabled and Payouts Enabled set to Yes.
On the web
- Open Payments in the settings. The page is called Member payments.
- Under How may your members pay? tick the boxes: Bank transfer, Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Direct debit (SEPA). Card and direct debit show what one payment costs on your most expensive plan.
- Bank transfer only: click Save. You do not need Stripe then.
- With card or direct debit: click Continue to Stripe, check the details there and add the rest.
- If details are missing afterwards, it reads Finish setup with the number of items remaining and Continue setup.
- Once everything is approved it reads Stripe is connected with Charging enabled and Payouts enabled.
What Stripe still asks
That depends on the legal form you chose under Legal details.
| Legal form | Stripe still asks for |
|---|---|
| Sole trader, freelancer, e. K. | your date of birth and home address, then your consent |
| GmbH, UG, AG | who represents the company and who owns at least 25 % |
| GbR | the partners |
| e. V. | who represents the association and who is on the board |
Above Continue to Stripe, Selfdesk lists what to have ready for your legal form: mobile number, ID, IBAN and, for a company or association, the register number and the details of the persons.
With direct debit you also take one photo of your ID and one of yourself with your phone. Owners and board members are entered at Stripe only, not in Selfdesk.
What applies here
- The owner of the space connects Stripe. That step names the bank account the members' payments go to. Continuing the setup, opening the Stripe account and disconnecting are also the owner's alone. Admins see whether Stripe is connected and switch the payment methods.
- Legal details first. If they are incomplete, a note with Go to legal details stands in place of the question. Without them Stripe cannot open your account.
- Your tick counts at once; money is collected only after Stripe's approval. While Stripe is still reviewing a payment method, it shows Waiting for Stripe. Your members see it only once it is approved; until then they pay by bank transfer.
- Direct debit only comes with card. Stripe requires it. If you tick direct debit later, Selfdesk requests it at Stripe; if Stripe needs more details for it, Continue setup takes you there. Removing a tick changes nothing at Stripe.
- Day guests pay by card. Without card you cannot sell paid day tickets or room bookings to guests.
- You do not need Stripe to publish. Setup lists it as the suggestion Accept card and direct debit until you have submitted the Stripe form. Collection only happens once Stripe has approved your account. Until then it reads No and nothing is charged.
- At least one payment method must be chosen. You cannot remove the last tick.
- Kiosk purchases need a stored payment method. The kiosk invoice at the end of the month is always collected once cards are enabled and Stripe has cleared your account for charging.
- The member's choice counts. If you also offer bank transfer and a member picked it, the month-end run skips collection for that member. See Switch to bank transfer.
- Your space bears the cost of payment processing. Stripe charges a fee for every payment; Selfdesk passes it on to you at cost: for cards from the EEA 1.75% + €0.25 per payment, for SEPA direct debit 0.25% + €0.35, more for cards from outside the EEA (up to 3.5% + €0.25). Each includes 0.25% of the amount for the payout; VAT comes on top. Stripe withholds the amount from the payment directly; the rest arrives on your Stripe account. Selfdesk adds nothing. If you refund a member, the fee stays. Bank transfers cost nothing.
- At the end of the month you get a statement for it. For every month with at least one payment, Selfdesk issues the Payment fee statement on the 1st of the following month: per payment method the number of payments, the volume and the fee withheld, below that net, VAT and gross. Nothing is left to pay – the amount reads "already withheld through Stripe". On the web it sits on the Subscription page (Overview → Finance → Space subscription) under Payment fees, in the app under Payments in the Stripe card, as a PDF. Only the owner sees it.
- Stripe is only the rail. Number, PDF and content of the invoice come from Selfdesk. See Issued invoices are frozen.
- Disconnecting needs a code. Before Selfdesk removes the connection to Stripe, it sends a code to your address. See Confirmation code before certain actions.
- If Stripe no longer knows your account, you decide. The page then shows Stripe doesn't know your space's account with Try again and Disconnect (in the app Disconnect Stripe). Sometimes this clears up shortly after. If you disconnect and set up a new Stripe account, your members' cards and direct debit mandates don't work there. Before you disconnect, the page says how many members this affects. They get an email once the new account can collect payments, and add their payment method again.
When it does not work