Settings › Payments & Taxes
Payments Setup
How your store takes money: connect Stripe, Square or PayPal in one click or with a test account first, every way shoppers pay in one list, live or test at a glance, and a check before you go live. 12 parts.
Quick links
Where to find it:WP Admin › EasyCart › Settings › Payments & Taxes › Payments
Taking cards
Who takes your card payments
The card processor, the steps left to finish it, and its settings.
How do you take payments?
Stripe, Square and PayPal connect here in one click, or with a test account first
no stored settingsThe page opens with a one-line summary of how shoppers pay now, such as Cards through Stripe, plus Bill later, and anything that needs you, such as a card processor still in test mode. Beside the title, Flex-Fees opens your fees and View your checkout opens your cart in a new tab.
The first card asks one question. Before any card processor is in use it shows Stripe, Square and PayPal side by side, with Another gateway ( PRO ) across the row. Each card says what it gives you and which plan it needs.
Connect Stripe, Connect Square and Connect PayPal open the provider to sign in or sign up, then bring you back to this page with a note saying what happened. Under each sits or connect a test account ( or connect a sandbox account for Square and PayPal ), so you can try your checkout with test cards before any real money moves. On the free edition the first Connect asks you to accept the EasyCart Connect terms, and a note says WP EasyCart fee: 2% of each sale on the Free plan for Stripe, Square and PayPal payments, which PRO and Premium do not charge.
Once a card processor is in use, only its card shows, marked In use. A banner on it says plainly whether payments are Live ( real cards are charged ) or in Test mode, and Settings opens its settings in a side panel. Change payment gateway opens the other choices under it; the one in use keeps taking payments until you choose another, and changing asks first. PayPal stays in view below, because it works on its own or beside any card processor: connected, it shows its own live or sandbox banner, Settings and Turn off.
Another gateway is for every other card gateway WP EasyCart supports. Use another gateway shows Which gateway?, a searchable list with the ones usual in your store country first. Set it up opens that gateway’s settings; save and turn it on and it takes your card payments. Square is only offered where Square takes payments, and the card says so for other countries.
Every change made on this page is listed under Recent changes here at the foot, kept for 30 days, each with Undo.
For a step by step walkthrough, see How to Take Your First Payment.
💡 Note: Not taking cards yet? PayPal on its own, or bank transfer, is enough to start. Cards need a card processor: Stripe, Square or another gateway.
Steps for your card processor
A short checklist that checks itself
no stored settingsUnder the first card, Steps for Stripe ( or Square, or your gateway’s name ) lists what is left, with a count such as 2 of 3 done. Each step is a live check with its fix beside it, marked To do, Needs attention, Optional or done, so it updates as you work.
Stripe: connect it ( a test account shows Stripe is in test mode with Take live payments ), Apple Pay and Google Pay with the switch Offer Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout ( PRO ), and Subscriptions, which are ready as soon as Stripe is connected.
Square first asks Will you sell subscriptions? Subscriptions bill through Stripe and checkout takes cards through one processor, so a Yes offers Take cards with Stripe instead. A store that already has a subscription product finds it answered. Then: connect Square, Your Square location ( Choose the location ), Do you keep your items in Square? with Import from Square, and with PRO Stock follows Square ( counts come from Square every hour ), Do you sell Square gift cards? and Apple Pay and Google Pay. With Apple Pay on and Square live, the wallet step says when Apple Pay still needs something on your domain.
Another gateway asks the subscriptions question too, then its details ( Enter them ), its live or test mode where it has one, and whether it offers Apple Pay and Google Pay ( among the other gateways, only NMI does ).
A gateway’s settings
One side panel, one Save button, secrets hidden
no stored settingsSettings, Manage and the gateway buttons all open the same side panel. Its header repeats the state, such as Connected and Test mode, and a panel with three or more groups shows them as tabs. Stripe’s are Payments, Currency and country, Payment methods, Checkout, Subscriptions and Notifications from Stripe.
Changes wait for the one Save button at the foot, so you can change several things and save them together; closing with changes unsaved asks first. A gateway that is not on yet may offer Save and turn on, and where saving also makes it the gateway for its part of checkout, the panel says so beside the buttons.
Secrets stay hidden. Stripe’s secret keys and its Signing secret and Test mode signing secret show as dots, with a Show button beside each, so they are not on screen while someone looks over your shoulder. Password managers are told to leave those boxes alone.
Where a gateway needs its provider to send notifications back, the address to give the provider is shown with a Copy button. Without notifications, your store never hears about refunds, disputes and delayed payments made on the provider’s side.
When a payment fails, see How to Fix Payment Failed and Gateway Errors.
💡 Note: Where a gateway shows a webhook address, give it to the provider. Without it your store is never told that a payment succeeded, failed or was refunded; those events are recorded under Settings › Advanced › Log entries.
Every way to pay
Wallets, buttons, bank transfer and fees
Everything shoppers can pay with, paying offline, and fees by way to pay.
What shoppers can pay with
Every way to pay in one list, with what carries it
no stored settingsOne table lists every way a shopper can pay, what carries it under Through, and a switch or button to change it. Checkout takes cards through one card processor at a time; PayPal, Amazon Pay and bank transfer sit beside it. Switches save as you flip them and land in Recent changes with Undo.
Cards are on once a card processor is connected, and say Needs a card processor until then. Apple Pay and Google Pay come with Stripe, Square or NMI ( PRO ); with any other gateway the row says Not with that gateway. With Stripe, Link and Stripe’s local ways to pay follow: the buy now, pay later, bank and wallet methods shoppers in your country use most, such as Affirm, Klarna or iDEAL, each with its own switch ( PRO ). One in a currency Stripe does not take it in shows Not in your currency. More through Stripe opens Stripe’s Payment methods for the rest.
PayPal shows Add PayPal until it is connected, then a switch and Manage. Venmo ( shoppers in the US ) and Pay Later ( US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Australia ) wait for PayPal Checkout buttons, then get switches of their own ( PRO ).
Amazon Pay through Stripe ( PRO ). With Stripe taking your cards, Amazon Pay is one switch, Through Stripe: no Amazon Pay account or keys to set up. Stripe offers it to businesses in the US, the UK and the euro countries ( Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain ), charging in their own currency; elsewhere the table says so. Amazon Pay must also be turned on in your Stripe account. or your own Amazon Pay account keeps the separate Amazon Pay gateway, and on a store that does not take cards through Stripe that is the only way ( Add Amazon Pay ). With both on, shoppers would see Amazon Pay twice, and the page tells you to turn one off.
Bank transfer, shown under the name shoppers see ( Pay by bank transfer unless you rename it ), has a switch and Wording and bank details. A new store starts with it off. While it is on, orders paid this way wait as Awaiting bank transfer until you mark them paid.
Beside the list, What your customer sees draws the payment step from these choices: express buttons first, then the card form, other ways and bank transfer.
💡 Note: Amazon Pay through Stripe needs no Amazon Pay keys. Keep your own Amazon Pay account only if you do not take cards through Stripe, or Amazon Pay is not offered through Stripe where you are.
Bank transfer ( Bill later )
Take the order now, collect payment yourself, for everyone or chosen roles
no stored settingsBank transfer is the offline way to pay, called Bill later in the settings: the order is placed and you collect payment yourself, by bank transfer, cheque or on pickup. It is free in every edition and can be on beside a card processor and PayPal. Turn it on with its switch in What shoppers can pay with.
Wording and bank details opens the Bill later wording panel. The Bill later option name is what shoppers pick at checkout and what the receipt shows, in the store language. The Instructions for the shopper appear at checkout and on the receipt when they choose it: where to send a cheque, pickup notes, how soon to pay.
Bank details take your account in the format your country uses. Account type starts on your store country’s and offers United Kingdom ( sort code and account number ), IBAN for Europe and other IBAN countries, Australia ( BSB and account number ), New Zealand, United States ( routing and account number ), Canada ( an Interac e-Transfer email or transit and account numbers ) and another country ( account number and SWIFT ). Only the fields for that type show, and a mistyped IBAN, BIC, sort code or BSB is refused before anything saves. The details are listed under your instructions at checkout, on the order confirmation, in invoice emails and on the pay link page, with the order number as the payment reference. Leave them empty to use your instructions alone.
Offer it to limits who sees it. Leave every role unticked and everyone can choose it. Tick roles, such as a wholesale role, and only customers signed in with one of them see it; Guest checkout covers shoppers who are not signed in. That is the tidy way to give trade accounts invoice terms without letting every retail shopper skip payment.
For a step by step walkthrough, see How to Invoice Trade Customers on Net 30.
Fees and discounts by way to pay
Your Flex-Fee rules, in words
no stored settingsThis card lists your first three Flex-Fee rules in words, each with its amount and the ways to pay it is for, such as a card fee for card payments or a discount for bank transfer. Apple Pay and Google Pay count as card payments. Add a Flex-Fee or Manage Flex-Fees opens Settings › Flex-Fees ( PRO ). With no rules it says None yet: every way to pay costs the shopper the same.
Before you sell
Live or test, and going live
The check that matters before launch, and Stripe with your own keys.
Live or test
See at a glance whether real money moves, and switch in one click
no stored settingsA gateway in test mode takes no real money. That is exactly what you want while building, and exactly what you must not leave behind.
The card processor in use says which it is on its own card: Live with Real cards are charged., or Test mode in amber with Test cards only, no real payments are taken. Where both a live and a test account are connected, a Live / Test switch on the card moves between them. Where one is missing, the card offers Connect your live account or Connect a test account instead ( Add live keys or Add test keys for a gateway with keys ). Going live always asks first: Take live payments? Real cards are charged from now on.
Your other ways to pay with a test mode, such as PayPal or a hosted payment page, are listed under Live or test, each marked Live, Test mode or Sandbox with Take live payments or Switch to test mode. That card only shows when one is in use.
Test-mode customers. With Stripe live, a customer account switched to Stripe test mode ( Users › Customers, the customer’s Tax & Preferences ) checks out with your Stripe test account or test keys while everyone else pays live, so staff can try the real store with a test card. The Stripe card counts them, for example 2 customers pay in Stripe test mode, with a link to Customers. Their orders carry a yellow Test payment flag, and refunding one runs in test mode too.
Place one real order end to end before you announce the store. A gateway that connects and takes test cards can still fail live for reasons the page cannot see, such as an account not yet approved for live processing.
⚠️ Careful: Test mode takes no money. Check Before you go live says every way to pay takes live payments before you open the store, and place one real order to confirm. Diagnostics warns about a gateway left in test mode too.
Before you go live
Four checks under the preview of your payment step
no stored settingsUnder What your customer sees, Before you go live ticks off what a store checks before real shoppers pay:
• your card processor is connected ( or, with none, that PayPal or bank transfer is on );
• Every way to pay takes live payments, or Still in test mode: with the names of the ones that are not;
• An order has gone through your checkout, or a nudge to place a test order and see checkout end to end;
• your terms, privacy and returns pages are published, or which of them to publish in Settings › Checkout.
The preview above it shows the payment step as shoppers get it: Express checkout buttons ( Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, PayPal, Venmo, Pay Later, your own Amazon Pay account ), Or pay with card, Other ways such as Stripe’s local methods ( shown where the shopper qualifies ), a Square gift card box, and bank transfer. With no way to pay at all it says shoppers can’t place an order.
Stripe with your own API keys
For stores set up before Stripe Connect ( PRO )
no stored settingsStripe (API keys, v1) is Stripe with keys from your own Stripe account instead of a connected account, with no WP EasyCart fee. It is for stores set up before Stripe Connect; new stores connect Stripe instead. Find it under For some stores › Stripe with your own API keys, where Use API keys opens its settings ( PRO ).
Its API keys tab keeps Live keys and Test keys side by side, each a Publishable key and a Secret key. The secret keys show as dots until you press Show. Take payments with chooses the pair the store uses, and a note above the keys says how payments will run before you save. Saving is refused when a key is in the wrong pair, half a pair is missing or the chosen pair is empty. Saving this form also makes it the gateway for card payments, and the panel says so.
More gateways
Every gateway WP EasyCart ships with
What only some stores use, the list view, and the full gateway table.
For some stores, and every gateway
What only some stores use, folded away until they do
no stored settingsFor some stores holds three things most stores never need, each folded with its state:
A hosted payment page instead of PayPal: Redsys, PayFast, Skrill, 2Checkout and others send shoppers to the provider’s own page to pay. Checkout shows one of these or PayPal, never both ( PRO ).
Stripe with your own API keys: see below.
Gateways that no longer take payments: Moneris USA, Dwolla and PayPal Advanced show only for a store still set to one, with a way to turn it off. A card processor that no longer takes payments says so on its card, and Change payment gateway opens by itself. A store that had the older direct Affirm connection is told Affirm now goes through Stripe.
See every gateway, under the first card, opens Every gateway: the full list, your country’s gateways first, with a search box ( by name or country, such as Moneris or Canada ) and the filters Recommended, Card payments, Checkout buttons, Wallets and All. Each gateway has the button that fits: Connect and Try sandbox for Square and PayPal, Set up for the rest. Choosing one opens its settings; it takes over its part of checkout once it is saved and turned on. Gateways that do not work for stores in your country are folded away, and on the free edition the PRO gateways carry a lock.
Subscriptions need Stripe. Subscription and membership products bill through Stripe only. While subscription products are for sale and Stripe does not take your cards, Worth a look at the top says Your subscription products can’t be bought with Take cards with Stripe, and shoppers see that subscriptions aren’t available.
For subscriptions step by step, see How to Sell Subscriptions on WordPress.
⚠️ Careful: Selling subscriptions? Take your cards with Stripe. On any other card gateway, subscription products cannot be bought.
Every payment setting, as a list
The same settings, one line per way to pay
no stored settingsUnder All settings at the foot of the page, Every payment setting, as a list opens the settings as one list. It suits a store with several gateways to check at a glance.
How customers pay has one line for each way to pay: Card payments, Checkout buttons, Wallets and Pay later. Each line shows the gateway, its state ( Connected · Live, Connected · Test mode, Selected, not set up, Off ), the account and main choices behind it, Manage, and a … menu with Take live payments or Switch to test mode, Connect live account or Connect a sandbox account, Reconnect ( and Renew access for Square ), Replace with another gateway, Turn off or Turn on, and Disconnect. While any gateway is in test mode, a line above says so, with Take live payments.
Add or change a gateway is the same searchable list as Every gateway. Both views change the same settings.
All payment gateways
Every gateway, grouped by how the shopper pays, with the plan that includes it
43 gatewaysEvery payment option WP EasyCart ships with, and the plan that includes it. 4 of the 43 come with the free plugin; the rest are unlocked by a PRO or Premium licence. A linked name opens that gateway’s own guide.
| Gateway | Included in | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Card paymentsCards entered on your checkout page. The shopper never leaves your site. | ||
| Stripe | Free | Cards on your checkout page, and subscriptions. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link and local ways to pay need PRO. |
| Square | Free | Cards, with your Square items brought into your store, for stores in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland, France and Spain. Apple Pay, Google Pay, stock that follows Square and Square gift cards need PRO. |
| Authorize.net | PRO & Premium | |
| Bambora | PRO & Premium | |
| Braintree S2S | PRO & Premium | |
| Cardpointe | PRO & Premium | |
| Chronopay | PRO & Premium | |
| Converge (Virtual Merchant) | PRO & Premium | |
| Eway | PRO & Premium | |
| First Data Payeezy (e4) | PRO & Premium | |
| GoeMerchant | PRO & Premium | |
| Intuit Payments | PRO & Premium | |
| MIGS | PRO & Premium | |
| Moneris Canada | PRO & Premium | |
| Network Merchants (NMI) | PRO & Premium | Cards in NMI’s own secure fields, signed in with an API key. Apple Pay, Google Pay and 3-D Secure. |
| Opayo by Elavon (formerly Sagepay) | PRO & Premium | |
| Paya (previously Sagepay US) | PRO & Premium | |
| Payline | PRO & Premium | |
| Payment Express PxPost | PRO & Premium | |
| PayPal PayFlow Pro | PRO & Premium | |
| PayPal Payments Pro | PRO & Premium | |
| PayPoint | PRO & Premium | |
| PayTrace | PRO & Premium | Cards are entered in PayTrace’s own secure fields. Refunds and voids run from the order screen. |
| Realex | PRO & Premium | |
| SecurePay | PRO & Premium | |
| Stripe (API keys, v1) | PRO & Premium | Stripe with API keys from your own Stripe account: live keys and test keys side by side. |
| WorldPay | PRO & Premium | |
| Custom live gateway | PRO & Premium | Your own integration through the EasyCart gateway hooks. |
| Checkout buttonsThe shopper finishes paying on the provider’s site, then comes back. | ||
| PayPal | Free | PayPal, Venmo and Pay Later buttons, on its own or beside your card processor. No SSL certificate needed. |
| 2Checkout | PRO & Premium | |
| CashFree | PRO & Premium | |
| Nets Nexaxept | PRO & Premium | |
| PayFast | PRO & Premium | |
| Payfort | PRO & Premium | |
| Payment Express PxPay 2.0 | PRO & Premium | |
| Realex (hosted) | PRO & Premium | |
| Redsys | PRO & Premium | |
| SagePay Pay Now South Africa | PRO & Premium | |
| Skrill | PRO & Premium | Needs your Skrill secret word, from Settings › Developer Settings in Skrill. |
| Custom third-party gateway | PRO & Premium | Your own hosted checkout through the EasyCart gateway hooks. |
| WalletsStored-account buttons shown beside the card form. | ||
| Apple Pay and Google Pay | PRO & Premium | Through Stripe, Square or NMI. One switch in What shoppers can pay with, or in that gateway’s settings. |
| Amazon Pay | PRO & Premium | Through Stripe with one switch and no Amazon Pay keys, or with your own Amazon Pay account. |
| Pay laterThe order is placed now and you collect payment yourself. | ||
| Bank transfer ( Bill later ) | Free | Shoppers see it as Pay by bank transfer unless you rename it. Bank transfer, cheque, pay on pickup: you write the instructions and add your bank details. Off on a new store. |
Stripe, Square and PayPal connect from the top of Settings › Payments; every other gateway is chosen under Another gateway or in Every gateway, which also says where each one works. Subscription products can only be bought while Stripe takes your card payments. Moneris USA, Dwolla, PayPal Advanced and the direct Affirm connection no longer take payments and are not listed; Affirm is offered through Stripe.
Keep going
Related panels
Flex-Fees, including card processing surcharges.
Tax, added to the amount a gateway charges.
The checkout flow and your policy pages.
Payments, refunds and their gateway responses.
Gateway and webhook entries for troubleshooting.
Recurring billing, which needs Stripe.
Ready to run your store on WP EasyCart?
Everything in this guide works with the free plugin. PRO and Premium add subscriptions, memberships, wholesale pricing and more. Try every PRO feature free for 14 days.
