Switch payment service provider to Stripe

This guidance tells you how to switch your payment service provider (PSP) to Stripe.

Users making payments as you switch are unaffected. Your old PSP will process their payments until you finalise the switch.

You must be a GOV.UK Pay admin user to switch PSP. To check if you are an admin user for a service:

1. Select the service from My services.
2. Select Settings.
3. Under About your service, select Team members.
4. If your email address is listed under Administrators, you are an admin user.

1. Prepare to switch to Stripe

Email govuk-pay-support@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk asking to switch your PSP to Stripe. Your email must include:

• a list of services you want to switch to Stripe
• a clear payment descriptor of maximum 22 characters for each service - the payment descriptor will appear on your users’ bank statements, not the service itself
• a clear statement descriptor of maximum 22 characters for each service - the statement descriptor will appear on your bank statements when you receive payouts

You can read Stripe’s payment or ‘statement’ descriptor guidance for more information.

The GOV.UK Pay support team will email you to confirm when you can start switching PSP.

To switch to Stripe, you’ll need:

• the name, date of birth, home address, work telephone number, and work email address of someone who has the authority to sign a contract on behalf of your organisation (called your ‘responsible person’)
• your organisation’s bank details
• your organisation’s VAT number (if applicable)
• your company registration number (if applicable)
• your organisation’s main website address
• the name, date of birth and email address of the director of your service (or someone at director level)
• a debit or credit card to make a refundable payment to test your service

You also need a document that verifies your organisation is a government entity. This must be a copy of (one of the following):

• your VAT registration
• your certificate of incorporation
• a document from Companies House
• a VAT certificate from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• an account statement from HMRC
• a document from the Charity Commission
• a document from the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)

Before switching, read the:

• GOV.UK Pay contract (if you are a non-Crown organisation)
• Memorandum of Understanding (if you are a Crown organisation)
• Stripe Connected Account Agreement

2. Switch to Stripe

You need to repeat the following process for each service you want to switch.

2a. Provide your organisation details

1. Sign in to the GOV.UK Pay admin tool.
2. Select the service you want to switch from My services - services you can switch are labelled LIVE - SWITCH PSP.
3. Select Settings.
4. Under Payment provider, select Switch to Stripe.

Complete the tasks on this screen to start switching to Stripe.

2b. Make a test payment to complete the switch to Stripe

Before you complete the switch to Stripe, you need to make a live payment. This payment tests the integration between Stripe and GOV.UK Pay and makes sure you have correctly connected your Stripe account with your GOV.UK Pay service.

The live payment is £2.00 and you can refund it after completing your switch to Stripe. Your new Stripe account will be debited a small transaction fee.

1. Select Make a live payment to test your Stripe PSP - you will need a debit or credit card for this step.

2. Select Continue to live payment. If Continue to live payment is not visible, Stripe is still verifying your details. Try this step again later.

3. Enter your card details.

4. Select Confirm payment.

If your service uses the GOV.UK Pay API for reporting, you may want to check the test transaction appears correctly in your systems.

To finalise your service’s switch to Stripe, select Switch to Stripe. A Success banner confirms the switch.

You have now switched PSP to Stripe. Stripe will process new payments.

Refund payments after switching to Stripe

After you switch to Stripe, you can still refund old payments through your old PSP.

For now, GOV.UK Pay will maintain an integration with your old PSP to let your service process refunds through your old PSP. However, if your contract with your old PSP expires, or your old PSP stops operating, your service cannot refund payments through GOV.UK Pay.

If you cannot refund a payment through your old PSP, find an alternative like a cheque or bank transfer.

Refund payments by signing into the GOV.UK Pay admin tool, selecting your service, and choosing the Transactions tab. Alternatively, you can use the GOV.UK Pay API.