Accept a payment

First, you need a Stripe account. Register now.

Server-side

This integration requires endpoints on your server that talk to the Stripe API. Use our official libraries for access to the Stripe API from your server:

# Available as a gem
sudo gem install stripe

# If you use bundler, you can add this line to your Gemfile
gem 'stripe'

Client-side

The iOS SDK is open source, fully documented, and compatible with apps supporting iOS 11 or above.

When your app starts, configure the SDK with your Stripe publishable key so that it can make requests to the Stripe API.

import UIKit
import Stripe

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        StripeAPI.defaultPublishableKey = 
"pk_test_TYooMQauvdEDq54NiTphI7jx"
        // do any other necessary launch configuration
        return true
    }
}

This integration uses three Stripe API objects:

1. A PaymentIntent. Stripe uses this to represent your intent to collect payment from a customer, tracking your charge attempts and payment state changes throughout the process.

2. A Customer (optional). To set up a card for future payments, it must be attached to a Customer. Create a Customer object when your customer creates an account with your business. If your customer is making a payment as a guest, you can create a Customer object before payment and associate it with your own internal representation of the customer’s account later.

3. A Customer Ephemeral Key (optional). Information on the Customer object is sensitive, and can’t be retrieved directly from an app. An Ephemeral Key grants the SDK temporary access to the Customer.

For security reasons, your app can’t create these objects. Instead, add an endpoint on your server that:

1. Retrieves the Customer, or creates a new one.
2. Creates an Ephemeral Key for the Customer.
3. Creates a PaymentIntent, passing the Customer id.
4. Returns the Payment Intent’s client secret, the Ephemeral Key’s secret, and the Customer’s id to your app.

# Create a Customer
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers \
  -u 
sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc
: \
  -X "POST"

# Create an Ephemeral Key for the Customer
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/ephemeral_keys \
  -u 
sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc
: \
  -d "customer"="{{YOUR CUSTOMER ID}}" \
  -H "Stripe-Version: 2020-08-27"

# Create a PaymentIntent
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/payment_intents \
  -u 
sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc
: \
  -d "amount"=1099 \
  -d "currency"="usd" \
  -d "customer"="{{YOUR CUSTOMER ID}}"

Before displaying the payment sheet, your checkout page should:

• Show the products being purchased and the total amount
• Collect any required shipping information
• Include a checkout button to present Stripe’s UI

Next, integrate Stripe’s prebuilt payment UI into your app’s checkout with the PaymentSheet class.

import UIKit
import Stripe

class CheckoutViewController: UIViewController {
  @IBOutlet weak var buyButton: UIButton!
  var paymentSheet: PaymentSheet?
  let backendCheckoutUrl = URL(string: "Your backend endpoint")! // Your backend endpoint

  override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    buyButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(didTapCheckoutButton), for: .touchUpInside)
    buyButton.isEnabled = false

    // MARK: Fetch the PaymentIntent and Customer information from the backend
    var request = URLRequest(url: backendCheckoutUrl)
    request.httpMethod = "POST"
    let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request, completionHandler: { [weak self] (data, response, error) in
      guard let data = data,
            let json = try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: []) as? [String : Any],
            let customerId = json["customer"] as? String,
            let customerEphemeralKeySecret = json["ephemeralKey"] as? String,
            let paymentIntentClientSecret = json["paymentIntent"] as? String,
            let self = self else {
        // Handle error
        return
      }

      // MARK: Create a PaymentSheet instance
      var configuration = PaymentSheet.Configuration()
      configuration.merchantDisplayName = "Example, Inc."
      configuration.customer = .init(id: customerId, ephemeralKeySecret: customerEphemeralKeySecret)
      self.paymentSheet = PaymentSheet(paymentIntentClientSecret: paymentIntentClientSecret, configuration: configuration)

      DispatchQueue.main.async {
        self.buyButton.isEnabled = true
      }
    })
    task.resume()
  }

}

@objc
func didTapCheckoutButton() {
  // MARK: Start the checkout process
  paymentSheet?.present(from: self) { paymentResult in
    // MARK: Handle the payment result
    switch paymentResult {
    case .completed:
      print("Your order is confirmed")
    case .canceled:
      print("Canceled!")
    case .failed(let error, _):
      print("Payment failed: \n\(error.localizedDescription)")
    }
  }
}

Unless your business model requires immediate payment (e.g., an on-demand service), don’t assume you have received payment at this point. Instead, inform the customer that you confirmed their order and notify them by email when you fulfill their order in the next step.

Stripe sends a payment_intent.succeeded event when the payment completes. Use the Dashboard, a custom webhook, or a partner solution to receive these events and run actions, like sending an order confirmation email to your customer, logging the sale in a database, or starting a shipping workflow.

Listen for these events rather than waiting on a callback from the client. On the client, the customer could close the browser window or quit the app before the callback executes. Setting up your integration to listen for asynchronous events also makes it easier to accept more payment methods in the future. Check out our guide to payment methods to see the differences between all supported payment methods.

Manually

Use the Stripe Dashboard to view all your Stripe payments, send email receipts, handle payouts, or retry failed payments.

• View your test payments in the Dashboard

Custom code

Build a webhook handler to listen for events and build custom asynchronous payment flows. Test and debug your webhook integration locally with the Stripe CLI.

• Build a custom webhook

Prebuilt apps

Handle common business events, like shipping and inventory management, by integrating a partner application.

• Browse shipping apps and extensions
• Browse inventory management apps and extensions
• See all partner solutions

Several test cards are available for you to use in test mode to make sure this integration is ready. Use them with any CVC, postal code, and future expiration date.

For the full list of test cards see the guide on testing.