Registration: Payment Section

Select the Payment tab within your registration form to configure how new registrations will be paid.

Covered in this Article:

• Enabling the Payment Section
• Credit Card Processing
• Check Payments
• Private Account Payments
• Discount Codes

Enabling the Payment Section

Credit Card Processing 

We offer secure credit card processing through Stripe. 

» Note: Stripe is our only online payment vendor as of December 16, 2022.

Covered in this Section

• What is Stripe?
• Not set up with an account on Stripe yet?
• How does the process work?
• How does our team accept online payments?
• Processing Fee & Payor Preference (Seller vs Buyer)
• Is there a problem with your account?

➧ What is Stripe?

Stripe is one of the largest payment processors in the world. As a secure (Level 1 PCI-compliant) payment provider, Stripe enables easy online payments, eliminating the need to track a paper trail of check payments. For more details ➞ See the Stripe Account Setup article.

➧ Not set up with an account on Stripe yet?

Click the Configure Stripe Account button to complete the setup through your SwimTopia site. ➞ See the Stripe Account Setup tutorial for account setup instructions.

Once your account is configured and active, you can return to your registration form Payment page, where you will see a message that your Stripe account is set up. 

➧ How does the process work?

When teams set up an account with Stripe funds are deposited into the designated bank account. To maximize security, all buyer credit card information is transmitted directly to Stripe and is never stored in or transmitted through our computer systems.

Checkout is simple. Parents and team members do not need to create an account with Stripe; they securely input their credit card details using a simple form (below). After successful processing, your users will see your team's registration confirmation page.

Parents will receive an email confirmation from your team site with registration details, along with a separate account activation email (Stripe does not send payment receipts). For a detailed view of what your members experience when registering ➞ See Team Registration for Parents. 

» Note: A designated admin (usually a Treasurer or Registrar) can also receive a payment confirmation email for each transaction.

➧ How does our team accept online payments?

To accept credit card payments through Stripe, click the Enable payment via credit card (using Stripe as processor) checkbox.

» Tip: Select the checkbox to "Automatically approve registration after successful payment" if you want your Stripe registrations to automatically display under the "Approved" status within the registrant's table. If not selected, you will have to manually approve/reject each registration paid online under the "Paid" status (as seen below).

➧ Processing Fee & Payor Preference (Seller vs Buyer)

➞ Processing Fee: Stripe charges 3.4% plus 30¢ per transaction to process card payments. (The fee is the same for for-profit and non-profit 501(c)3 organizations)

➞ Payor Preference: Stripe's processing fees can be paid by the seller (you) or the buyer (your members). The default is set to the seller. 

➞ "Buyer pays processing fees" details:

• "Buyer pays" only applies to the initial registration fees. It does not apply when capturing conditional fees, or on the online store (if you are using those features).
• There are states with laws prohibiting merchants from charging consumers with surcharges on credit card transactions. Click to see which legal jurisdictions are included. 
• If the buyer is paying the processing fees, an amount necessary to cover the fees is added to the total amount of the order, and the processing fees are calculated based on this new total amount. As a result, processing fees are, in effect, paid on the processing fees, which results in a net higher processing fee rate relative to a configuration where the seller is paying the processing fees. 
• For simplicity's sake, consider increasing your registration fees to cover the transaction cost or use an acknowledgment to charge a non-refundable transaction fee of your choosing. 

In this "buyer pays processing fees" example, the team sets a registration fee of $100 and the total amount charged is $103.83. An alternative option would be for the team to raise their registration fee to $104 (for example) to cover these fees, so they still end up with $100 (and change).

➧ Is there a problem with your account?

If you see a warning message when on your registration payment tab, go to Settings > Stripe Account, then click on "View your account to learn more."

» Tip: Don't save this until right before opening registration. It may take some time to gather the required information. Although rare, there are times when Stripe needs to request information due to KYC (know your customer) banking regulations, so it’s best to confirm at the start of each season.

Got Questions? Contact our SwimTopia Customer Happiness Team. (Available M-F 9am-6pm Central Time)

Check Payments

» Note: Teams that have registration forms that do not accept online payment will receive a per-athlete fee invoice from SwimTopia for any outstanding athletes based on their billing plan. Learn more about this fee ➞ SwimTopia Per-Athlete Fee Collection - FAQs

Private Account Payments

To allow payments to other accounts, such as a club or pool member number, click Enable payment via private account, such as club membership (offline) and enter an account title. Your users will be able to enter their own account number during registration.