Taking card payments from customers

Karven uses Stripe for card payments. You get your own Stripe account, and customer payments go into it and then to your bank account. The money never sits with Karven.

What you'll need

• Your ABN.
• Photo ID for the business owner.
• Your business bank account details.
• About 5 to 10 minutes.

Connecting

1. Go to Settings → Getting paid.
2. Under Card payments, tap Connect Stripe.
3. Stripe asks for your business type, ABN, address, ID and bank account. Karven doesn't see or keep your ID.
4. You come back to Karven. When Stripe has finished its checks, the panel says Card payments are on.

Most sole traders are approved within minutes. Companies with several directors can take a day or two. If Stripe needs more information the panel says so, with a button to finish it.

Connect with the right business entity from the start. Changing the legal entity later means Stripe checks you again from scratch.

What customers can pay

Once you're connected, customers can pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay from their quote page: the deposit when they accept, and invoices after that.

Card payments are optional. Without them, customers pay you by bank transfer or PayID: add your bank details in Settings → Getting paid and they show under "How to pay" on the quote once the customer accepts, and on your invoices.

What it costs

Two fees come off each card payment:

• Stripe's fee. About 1.7% + 30c for Australian cards (a little more for overseas cards). You'll see the exact fee in your Stripe dashboard.
• Karven's fee: 0.5% of every online payment. Karven keeps it, and it's the only fee Karven takes on customer payments. It's shown on Settings → Getting paid.

On a $1,000 deposit, Karven keeps $5 and Stripe takes about $17.30, so about $977.70 lands in your bank.

Your customer always pays the price on the quote. See card fees for the examples on your Getting paid page.

Payouts

Stripe pays out to your bank account on its own schedule, usually a few business days after the payment. You can see and change the schedule in your Stripe dashboard (Open Stripe dashboard on the same panel).

Refunds

See refunding a payment.

Disputes

If a customer disputes a charge with their bank, Stripe emails you and you respond through Stripe. The best defence is a signed acceptance, dated photos and messages in writing, which Karven keeps on the quote.