# Take Online Payments With Stripe

> Connect Stripe so customers pay when they book courts or fields, with money going to your own account, plus how the 30-minute unpaid hold works.

Canonical: https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/take-online-payments-with-stripe
Last updated: 2026-10-17

Help › Payments & Pricing

Connect Stripe so customers pay when they book, with the money going straight to your own account — and understand the hold on unpaid bookings.

By [Jordan Ellis](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/authors/jordan-ellis), Facility Operations Lead. Last updated October 17, 2026.

Payments run through Stripe Connect, which means customers pay into your own Stripe account. We never hold your takings — payouts go from Stripe to your bank on your own schedule.

This is separate from your own subscription to Sports Booking Management. Connecting Stripe is about your customers paying you.

## Connect your account

1. Open Settings and find Payments and Invoicing
2. Start the Stripe connection — you can create a new Stripe account or connect an existing one
3. Complete Stripe’s onboarding: business details, bank account, and identity verification
4. Come back and check the status tiles

You are ready when the status shows both charges enabled and payouts enabled. Charges enabled alone means you can take money but not yet receive it — Stripe usually still wants a document or a bank detail. Do not open the public page for paid bookings until both are green.

## What a paying customer experiences

1. They pick a slot on your public booking page and fill in their details
2. The booking is created and held while they pay
3. They are sent to Stripe Checkout to enter card details
4. They return to a confirmation page that reports the real state of the booking

The confirmation page tells them what actually happened rather than assuming success, so a card that fails does not produce a customer holding a confirmation for a booking they do not have.

## The hold on unpaid bookings

An unpaid booking holds its slot for 30 minutes. If payment is not completed in that window the hold expires and the slot goes back on sale automatically. That is what stops abandoned checkouts silently blocking your busiest Saturday.

A booking that is abandoned mid-checkout will disappear from your calendar shortly afterwards. That is working as intended, not a lost booking.

## Bookings with no payment

Where a venue has no pricing attached, or the total comes to zero, no payment is taken. The booking settles immediately — as pending if you require approval, otherwise confirmed — and the usual emails go out.

## Refunds and disputes

Refunds, chargebacks, and payout schedules are handled in your Stripe dashboard, which you can open from Settings. Cancel or reject the booking here so your calendar is accurate, then refund in Stripe.

## FAQs

### Who holds the money from bookings?

You do. Payments go into your own Stripe account through Stripe Connect and are paid out to your bank on your Stripe payout schedule.

### Why can I not take payments yet?

Check the status in Settings. You need both charges enabled and payouts enabled — until Stripe has finished verifying your business and bank details, one or both will be off.

### What happens if someone abandons the checkout?

The booking holds the slot for 30 minutes and then expires automatically, putting the slot back on sale. No action needed from you.

### How do I refund a customer?

Refund from your Stripe dashboard, which you can open from Settings. Cancel or reject the booking here as well so the calendar reflects reality.

### Can I invoice instead of taking a card payment?

Yes. A booking can have an invoice requested against it, with a custom amount where the standard rate is not what you agreed — useful for schools, leagues, and anyone on account.

## Related

- [Set Up Your Public Booking Page](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/set-up-your-public-booking-page)
- [Price Your Courts and Fields](https://sportsbookingmanagement.com/help/price-your-courts-and-fields)