WildApricot has completely redesigned our payments subsystem to give you greater security, stability, and flexibility. At the same time, PayPal and Stripe are both introducing new payment gateways that automatically support the latest and most advanced security regulations like Strong Customer Authentication (SCA).
To take advantage of these enhanced payment platforms, WildApricot will be transitioning clients using PayPal payment systems to the new PayPal Checkout gateway, and clients using Stripe to the new Stripe Connect gateway.
Clients using PayPal or Stripe need to switch to the PayPal Checkout or Stripe Connect gateway as their payment system by February 15, 2021. Accounts that haven’t made the switch by that date can still do so but will be unable to accept online payments in the meantime.
PayPal users also need to stop any existing recurring payments from your PayPal site. Members can set up recurring payments again with their next renewal.
You will receive an email from Wild Apricot letting you know once support for the new gateways are in place.
What do you need to do?
The table below summarizes the action you need to take by February 15, 2021.
If you're using: | You need to: |
|---|---|
| PayPal Express Checkout or PayPal Payments Standard |
|
| PayPal Payments Pro or PayPal Payflow Pro | Click the Connect to PayPal Checkout button within your payment settings screen. You will be asked to log into a PayPal business account. If you don't have one, you'll need to create one. After you've logged into your PayPal account, you'll be returned to Wild Apricot. To save the changes to your payment settings, click the Save button. You'll have to set up any recurring payments again. See Migrating recurring payments (below). |
| Stripe | Click the Connect to Stripe button within your payment settings screen. You will be asked to log into your Stripe account. Once you're logged in, you'll be returned to Wild Apricot. To save the changes to your payment settings, click the Save button |
| Wild Apricot Payments | No change. No action required. |
You will be asked to log into your existing PayPal account. Once you're logged in, you'll be returned to Wild Apricot.Accounts that haven't switched to a supported payment system by the deadline will be unable to accept online payments.
Migrating recurring payments
Depending on your current payment system, some action might be required to migrate your existing recurring payments.
Stripe
When you switch from Stripe to Stripe Connect, you don't need to cancel or migrate your recurring payments. Recurring payments will continue to be processed as scheduled without any action on your part.
PayPal Payments Pro and Payflow Pro
When you switch from PayPal Payments Pro or Payflow Pro to any other payment system within your Wild Apricot account, any recurring payments will be automatically stopped.
So that your members can easily set up their recurring payments again, check the following options on the Renewal policy tab for your recurring levels:
Before their next renewal date, recurring members will receive a renewal email with a link to renew their membership. As part of the renewal process, they will be prompted to enter their credit card details again to create new recurring profiles.
To ensure that your recurring members are aware of the action they need to take, we suggest sending them an email about the changes well before their next renewal date. The text of your email might look something like this:
"We are switching to the more secure PayPal Checkout gateway. This means you'll have to set up your recurring payment details again. Here are the steps:
- Go to your member profile
- Click the Renew button and follow the instructions to enter your payment details
Thanks so much for being a valuable member of [Your Organization Name]"
An email template with this text will be available in your account within the Themed templates section.
So that you can accept recurring payments with PayPal Checkout, make sure that Merchant Initiated Billing (aka Reference transactions) is enabled for your PayPal account. If you are a US or Canadian resident, you can either wait up to 2 weeks for this to occur automatically or you can contact PayPal yourself and request the change. Residents of other countries need to contact PayPal directly about this.
PayPal Express Checkout and Payments Standard
If you are using PayPal Express Checkout or Payments Standard, you will need to stop any recurring payments on PayPal before switching to PayPal Checkout.
If you do not stop recurring payments on PayPal, they will be continue to be charged without being recorded in WildApricot.
So that your members can easily set up their recurring payments again, check the following options on the Renewal policy tab for your recurring levels:
Before their next renewal date, recurring members will receive a renewal email with a link to renew their membership. As part of the renewal process, they will be prompted to enter their credit card details again to create new recurring profiles.
To ensure that your recurring members are aware of the action they need to take, we suggest sending them an email about the changes well before their next renewal date. The text of your email might look something like this:
"We are switching to the more secure PayPal Checkout gateway. This means you'll have to set up your recurring payment details again. Here are the steps:
- Go to your member profile
- Click the Renew button and follow the instructions to enter your payment details
Thanks so much for being a valuable member of [Your Organization Name]"
An email template with this text will be available in your account within the Themed templates section.
So that you can accept recurring payments with PayPal Checkout, make sure that Merchant Initiated Billing (aka Reference transactions) is enabled for your PayPal account. You can either wait up to 2 weeks for this to occur automatically or you can contact PayPal yourself and request the change.
Advantages of the new payment subsystem
Wild Apricot's new payment subsystem, together with the new PayPal and Stripe platforms, offers many advantages including:
- Improved security, including automatic support for the latest security protocols
- Greater stability
- Greater flexibility, allowing us to deliver enhanced payment features more quickly and for all payment systems
- (PayPal only) Manage recurring payments your from Wild Apricot account instead of your PayPal account
