Wondering if I can save a customers credit card keep it on file ?

It's good to see you here in the Community, @sethclemons-yaho.

Let me provide insights regarding entering and saving credit card information for your customer in QuickBooks Online.

You can keep your customer's credit card information on file. However, you can only view the last 4 digits of the card number after saving it.

To do this, you can open your customer profile and add their credit card information from there. Before doing so, connect your payment account to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account. This way, your customer's info will be saved, and they can also pay their invoices online. 

Here are the steps that you'll need to take:

1. Go to the Gear ⚙ icon.
2. Select Account and Settings. 
3. Click the Payments tab and hit on Lean more. 
4. You may now start your set up. Choose either QuickBooks Payments or Existing account.
   • In the Existing account section, select Connect or Link Merchant Service.
   • In the window, select the QuickBooks Payment account you want to connect. Then select Connect.
5. Review the account info and make sure it's accurate. If everything looks good, select Connect.
6. When the connection is finished, sign out and sign back into QuickBooks Online for the changes to take effect.

You can read this article for more details: Connect your QuickBooks Payments account to QuickBooks Online.

Once done, you can now add your customers' credit card information into their profile. You can refer to these steps below:

1. Go to the Sales menu.
2. Click the Customers tab.
3. Locate and select your customer and click Edit.
4. In your Customer profile select the Payments and billing tab.
5. Select Credit Card from the Preferred payment method drop-down menu.
6. Enter the needed information and click Save when done. 

I got you these great articles that you can check out as a reference in processing a credit card payment from your customer:

• Send online invoices in QuickBooks Online
• Process a credit card payment in QuickBooks Online

Please let me know if there's anything else that you need. I'll be right here for you. Take care!

I followed the directions, but QBO said it could not save the information.  It's a known problem and you are working on this.   Please advise when we might be able to save CC info.  Thank you.

Hi there, Camate60.

I'll make sure that you save your customer's credit card information. I've also checked our records here and found that there isn't an open investigation about this issue.

When adding a credit card number, Intuit will perform a quick validation on the card. You'll want to make sure that the digits are correct so that information will be successfully saved.

If the same thing happens, you can perform some basic troubleshooting steps. There are times that the accumulated cache in your browser causes saving issues in QuickBooks. Start by accessing your QBO account in a private or incognito window. Please refer to the shortcut keys I've listed below:
 

• Ctrl + Shift + N for Google Chrome
• Ctrl + Shift + P for Firefox & Microsoft Edge
• Command + Shift + N for Safari

Once you're in, attempt to save the credit information again. If it's now working well, go back to your regular browser and then clear its cache and cookies to start over fresh. Alternatively, you also utilize other supported browsers to further isolate the issue.

In addition, I'm adding these articles to help manage your customer’s card details in QuickBooks:

• Edit a customer's credit card number
• Delete your customer’s credit card number

I'm just a comment away if you need further assistance in entering your other customer information. Take care and have a good one.

I have a similar question. Can my clients save their own CC info when paying invoices online?

Welcome to the Community, ProControlMan.
 

When a client goes to pay their e-invoice, they'll see a option titled "Save payment method for next time (sign in or create an account to save)".

Clients can tick this box while signed in to their account, then click the Pay button. This way, their payment details will be pre-populated for future online payments.

I've additionally included a detailed resource about using QuickBooks Payments that may come in handy moving forward: Take & process payments
 

I'll be here to help if there's any questions. Have an awesome Friday!

Hello, I have a similar question. What would be the best way to save a clients's credit card information for additional billing? We offer a base rate but we need to have a credit card on file to bill past the flat rate. Can I collect their credit card info on the invoice with a CC authorization form somehow and save it for future use with their consent? 

Glad to have you here on the Community page, @Dumpster Solutions. 

I'll make sure you'll be able to save a clients' credit card information. Let me share some information about how QuickBooks handles your customer's credit card information.

There are two options to do it. First, you can get authorization for a recurring charge. We make it easy for you to comply with these rules by providing you with an authorization form that ensures you get the required information from your customers.

Here's how: 

1. On the Create recurring payment screen, click the Authorization Form link.

2. Print the authorization form and complete the merchant sections. (You cannot complete the form online.)

   It's a good idea to ask your customer what the best billing date would be for them.

3. Get the form (by mail, fax, or in-person) to your customer to complete and sign.

   • Make sure the form is complete and readable.

   • Check the credit card expiration date. If the card will expire soon, let your customer know you will need updated credit card information before this date.

   • Keep a copy of the signed form on file. In the case of a customer dispute (for example, a chargeback), you may need to provide the form to the merchant account processor.

4. Now you're ready to set up the recurring payment.

The second option is to open your customer profile and add their credit card information. As my colleague, BettyJaneB mentioned above.

Also, I'd recommend opening these links to learn more about managing customer's credit card information and accepting credit card payments in QBO:

• Edit a customer's credit card information
• Process a credit card payment in QuickBooks Online

Please let me know how it goes. I'll be around to provide further assistance regarding saving clients' credit card information. Have a nice day.

I wish QBO had a secure solution to step 3.  In this remote work environment, many businesses are not engaging face to face with customers where they can collect correct card info.  Email and fax are not secure methods of obtaining cc info.

For Saving Customer's CC - The UI has changed recently (September 2021) and I can't see my Customer's saved cards anymore! What's going on?

Hi there, Calen2,

I know it’s important to see the card details to make sure you’re charging the right card.

I recommend following the troubleshooting steps in KlentB's answer. If you still can't see the card details, please contact our QBO Support to check this further using more tools.

If you have other questions, feel free to go back to this thread.

I have a similar question, maybe even the same question. Can we send an initial invoice for first payment where the customer enters their own payment card information, selects, "save payment info" for future use, and then we, on the company end, can utilize that payment card information for future recurring billings? If that is possible that would be terrific because the customer manages their own payment information, I don't have to mess around with forms and PCI compliance. Please advise.

Thanks for joining the thread, @_aaron. Let me address your concern about creating autopay for recurring invoices.

Yes, QuickBooks Online allows you to set up Autopay for recurring invoices. The fees for Autopay are the same as for any payments made through QuickBooks Payments. To enable Autopay, you’ll need a QuickBooks Payments account.

Autopay is available on pay-enabled recurring invoices. If you don't have invoices set up to recur, here’s how:

1. Create your invoice, then select Create recurring invoice on the transaction. Or you can create a recurring template. 
2. Specify the frequency interval, start date, and end date of the recurring invoice.
3. When you finish the recurring invoice, select Save template. 

If you already have a recurring invoice setup, you don’t need to create a new one. Autopay is available for your customer if they use the payment methods you’ve selected on your invoice. Autopay works for both card and ACH transactions.

Note: Autopay isn't available for recurring invoices with a Daily interval or for amounts over $5,000. 

Additionally, If you also want to create recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online you may check out this article: Create recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online.

If you need further assistance with any transactions in QuickBooks, don't hesitate to reach out to us again. Enjoy your day!

Is it possible to keep a customer's credit card on file for a deferred payment? For example, keeping the card on file with the understanding that it would be run when services are complete.

Hi there, @In Awe.

At this time, you can only keep the customer's credit card information on your QuickBooks Online (QBO) file. Thus, keeping it for a deferred payment so you can run it when the services are completed isn't possible.

As an alternative, you can manually create the invoice and send it to your customer to process the credit card payment. 

I can see that this option can make your work easier and faster. For now, I suggest submitting your feedback directly to our product engineers. They may look into this suggestion and consider adding the option in the future update. To send feedback, you can go to the Gear icon and select Feedback. Then, enter your suggestion and click Submit.

You might also want to learn more about processing payments in QuickBooks Online (QBO). This article will share more information about it: Take and process payments in QuickBooks Online.

It’s nice to work with you, @In Awe. Our doors are always open to help you again if you have additional questions about processing payments.

I agree... It's 2023 and still no way to do this... frustrating. To expect customers to fill out something in WRITING when QB has moved everything online is crazy

Hoping to comment and get this feature on the minds of the techs. As noted it was requested in 2021 and with the rate of coding in 2023 it should be easily added over a weekend at this point. They have intuit wallet so I don't see why at minimum the intuit wallet can't be integrated to help facilitate this funtionality.

Don't listen to the half answers from Intuit. Their "support" doesn't understand the product, or the questions being asked. Yes you can save a card on file in QBO and just charge the client later. You add the client, click edit on the client's profile, set the payment method to "Credit Card" and then you get a button to "Enter Card Details". Put in the card info and the client's address and it's now saved on file. When you are ready to invoice the client, simply create the invoice, hit receive payment, select "Credit Card" as the payment method and the card will populate. Sales receipts are similar - just without the receive payment. Create a sales receipt and set the payment method to Credit Card.

Is there a way to capture the customer's credit card info without an associated fee (i.e. such as is this case with payment link)?

It's good to have you here in the Community, shroff.

At this time, capturing the customer's credit card info without an associated fee isn't available in QuickBooks Online.

You can follow Klent's recommendation mentioned in the previous reply if you wish the system to retain the credit card information to automatically charge the customer using their credit card details during future payment transactions.

Furthermore, I'm including these articles to assist you in handling your customer's card information in QuickBooks:

• Edit a customer's credit card number
• Delete your customer’s credit card number

If you require further assistance managing customer credit card info or related matters, reply to this thread. I am here to support you at any time.

So essentially, we cannot save a customer's credit card info under the customer profile unless we obtain it via phone or in-person? Even if we receive the customer's credit card through an invoice the very first time, are we also unable to save the card under the customer profile so that we can charge them in the future without an invoice? 

The reason I am asking is because my customer's expenses could vary from month to month - and I'd like to avoid late payments or high A/R receivables. I would rather have the customer's CC information on file so that I can record a sales receipt each month and send the customer a receipt (instead of an invoice). Does that make sense?

It's good to have you back, shroff.

I have an alternative solution to resolve your concern. 

You can set up a recurring sales receipt to automatically collect payments from your customers on a monthly basis. I'll walk you through the steps.

1. Go to the Settings icon and select Recurring Transactions.
2. Click New.
3. Choose Sales Receipt in the Transaction Type dropdown, then click OK.
4. From the Type▼ dropdown menu, select Scheduled.
5. Select the customer's name from the Customer▼ dropdown menu. Then, verify the email. You can select Automatically send emails to send notifications to your customer when you process their payment.
6. Set the interval, enter the start date, and end date.
7. Select the Payment method▼ dropdown, and select Credit card type or Check.
8. Enter the line for the product or service and the amount.
9. Select Save template. 

Additional information is available in this article: Set up a recurring sales receipt in QuickBooks Online.

If you need additional help managing customer payments or related issues, feel free to respond to this message. I'm available to assist you at any time.

You have to have the customer read you the card number and you have to save it on their profile in the manner I described above. You don't have to be charging the customer at that time. 

If you don't want to call the customer and they don't stop in with their card, the only way to get the card number will be to send them an invoice for them to pay and they have to check the box to save their card when doing this, or it will not be saved as described here: https://invoice.stripe.com/i/acct_19wu0mFWv6e9Pjx5/live_YWNjdF8xOXd1MG1GV3Y2ZTlQang1LF9QQnNDOUNuVUJH...

Most customers will miss doing that - it is bad UX practice (user experience) to use that method as your way to put their card on file. The best practice will be to call the customer if they aren't going to be in person and get the card on file.

Other options would involve using the QuickBooks API and a third party tool such as DocuSign to capture card information, though I only know of DocuSign doing that with Stripe.

@GlinetteC I don't think you understand my question. To do what you're suggesting to me - I still need a credit card on file for the customer.

The whole point for me is to NOT have the customer read off their card to me on the phone OR in-person. I want them to be able to digitally send me their credit card info through QBO that I can then store on their customer profile WITHOUT charging them. And then, once I have that credit card, I can charge them automatically each month and just send them the receipt (and not have to wait for their payment like you would if you send them an invoice).

So many companies do it this way - for example, your home utilities company. They will collect your credit card info upfront. And then they just charge you at the end of the month and send you the receipt (not an invoice for me to have to pay separately each month) - and the expenses are variable each month. Everything I'm reading from others in this thread seems to suggest this is not possible through QB, which is really asinine to me in the year 2023. There really should be an option on Quickbooks to send a credit card auth form digitally to collect the credit card information up-front, which can then be stored under the customer profile to be charged automatically by the seller after services are rendered for a given month.