💳 Payment Providers

Pavilion supports several payment methods. One provider is active for card payments at a time, but all historical payment records are preserved when you switch — and Direct Debit through GoCardless can be offered alongside whichever one you choose.

GoCardless — Direct Debit

The UK market leader for Direct Debit. Members authorise a Direct Debit once and each year’s subscription is then collected for them — see Subscriptions by Direct Debit. Low fees (about 1% + 20p per payment). Best for clubs with 20+ paying members.

Stripe — Card Payments

Accept credit/debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay via Stripe Checkout. 1.5% + 20p per transaction (UK/EU cards). Instant bank settlement.

PayPal

Accept PayPal balance, credit and debit cards. 3.4% + 20p per transaction. Simpler setup but higher fees.

The payment is taken when the member comes back from PayPal to the club’s website, and only once PayPal confirms the full amount. If they close the PayPal window instead of returning, nothing is taken and the charge stays unpaid.

Manual / BACS

No payment gateway — members pay by bank transfer, cash or cheque; the committee marks payments received. Zero transaction fees.

Test vs Live mode

Always configure and test using Test Mode first. No real payments are taken in test mode. Switch to Live Mode only when you are ready to accept real money.

Common questions

Where do I get GoCardless API keys?

Log in to your GoCardless Dashboard → Developers → API keys. Copy the Access Token. Create a webhook endpoint pointing to the Pavilion webhook URL shown in the settings card, and copy the Webhook Signing Secret into Pavilion — it is required: without it Pavilion refuses GoCardless’s messages.

Our Stripe or GoCardless payments never get marked paid.

Before 10.58.0 the settings cards showed a webhook address that did not exist (…/bcm/v1/webhook/…), so a webhook created from it never reached Pavilion. The cards now show the right one (…/pvl/v1/webhook/…). Edit the endpoint in your Stripe or GoCardless dashboard to the new address.

Where do I get Stripe keys?

Log in to dashboard.stripe.com → Developers → API keys. Copy the Publishable Key and Secret Key. For webhooks: Developers → Webhooks → Add endpoint → paste the Pavilion Stripe webhook URL → select: checkout.session.completed, payment_intent.payment_failed, charge.refunded. Then copy the endpoint’s Signing secret (it starts whsec_) into Settings → Payments → Webhook signing secret. Pavilion ignores any Stripe notice that is not signed with it, so without it card payments are not marked as paid.

Can I switch providers without losing payment history?

Yes. All payment records are stored in Pavilion’s own database independent of the provider. Switching only affects where new payments are processed.