Merchant Account

ChurchPad Tutorial Guide: Merchant Account Set-Up

This guide walks a church admin through connecting a payment provider inside ChurchPad so your church can receive online donations.

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Before You Start (Quick Checklist)

You’ll need:

1. Admin access in ChurchPad (Super Admin / Admin)

2. A decision on your payment provider:

   1. Stripe (most popular)

   2. BankCard USA (uses Authorize.net credentials)

3. Your church’s legal and banking details (commonly required by the provider):

   1. Legal organization name

   2. EIN/Tax ID (and 501(c)(3) documentation, if applicable)

   3. Physical address (no P.O. boxes)

   4. U.S. bank account details

Important security note: Your payment keys are sensitive. Only share/store them with trusted admins.

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Where to Find Merchant Accounts in ChurchPad

1. Log in to your ChurchPad Admin Portal

2. On the left menu, scroll down and click Settings

3. Open Merchant Account / Merchant Accounts

If this is your first time, you’ll see “Welcome to Merchant Accounts” with a Set Up Your Account button.

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First-Time Setup (Guided Wizard)

Step A — Start the Setup

1. Click Set Up Your Account

2. You’ll see a comparison screen (“Ready to get started?”) showing Stripe and BankCard USA

3. Click Select This Provider under your preferred option

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Option 1 — Stripe Setup (Recommended)

Step A — Review Requirements (Inside ChurchPad)

After selecting Stripe, you’ll see Stripe Merchant Account Requirements for Nonprofits. Review the requirements, then:

1. Complete Stripe account activation on Stripe’s website

2. Return to ChurchPad and click Add Stripe Keys

Step B — Collect Your Stripe Keys (In Stripe)

You’ll typically gather:

• API Key (Secret key)

• Public Key (Publishable key)

• Webhook Secret (Signing secret)

Practical tip: Stripe keys often look like:

• Secret key: sk_live_... (or sk_test_...)

• Publishable key: pk_live_... (or pk_test_...)

• Webhook secret: whsec_...

Use LIVE keys if you’re ready to accept real donations (not test transactions).

Step C — Enter Stripe Keys in ChurchPad

1. In ChurchPad, go to Add Stripe Keys

2. Paste:

   1. API Key

   2. Public Key

   3. Webhook Secret

3. Click Save

When saved successfully, Stripe will show as Connected in your Merchant Account list.

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Option 2 — BankCard USA Setup (Authorize.net)

Step A — Review Requirements (Inside ChurchPad)

After selecting BankCard USA, you’ll see BankCard USA Merchant Account Requirements.

1. Complete your BankCard USA onboarding (as instructed)

2. Ensure your Authorize.net gateway is active and in live mode

3. In ChurchPad, click Add Login ID & Key

Step B — Collect Your Credentials (From Authorize.net)

You will need:

• API Login ID

• Transaction Key

Step C — Enter BankCard USA Credentials in ChurchPad

1. In ChurchPad, go to BankCard USA Merchant Account ID

2. Paste:

   1. API Login ID

   2. Transaction Key

   3. Click Save

When saved successfully, BankCard USA will show as Connected in your Merchant Account list.

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After Setup: Managing Merchant Accounts

Once connected, you’ll see your providers listed (e.g., Stripe and BankCard USA), with tools to manage them:

A) Set a Default Provider

1. Click Make Default on the provider you want ChurchPad to use primarily.

2. If a provider is already default, you may see Remove Default.

Best practice: Keep one default provider so donation routing stays consistent.

B) Edit or Update Keys

1. Click Edit

2. Paste the updated credentials

3. Click Save

4. Use Cancel if you want to back out without changes

C) Enable/Disable a Provider (Toggle Switch)

Some screens show an on/off toggle on the right side of the provider row.

1. ON = donations can be processed using that provider

2. OFF = donations through that provider should stop

Operations caution: Turn OFF only if you’re intentionally pausing donations or switching providers.

D) Add Another Merchant Account

• Click Add New Merchant Account (top right)

• Follow the same guided steps

E) Delete a Provider (If Available)

If you see a Delete option:

• Only delete when you’re sure it’s no longer needed

• Confirm you’ve switched your default provider first

• Keep records for finance reconciliation before removing anything

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Quick “Go-Live” Verification (Recommended)

After connecting your provider:

1. Run a small test donation (e.g., $1) using your public giving link/page

2. Confirm:

   1. The donation appears in ChurchPad Contributions

3. The transaction appears in the provider dashboard (Stripe or Authorize.net)

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🆘Need additional help? Reach out to our support team at [email protected]