How do I accept online payments for memberships, event tickets, and job board payments?

Open a merchant account with a payment gateway

In order to accept online payments through SilkStart, first you need a merchant account with an online payment gateway. If you don't have a merchant account or if you aren't sure how Payment Gateways work, read our guide to payment gateways and merchant accounts to learn what these terms mean.

If you already have a merchant account with one of our supported payment gateways, you can skip this step. Premium SilkStart accounts can also be linked with Authorize.net, Worldline (previously Bambora), PayPal.

Link your merchant account with SilkStart

Log into your SilkStart admin panel, and go to Settings > Payment Settings > Configure Payment.

Select your payment gateway, enter your credentials, and press Save. Enter the credentials for your merchant account.

Don't know where to find your credentials? Check out our setup guides for Stripe, Authorize.net, Worldline, PayPal.

Allow online payments

From Settings > Payment Settings, click on Options.

SilkStart enables your members to pay online or pay by invoice. You decide how they should be able to pay for memberships, event tickets, and job board payments.

• Pay Online: the user must enter a valid credit card in order to complete their purchase.
• Invoice Only: the user can't enter a credit card, and must request an invoice instead. Only members may request an invoice for event payments.
• Pay Online or Request an Invoice: The user may pay with a valid credit card, or opt to request an invoice instead. Only members may request an invoice for event payments.

Test payments

Strictly speaking, if you have entered valid credentials for your merchant account, there is no need to test. SilkStart automatically links your merchant account with your membership system. Payment gateways typically use multiple forms of authentication so that you can't accidentally link with the wrong account.

Even though it is very unlikely that there will be a mistake on your account, we know that sometimes you just want to make sure anyway. That's why we've published a guide to testing your payment gateway connection here.

Once you have your payment gateway set up, you're ready to begin processing funds through your SilkStart site. Members will be able to pay for their memberships and purchase event tickets, and funds will be transferred directly to you.