Auto-charge
Saved-card automatic charge on invoice issue, with per-method opt-in.
Last updated 05/24/26
What this surface does
Auto-charge lets a customer save a payment method (`auto_charge_methods`) so future invoices are charged automatically on issue — no manual click-to-pay needed. Per-method opt-in is required (PCI / consent).
When to use it
- Recurring monthly hosting / SMS subscription where you want zero collection friction.
- A customer who has historically been late and agrees to auto-charge as a trust-rebuilding step.
- High-trust enterprise accounts on Net-30 where auto-charge happens on day 30.
Key gotchas
- Auto-charge fires through the same Stripe webhook pipeline as manual pay — a failure marks the invoice past-due and the customer is notified.
- Removing a saved card from auto-charge does not void pending charges scheduled within the next 24h.
- The customer must explicitly opt in per method; admin cannot enable on their behalf without a written-consent record.
Related
- Prepay Requests, Invoices.