Afterpay and Clearpay payments

Afterpay is a global payment method that allows your customers to split purchases into 4 interest-free instalments, or longer term interest-bearing monthly instalments (US only).

To pay with Afterpay, customers are redirected to Afterpay’s site, where they authorise the payment by agreeing to the terms of a payment plan, then return to your website to complete the order. Afterpay offers payment options based on factors such as customer credit, previous account history, order amount, and the type of goods or services being underwritten. After payment acceptance, the full amount of the order (minus fees) is made available to your Stripe account upfront, and Afterpay collects the purchase amount from your customer, who repays Afterpay directly over time. For more information, see Payment options and limits.

Payment flow

Get started

You don’t have to integrate Afterpay and other payment methods individually. If you use our front-end products, Stripe automatically determines the most relevant payment methods to display. Go to the Stripe Dashboard and enable Afterpay. To get started with one of our hosted UIs, follow a quickstart:

• Checkout: Our pre-built, hosted checkout page.
• Elements: Our drop-in UI components.

Payment Links also supports adding Afterpay from the Dashboard.

If you prefer to manually list payment methods, learn how to manually configure Afterpay as a payment.

You can also let customers know Afterpay payments are available by including the Payment Method Messaging Element on your product, cart, and payment pages. We recommend adding a site messaging Element to help drive conversion.

Payment options and limits

Payment options vary by cart order size and country. In the US, Afterpay presents customers with Pay in 4, monthly instalments, or both options. For all other markets, Afterpay presents customers with Pay in 4 only.

• Pay in 4: customers pay for purchases in four or fewer interest-free, bi-weekly payments over a 6-week term.
• Monthly installments: (US only) customers pay for purchases over a 6- or 12-month term that includes capped interest.

Afterpay collects the first instalment from the customer immediately, and the next instalment either 2 weeks or 1 month after, depending on the payment schedule. You can accept payments from customers in the same country that you registered your Stripe account. Payments must also match the local currency of the country.

The following table lists total transaction limits and installment schedules by country.

Prohibited business categories

In addition to the categories of businesses restricted from using Stripe overall, the following categories are prohibited from using Afterpay.

• Alcohol
• Donations
• Pre-orders
• NFTs
• B2B

For the complete list, see the terms of service.

Add Afterpay branding to your website

Let your customers know you accept payments with Afterpay by including the Payment Method Messaging Element on your product and cart pages.

Afterpay also provides static visual assets and branding guidance. In AU, CA, NZ and the US, consumers know Afterpay as ‘Afterpay’. In the UK, they know it as ‘Clearpay’. Make sure you pick the right location (see the footer in the Afterpay documentation) so that you get the appropriate assets. For Clearpay, see the UK assets and branding guidance.

Disputes

Customers must authenticate Afterpay payments by logging into their Afterpay account. This requirement helps reduce the risk of fraud or unrecognised payments. Afterpay covers losses incurred from customer fraud or the inability to repay instalments. However, Stripe might contact you on behalf of Afterpay and request to stop or pause a shipment before any losses are incurred. It’s important to comply promptly with these requests.

Customers can dispute Afterpay payments in certain cases – for example, if they don’t receive the goods they paid for. Customers have up to 120 calendar days from the date of purchase to file a dispute. The dispute process works like this:

After the customer initiates a dispute, Stripe notifies you using:

• Email
• The Stripe Dashboard
• An API charge.dispute.created event (if your integration is set up to receive webhooks)

Stripe holds back the disputed amount from your balance until Afterpay resolves the dispute.

Stripe requests that you upload compelling evidence that you fulfilled the purchase order using the Stripe Dashboard. This evidence can include:

• A received return confirmation (for shipped goods returned from the customer to you)
• The tracking ID
• The shipping date
• A record of purchase for intangible goods, such as IP address or email receipt
• A record of purchase for services or physical goods, such as phone number or proof of receipt

If you prefer to handle disputes programmatically, you can respond to disputes using the API.

This information helps Afterpay determine if a dispute is valid or if they should reject it. Make sure the evidence you provide contains as much detail as possible from what the customer provided at checkout. You must submit the requested information within 14 calendar days. Afterpay makes a decision within 30 calendar days of evidence submission. If Afterpay resolves the dispute with you winning, Stripe returns the disputed amount to your Stripe balance. If Afterpay rules in favour of the customer, the balance charge becomes permanent.

Refunds

You can refund Afterpay charges up to 120 days after the original payment. Refunds for Afterpay payments are asynchronous.

Connect

You can use Stripe Connect with Afterpay to process payments on behalf of a connected account. Connect users can use Afterpay with the following charge types:

• Direct
• Destination
• Separate Charges and Transfers

Stripe and Afterpay rely on merchant category codes (MCC) to determine eligibility of the connected accounts against the Afterpay prohibited business categories. Make sure that you set correct MCCs for your connected accounts that use the Express Dashboard or a dashboard that isn’t hosted by Stripe.