Set up future payments

First, you need a Stripe account. Register now.

Server-side

This integration requires endpoints on your server that talk to the Stripe API. Use our official libraries for access to the Stripe API from your server:

# Available as a gem
sudo gem install stripe

# If you use bundler, you can add this line to your Gemfile
gem 'stripe'

Client-side

The Stripe iOS SDK is open source, fully documented, and compatible with apps supporting iOS 13 or above.

This integration uses three Stripe API objects:

1. A SetupIntent is an object that represents your intent to set up a customer’s payment method for future payments. The payment methods shown to customers during the checkout process are also included on the SetupIntent. You can let Stripe automatically pull payment methods from your Dashboard settings or you can list them manually.

2. A Customer. To set up a payment method for future payments, it must be attached to a Customer. Create a Customer object when your customer creates an account with your business. If your customer is making a payment as a guest, you can create a Customer object before payment and associate it with your own internal representation of the customer’s account later.

3. A Customer Ephemeral Key (optional). Information on the Customer object is sensitive, and can’t be retrieved directly from an app. An Ephemeral Key grants the SDK temporary access to the Customer.

For security reasons, your app can’t create these objects. Instead, add an endpoint on your server that:

1. Retrieves the Customer, or creates a new one.
2. Creates an Ephemeral Key for the Customer.
3. Creates a SetupIntent with the Customer ID.
4. Returns the SetupIntent’s client secret, the Ephemeral Key’s secret, the Customer’s ID, and your publishable key to your app.

The payment methods shown to customers during the checkout process are also included on the SetupIntent. You can let Stripe automatically pull payment methods from your Dashboard settings or you can list them manually.

# Create a Customer (use an existing Customer ID if this is a returning customer)
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers \
  -u 
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
: \
  -X "POST"

# Create an Ephemeral Key for the Customer
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/ephemeral_keys \
  -u 
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
: \
  -H "Stripe-Version: 2025-04-30.basil" \
  -X "POST" \
  -d "customer"="{{CUSTOMER_ID}}" \

# Create a SetupIntent
curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/setup_intents \
  -u 
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
: \
  # In the latest version of the API, specifying the `automatic_payment_methods` parameter
  # is optional because Stripe enables its functionality by default.
  -d "customer"="{{CUSTOMER_ID}}" \
  -d "automatic_payment_methods[enabled]"=true \

To display the mobile Payment Element on your checkout screen, you must add a checkout button that displays Stripe’s UI components.

import UIKit
import StripePaymentSheet

class CheckoutViewController: UIViewController {
  @IBOutlet weak var checkoutButton: UIButton!
  var paymentSheet: PaymentSheet?
  let backendCheckoutUrl = URL(string: "Your backend endpoint/payment-sheet")! // Your backend endpoint

  override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    checkoutButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(didTapCheckoutButton), for: .touchUpInside)
    checkoutButton.isEnabled = false

    // MARK: Fetch the SetupIntent client secret, Ephemeral Key secret, Customer ID, and publishable key
    var request = URLRequest(url: backendCheckoutUrl)
    request.httpMethod = "POST"
    let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request, completionHandler: { [weak self] (data, response, error) in
      guard let data = data,
            let json = try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: []) as? [String : Any],
            let customerId = json["customer"] as? String,
            let customerEphemeralKeySecret = json["ephemeralKey"] as? String,
            let setupIntentClientSecret = json["setupIntent"] as? String,
            let publishableKey = json["publishableKey"] as? String,
            let self = self else {
        // Handle error
        return
      }

      STPAPIClient.shared.publishableKey = publishableKey
      // MARK: Create a PaymentSheet instance
      var configuration = PaymentSheet.Configuration()
      configuration.merchantDisplayName = "Example, Inc."
      configuration.customer = .init(id: customerId, ephemeralKeySecret: customerEphemeralKeySecret)
      // Set `allowsDelayedPaymentMethods` to true if your business handles
      // delayed notification payment methods like US bank accounts.
      configuration.allowsDelayedPaymentMethods = true
      self.paymentSheet = PaymentSheet(setupIntentClientSecret: setupIntentClientSecret, configuration: configuration)

      DispatchQueue.main.async {
        self.checkoutButton.isEnabled = true
      }
    })
    task.resume()
  }

}

@objc
func didTapCheckoutButton() {
  // MARK: Start the checkout process
  paymentSheet?.present(from: self) { paymentResult in
    // MARK: Handle the payment result
    switch paymentResult {
    case .completed:
      print("Your order is confirmed")
    case .canceled:
      print("Canceled!")
    case .failed(let error):
      print("Payment failed: \(error)")
    }
  }
}

If PaymentSheetResult is .completed, inform the user (for example, by displaying an order confirmation screen).

Setting allowsDelayedPaymentMethods to true allows delayed notification payment methods like US bank accounts. For these payment methods, the final payment status isn’t known when the PaymentSheet completes, and instead succeeds or fails later. If you support these types of payment methods, inform the customer their order is confirmed and only fulfill their order (for example, ship their product) when the payment is successful.

The customer might navigate away from your app to authenticate (for example, in Safari or their banking app). To allow them to automatically return to your app after authenticating, configure a custom URL scheme and set up your app delegate to forward the URL to the SDK. Stripe doesn’t support universal links.

// This method handles opening custom URL schemes (for example, "your-app://stripe-redirect")
func scene(_ scene: UIScene, openURLContexts URLContexts: Set<UIOpenURLContext>) {
    guard let url = URLContexts.first?.url else {
        return
    }
    let stripeHandled = StripeAPI.handleURLCallback(with: url)
    if (!stripeHandled) {
        // This was not a Stripe url – handle the URL normally as you would
    }
}

Additionally, set the returnURL on your PaymentSheet.Configuration object to the URL for your app.

var configuration = PaymentSheet.Configuration()
configuration.returnURL = "your-app://stripe-redirect"

When you’re ready to charge your customer off-session, use the Customer and PaymentMethod IDs to create a PaymentIntent. To find a payment method to charge, list the payment methods associated with your customer. This example lists cards but you can list any supported type.

curl -G https://api.stripe.com/v1/payment_methods \
  -u "
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
:" \
  -d customer=
{{CUSTOMER_ID}} \
  -d type=card

When you have the Customer and PaymentMethod IDs, create a PaymentIntent with the amount and currency of the payment. Set a few other parameters to make the off-session payment:

• Set off_session to true to indicate that the customer isn’t in your checkout flow during a payment attempt and can’t fulfill an authentication request made by a partner, such as a card issuer, bank, or other payment institution. If, during your checkout flow, a partner requests authentication, Stripe requests exemptions using customer information from a previous on-session transaction. If the conditions for exemption aren’t met, the PaymentIntent might throw an error.
• Set the value of the PaymentIntent’s confirm property to true, which causes confirmation to occur immediately when the PaymentIntent is created.
• Set payment_method to the ID of the PaymentMethod and customer to the ID of the Customer.

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/payment_intents \
  -u 
sk_test_BQokikJOvBiI2HlWgH4olfQ2
: \
  -d amount=1099 \
  -d currency=usd \
  # In the latest version of the API, specifying the `automatic_payment_methods` parameter is optional because Stripe enables its functionality by default.
  -d "automatic_payment_methods[enabled]"=true \
  -d customer="{{CUSTOMER_ID}}" \
  -d payment_method="{{PAYMENT_METHOD_ID}}" \
  -d return_url="https://example.com/order/123/complete" \
  -d off_session=true \
  -d confirm=true