Zip payments
Learn about Zip, a popular payment method in Australia and the US for customers to buy now and pay later.
Zip gives your customers in Australia and the US (beta) a way to split purchases over a series of payments.
Customers who elect to pay with Zip are redirected to the Zip site, where they authorize the payment by agreeing to the terms of a payment plan. After payment terms acceptance, Zip transfers funds to your Stripe account up front and your customer repays Zip over time according to their agreement terms.
Payment flow
Below is a demonstration of the Zip payment flow from your checkout page:
This demo shows the customer experience when using Zip.
Get started
You don’t have to integrate Zip 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 Zip. To get started with one of our hosted UIs, follow a quickstart:
Other payment products
The following Stripe products also let you add Zip from the Dashboard:
If you prefer to manually list payment methods, learn how to manually configure Zip as a payment.
Payment options
Available payment options vary by country. In Australia, Zip offers Zip Pay and Zip Money, which have flexible repayment plans. In the US, Zip offers a Pay in 4 plan that splits repayment into 4 installments over 6 weeks. Regardless of the payment option selected, Stripe makes the full amount of the funds (minus fees) available to you upfront and Zip collects the purchase amount from your customer, who repays Zip directly.
Zip Pay: A line of credit up to 1000 AUD. Customers can select their repayment frequency, either weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Zip charges customers a monthly account fee, but waives it if the balance is repaid in full.
Zip Money: A line of credit between 1000 AUD and 5000 AUD, and potentially up to 50,000 AUD. Customers can adjust the installment period with no interest for 3-36 months, depending on the retailer. If you want to offer your customers interest-free repayment periods longer than 3 months, or credit limits higher than 5000 AUD, contact Stripe support. Zip charges customers an account establishment fee and a monthly fee, but waives the monthly fee when the account balance is zero.
Zip pay-in-4: Customers pay for purchases over 4 installments. Zip adds a finance charge based on the purchase amount, and splits the total amount into 4 equal installments. Customers pay the first installment at time of purchase, then make the 3 remaining repayments at 2-week intervals.
The following table lists total transaction limits, currency and payment options by country:
Stripe account and customer country | Currency | Transaction limits | Zip Pay | Zip Money | Zip pay-in-4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | AUD | 1 - 50,000* | |||
United States Beta | USD | 35 - 1,500 |
* If the purchase amount is greater than their available credit, customers can pay the rest with cards up front.
Prohibited business categories
In addition to standard Stripe business restrictions, some other business categories are prohibited from accepting Zip payments through Stripe, depending on your country.
For detailed information, see Zip prohibited and restricted business information for Australia and the United States.
Adding Zip branding to your website
Zip works closely with partners to constantly test and enhance the way Zip is presented to customers. Their integration and marketing requirements aim to benefit businesses by converting more browsers into shoppers and increasing average basket sizes. You must use and display Zip’s branding according to their guidance, which varies by country:
- Australia: See best practice integration guide and static visual assets and branding guidelines.
- United States: See marketing guidelines
Disputes
Customers must authenticate Zip payments by logging into their Zip account. This requirement helps reduce the risk of fraud or unrecognized payments. While Zip covers losses incurred from customer fraud, Stripe might contact you on behalf of Zip and request to stop or pause shipment before any losses are incurred. Comply promptly with these requests.
Customers can dispute Zip payments in certain cases—for example, if they receive faulty goods or don’t receive them at all. Customers have up to 180 calendar days from the date of purchase to file a dispute.
In Australia, Zip requires customers to first contact you directly to resolve a dispute. If, after 14 days from the date of purchase, that doesn’t resolve it, the customer can initiate a dispute case with Zip.
Stripe notifies you of a dispute using:
- Stripe Dashboard
- An API
charge.
event (if your integration is set up to receive webhooks)dispute. created
Stripe holds back the disputed amount from your balance until Zip resolves the dispute.
Stripe requests that you upload compelling evidence that you fulfilled the purchase order using the Stripe Dashboard. This evidence can include:
- Received return confirmation (for shipped goods returned from the customer to you)
- Tracking ID
- Shipping date
- Record of purchase for intangible goods, such as an IP address or email receipt
- Record of purchase for services or physical goods, such as a phone number or proof of receipt
If you would rather handle disputes programmatically, you can respond to disputes using the API.
This information helps Zip determine if a dispute is valid or if they need to reject it. Make sure the evidence you provide contains as much detail as possible from what the customer provided at checkout. If Zip resolves the dispute with you winning, Stripe returns the disputed amount and dispute fee to your Stripe balance. If Zip rules in favor of the customer, the balance charge becomes permanent.
Refunds
Payments made with Zip can only be submitted for refund within 180 calendar days from the date of the original charge. After 180 days, it’s no longer possible to refund the charge.
Additional requirements
You acknowledge that:
- Zip decides if customers can use Zip for purchases and has the sole right to receive payment from Zip customers. Stripe acquires those purchases for you and settles the funds to you.
- You must not process a Zip transaction unless delivery will be completed within 60 days.
- You must retain information about each Zip transaction for at least 18 months.
- You can’t give return credits in cash unless required by law.
- You can’t impose fees or higher prices for Zip purchases (that is, no surcharging).
- If a customer has questions about how Zip handles their information, you will refer them to Zip’s privacy policy.
If you’re in the United States, you acknowledge that:
- All goods and services for Zip transactions must be located in the United States.
- Zip can’t be used to pay for a gift card, gift voucher, prepaid stored value card, or prepaid stored value voucher.
- Transactions must be recorded in US dollars.
- Zip or its lending partner may extend credit to Zip customers for a fee.