Saved payment methods
When a customer pays, their card or bank account can be kept on file in their vault. The vault is a secure store of a customer's payment methods. It is what lets returning customers check out in one tap and what powers automatic subscription renewals. Paysio never stores raw card numbers itself. The details live in the payment gateway's secure vault, and you only ever see the brand, last four digits, and expiry.
How methods get saved
A payment method can reach a customer's vault in three ways:
- At checkout: when a customer pays, their method is saved to the vault. On their next visit they can use Quick Checkout and pay with the saved card instead of typing it again. Subscriptions rely on this, since the saved method is what gets charged at each renewal.
- In the customer portal: customers can add a card or bank account themselves on the portal's payment methods page, even without making a purchase.
- From the dashboard: on a customer's profile, use Add card (or Add method) in the Payment Methods section to enter a card or bank account for them, for example when setting up a charge over the phone. See Virtual terminal.
Viewing a customer's vault
Open a customer's profile and look at the Payment Methods section. It lists every card and bank account on file, each showing the brand or bank, the last four digits, and the expiry.
If a customer has paid through more than one payment gateway, the vault you see follows the gateway selected in the picker at the top of their profile, since each gateway keeps its own vault.
Defaults and priority
Saved methods have an order, and the top one is the primary method. The primary method is what Paysio charges for subscription renewals, so it matters which one is on top.
- From the dashboard, use Set as primary on a method in the Payment Methods section to move it to the top.
- In the portal, the customer can open a method's menu and choose Make primary. Their current default is labeled "Primary".
Changing the primary method updates which card future renewals use, without touching the subscription itself.
Removing methods
A saved method can be removed from either side:
- From the dashboard: on the customer's profile, delete the method from the Payment Methods section.
- By the customer: in the portal, they can remove their own methods. Paysio warns them that active subscriptions using that method may fail if it is removed.
Be careful removing a method that a live subscription depends on. If it is the method a subscription renews on, that renewal will fail until another method is set as primary. For updating the card behind a subscription without interrupting it, see Managing subscriptions.
A note on security
Because the actual card and bank numbers are held in the gateway's vault and represented by a token, the details are never exposed in your dashboard or to your team. This keeps you clear of handling raw card data while still letting customers pay again in one tap. From the dashboard you can also block a specific saved card at checkout if you suspect fraud, scoped to that customer so it does not affect anyone else.