> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://trybloom.co.uk/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Card payments
> Connect Stripe once and Bloom collects session fees for you - charging saved cards automatically or sending secure payment links.
Bloom can collect your session fees for you. Connect your own Stripe account, choose when clients are charged, and Bloom handles the rest - charging saved cards automatically, emailing secure payment links, sending receipts, and issuing refunds when sessions are cancelled.
Money goes directly to **your own Stripe account** - Bloom never holds your funds and adds no fees of its own. Stripe's standard card processing fees apply, billed to you by Stripe.
## Set up Stripe
Go to **Settings** → **Payments & Integrations** and open **Card payments**.
Bloom hands you to Stripe's secure onboarding to verify your identity and add the bank account your payouts should reach. It takes around five minutes.
If Stripe needs anything more, the card shows **Setup incomplete** with the number of steps remaining - click **Resume setup** to carry on where you left off.
Once Stripe confirms your details, the card shows **Active** and Bloom can start collecting for you.
Stripe gives you a full dashboard of your own. Use **Open Stripe dashboard** any time to see payments, payouts and disputes at the source.
## Choose how you get paid
Inside the Card payments card you'll find **How you get paid** - the payment method new clients start on. It's one question: collect card details from new clients, or not?
* **Card, charged before the session** - the client's saved card is charged automatically 24 hours before each session. They always receive a reminder first.
* **Card, charged after the session** - the card is charged automatically once the session has happened.
* **Payment link** - no card is stored. The client is emailed a secure Stripe link after each session. You may wait a little longer to be paid.
* **Bank transfer** - your bank details appear in reminder emails and you mark payments by hand, exactly as before.
* **Cash** - the client pays in person and you mark payments by hand. No payment emails are sent chasing them.
This setting only applies to **new** clients. Changing it never touches anyone already on your books - you change an existing client's method on their profile.
## Per-client payment methods
Every client has their own payment method. When you add a client, the method is pre-filled from your default - change it for that client if you need to.
On the client's profile the overview tile shows their method and saved card at a glance; change the method any time from **Actions** → **Edit details**.
A few things Bloom takes care of when you change a method:
* **Moving to a card method** - if the client has no card saved yet, Bloom emails them a secure save-card link straight away. Until they save one, they simply receive payment links instead - there's never a gap where nothing is collected.
* **Moving away from a card method** - Bloom asks whether to keep the saved card on file (handy if you switch back) or remove it from Stripe entirely. The choice is yours.
* Changes apply from the next collection onward. Sessions already paid are never touched.
## How clients save a card
Clients on a card method are asked to save a card as a step of their onboarding, right after signing your agreement. For existing clients, choose **Request card details** from the **Actions** menu on their profile - Bloom emails them a secure link you can re-send any time.
The card entry itself happens on Stripe's own hosted page - **card numbers never touch Bloom**. Clear consent wording sits beside the save button, covering session charges and any late-cancellation or missed-session fees under the cancellation policy your client signed.
## Automatic charging
* **Charged before the session**: Bloom charges the saved card 24 hours before each appointment. The appointment reminder email tells the client their card is about to be charged, so it never comes as a surprise. Sessions booked with less than 24 hours' notice are charged shortly after booking.
* **Charged after the session**: the card is charged once the session completes (or is marked a no-show).
Successful payments send the client a receipt with the paid invoice attached, and the session shows **Paid** everywhere in Bloom.
### If a charge fails
Bloom retries failed charges up to three times over 24 hours. If the card still won't go through, the client automatically receives a friendly email with a payment link they can complete themselves - which also solves bank-authentication declines, since the client approves the payment on Stripe's page. You get an email too, and the session appears in **Needs your attention** on your dashboard with a one-click **Retry charge**.
## Cancellations, no-shows and refunds
Your cancellation policy - the notice period and fee percentage from **Settings** - is applied automatically:
* A client cancelling **inside** your notice period sees a clear warning before confirming: the exact fee, and the card it will be charged to. The fee is charged immediately on cancellation.
* If the session was **already paid** (charged before the session), refunds are automatic: cancel it yourself and the client is refunded in full; if the client cancels outside your notice period they're refunded in full; inside the notice period they're refunded everything above your cancellation fee. The client receives a plain, friendly email either way.
* Marking a **no-show** offers to charge the full session fee to the saved card. Untick it to be lenient - the fee is waived so nothing chases the client later.
Once a card payment has been taken, the session fee is locked. If the amount was wrong, refund the payment from the **Payments** page and re-record it.
## Your payouts
Practice owners see a **Stripe Payouts** panel at the top of the [Payments page](/docs/payments): your available Stripe balance, what's on its way to your bank, and when the next payout is due - read live from Stripe. Open **Recent payouts** for the latest arrivals, and use **Open Stripe dashboard** for anything deeper - disputes, payout timing, statements.
Payouts follow your Stripe payout schedule and arrive in the bank account you added during setup. In a multi-therapist practice these figures cover the whole practice and are only ever shown to the owner.
Day-to-day payment tracking - who's paid, who hasn't, refunds and receipts - lives on the same [Payments page](/docs/payments), so all your money questions have one home.