Now taking card payments online

Memberships and gift vouchers can now be paid by card, right here on the website. No more “I'll pay next time”.

We put this off for ages because “online payments” sounded expensive and scary. It turned out to be neither. Here's how it works, in plain English.

Two ways to take a card payment

We use Stripe, a payment company used by millions of businesses, from one-person shops to huge ones. It offers two simple options:

• Stripe Checkout. You press “Pay with card” on our membership page, and you're taken to a secure payment page run by Stripe. You pay, and you're sent back to us with a confirmation. Apple Pay and Google Pay appear automatically if your phone supports them.
• Payment Links. A link we create in Stripe's dashboard in about a minute, with no code at all. Perfect for one-off things like gift vouchers or a deposit for a private party — we can paste it into an email or an Instagram message.

Your card details never touch our server

This is the part that convinced us. Your card number is typed into Stripe's page, not ours. Our website never sees it, never stores it, and couldn't leak it even if it wanted to. All we receive is your name, email and what you bought. Stripe deals with the heavy security rules for card data, and with extra checks from your bank (that “confirm in your banking app” step).

What it costs

There's no monthly fee. Stripe takes a small percentage plus a few cents from each payment — their pricing page lists current rates, and they're lower for European cards. Those fees go to Stripe, not to the person who built our website; nobody takes a cut on top. Money lands in our Slovak bank account a few days later, and refunds are a single click in the dashboard.

What it doesn't change

You can still pay at the counter with cash or card, and you can still buy vouchers in person. Online payment is just one more door, and it's open at 11 p.m.