Payment Methods and Cards

All your payment-method management happens in one place: the Billing page. TrekMail uses Stripe to process and store payment data — the dashboard never sees your raw card number, CVC, or expiry. Whatever you do here (add, replace, remove) is mirrored to Stripe transparently.

This guide walks you through everything the Billing page lets you do with payment methods, what the buttons mean, what's available beyond plain cards, and what to expect when something goes wrong.

What you can save as your default payment method

TrekMail uses Stripe's Payment Element, so the list of methods you can save depends on your region and on what's enabled in our Stripe Dashboard. Methods that show up reliably for saving as a recurring-billing default:

• Credit and debit cards — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club, Cartes Bancaires, and other Stripe-supported brands.
• Apple Pay — on Apple devices and in Safari with a configured wallet.
• Google Pay — on Android and in Chrome with a configured wallet.
• Stripe Link — one-click reuse of a card you've saved with Stripe on any other Link-supported site.
• Cash App Pay — where Stripe supports it for off-session reuse (typically US users).

Whatever's available appears as tabs inside the Stripe Payment Element when you click Add payment method. You don't pick from a dropdown — Stripe's UI auto-decides based on your region and device. The article uses "card" as shorthand, but everywhere we refer to your "default card" the same logic applies to a default Apple Pay or Cash App Pay method.

Subscription renewals only use saved methods. Mail plan, Drive Add-on, and White Label Lite all renew by charging whatever method is your current default. That's why redirect-based methods (Alipay, WeChat Pay, Klarna, Amazon Pay) can't be your default — Stripe can't run their full-page redirect flow on a scheduled background charge. You'll see them in some one-time purchase flows (next section), but not in the Billing page's "Add payment method" form.

Methods available for one-time purchases

A few TrekMail flows charge once and don't try to save the method for later — most notably Verifier credit packs (buying verification credits). On those screens, Stripe surfaces a wider menu including:

• Alipay and WeChat Pay for Chinese users.
• Klarna and Amazon Pay where Stripe and your region support them.
• Regional wallets — Cash App, Naver Pay, Kakao Pay, and other country-specific options Stripe enables based on your Dashboard configuration and your IP location.

Because these are one-time charges, you do them through the same Stripe Payment Element but without saving the method for later. The next purchase will ask again. If you want a method that auto-renews, fall back to a card or one of the savable wallets in the first list.

Where to find your saved methods

Open the Billing page. Saved methods live in the left column under the Default payment method card. Your active method shows up first with a green "Default" badge, the method type (card brand like Visa or Mastercard, or "Apple Pay", "Link", "Cash App Pay" depending on what you saved), and the last four digits or wallet identifier. Below that, a section titled Other cards lists any extras you've added but not promoted to default.

If you haven't added anything yet, you'll see "No payment method added yet." and an Add payment method button. The page calls the section "Other cards" historically — it holds any saved method, not literally only cards.

Adding a payment method

Click Add payment method. An inline Stripe Payment Element opens right under your card list — same form Stripe uses on its own dashboard, so card-saving apps and password managers usually autofill correctly.

What you'll see depends on your region:

• Card number, expiry, CVC, and ZIP/postcode if your bank requires one.
• Wallet tabs at the top — Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe Link, Cash App Pay — show automatically on supported devices and skip the manual form when you pick one.

When you click Save:

1. Stripe creates a SetupIntent — that's the mechanism for saving a card without charging anything against your account at that moment.
2. Your bank may run a small zero-dollar or $1 authorization check, which is a hold (not a charge) that releases within a few business days. Some banks display this hold in your statement temporarily.
3. If your card requires 3D Secure verification (common for European cards and many international ones), a popup or redirect runs the authentication step — push notification from your bank's app, SMS code, or your bank's web challenge. Once you complete the step, you're returned to the Billing page automatically.
4. The new card appears in Other cards by default. The first card you ever add is automatically promoted to Default; subsequent cards go into the secondary list unless you promote them yourself.

Making a card default

Each card under Other cards has a Make default button. Click it; the card jumps into the Default payment method slot, the previous default moves into Other cards, and a confirmation toast says "Payment method updated." If something goes wrong on Stripe's side (rare — usually a network blip), you'll see "Couldn't update your card — check the details and try again." Hit it again or refresh.

Only one card can be default at a time. That card is what we charge for plan renewals, Drive Add-on renewals, White Label Lite renewals, and any manual top-up like extra verifier credits. Secondary cards are essentially backups — they don't auto-charge.

Removing a card

Click Remove on any secondary card. A confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm — once you click through, the card is detached from your Stripe customer profile and disappears from the list. Toast: "Card removed."

A few rules we apply to keep your subscription alive:

• You cannot remove your default card directly. It has no Remove button — only Make default on the others.
• If a card is the only payment method you have on file and your account has an active subscription, removal is blocked. You'll see the error "Cannot remove the only payment method with an active subscription." The intent is to avoid a state where a renewal can't run because there's no card to charge. Add a second card first, promote it to default, then remove the old one.
• If you remove a default card while other cards are present (which only happens after you've made another card default), the first remaining card automatically becomes the new default, both in our database and on Stripe's side.

If removal fails on the Stripe side ("Couldn't remove this card — it may be required for an active subscription."), check whether your card is referenced by an in-progress payment — wait a minute and try again. Persistent failures: open a support ticket from the Support page and we'll detach it manually.

When a card expires

Cards expire. Stripe sends us an event the day a card's expiry date passes, and we mark that card as Expired in the dashboard — a red "Expired" tag shows up next to the card brand. Expired cards can still be visible in your list but won't be used for any future charge.

If your default card is expired, add a new card before the next renewal date — once you make the new card default, the next scheduled renewal will use it. If the renewal fires before you've added a card, the renewal fails (see next section).

We don't currently support automatic card-account-updater services (the Stripe feature that auto-rotates expiry dates from the issuing bank). Plan to update cards manually a few weeks before expiry.

When a renewal fails

If a charge against your default card fails — wrong CVV after the card was reissued, insufficient funds, fraud-rule block at the bank, or some other decline reason — the Billing page shows an amber Payment failed banner at the top with one of two messages:

• "We couldn't renew your subscription. Please update your payment method below." — for existing customers whose renewal failed.
• "Your trial ended but we couldn't charge your card. Add a new card below, or pick a different plan on the Plans page to switch immediately." — for customers whose first post-trial charge failed.

The fix in both cases is the same: add a fresh card (or update the existing one if it's just expired), make it default, and the next retry usually clears. Stripe retries failed payments on its own schedule over several days, so you have a grace window before service is interrupted. Full retry behaviour, grace periods, and recovery flow live in Fixing Failed Payments.

Security and PCI scope

We don't store any card data on our servers. Every card you see in the dashboard is a reference (Stripe payment-method ID + last 4 + brand + expiry only) to a record held inside Stripe's PCI-DSS-certified vault. If you ever need to confirm what we can see, the answer is: same fields you see — last four digits, brand, expiry. The full PAN, CVC, billing address, and customer cardholder name only ever live inside Stripe.

This is the same standard used by every SaaS that integrates Stripe Payment Element. It means we couldn't accidentally leak your card details even if our database were exposed — there's nothing to leak.

Changing currency

The currency you billed in (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, CHF, KRW, SGD, AED) is locked to your subscription, not to your card. A US card can be charged in EUR if your subscription is in EUR, and vice versa — your bank handles the conversion at its usual FX rate. If you need to change the subscription currency, you have to cancel and resubscribe in the new currency; it's a Stripe limitation. Full detail in Paying by Card (Stripe).

Common questions

Why is there a $1 charge from "Stripe" or "TrekMail" on my statement that wasn't a real renewal? That's the card-verification hold from when you added the card. It releases within a few business days. If it sticks longer, contact your bank — we don't control how fast the hold drops.

Can I pay with multiple cards split-billed? No. Each subscription charges a single default card. If a charge fails, you'd swap the default to another card and retry, but a single invoice can't be split across cards.

Can I pay with PayPal or wire transfer? Not currently. The supported menu is whatever the Stripe Payment Element shows you (cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link, Cash App Pay, region-specific options) plus crypto for yearly mail plans (see Paying with Crypto). PayPal and wire transfer aren't enabled.

Can I use Alipay or WeChat Pay for my subscription? No, those are one-time methods only. Stripe doesn't let us auto-renew against them. They appear in some one-time TrekMail flows (Verifier credit packs are the main one) but not as a savable default for plan renewals.

Add-ons are card-only. Drive Add-on and White Label Lite always charge a savable method (card or savable wallet). They never bill with crypto, even if your mail plan was paid in crypto.

Can I see my card history? All your past charges are downloadable as PDF invoices from the Invoices and Billing History page.