Managed Payments
Let Superwall act as merchant of record for Stripe web checkout payments.
Managed Payments lets Superwall act as merchant of record for Stripe web checkout purchases. When it is enabled, Superwall processes eligible Stripe checkout sessions through Stripe Connect and handles tax calculation and compliance for those payments.
Use Managed Payments when you want your existing Superwall web checkout flow, products, paywalls, campaigns, redemption links and membership management to stay the same, but you want Superwall to own the merchant-of-record responsibilities for eligible Stripe payments.
Managed Payments is account and Stripe-account dependent. If you do not see the Managed Payments controls, or if Superwall says eligibility cannot be checked for your account, contact Superwall before launching with this payment mode.
Before you start
Complete the standard Web Checkout setup first:
- Create a Web Checkout app.
- Connect Stripe by installing the Superwall Stripe app and saving your live or sandbox keys in Stripe Setup.
- Create or import the Stripe products you want to sell in Superwall.
- Make sure each Stripe product has the correct product tax code in Stripe.
- Keep access to the connected Stripe account handy. Stripe may ask you to accept required Stripe Connect terms before Managed Payments can be enabled.
Managed Payments applies when Superwall creates a Stripe Checkout session, which is the hosted Stripe checkout flow used by Superwall's external checkout and embedded checkout destinations. This does not refer to visual elements in the Superwall paywall editor. If you use a custom Stripe Elements or Payment Element integration instead of a Stripe Checkout session, Managed Payments will not apply to that payment.
Enable Managed Payments
- 1
Open Stripe Configuration
In your Web Checkout app, open Settings and select Stripe Configuration.
- 2
Confirm your Stripe keys are configured
Managed Payments is disabled until the selected Stripe environment has a valid publishable key and secret key. Configure live keys for production purchases and sandbox keys for test purchases.
- 3
Turn on Managed Payments
In the Managed Payments card, turn on the Managed Payments switch. Superwall checks product eligibility and then checks whether the connected Stripe account can use Managed Payments.
- 4
Accept Stripe terms if prompted
If Stripe requires terms acceptance, Superwall opens the Superwall Stripe app page for the current environment. Accept the required Stripe Connect terms, return to Superwall and turn the switch on again.
- 5
Review product eligibility
If Superwall lists ineligible products, fix the reasons shown by Stripe before enabling Managed Payments. Product tax code issues are the most common reason a product needs attention.
The Managed Payments switch controls the Web Checkout app's default payment mode. The live and sandbox Stripe cards each validate their own Stripe account and products, but the default itself is app-wide. Before launch, verify the live Stripe configuration even if you first tested the switch with sandbox keys.
Product eligibility
When product eligibility checks are available, Superwall asks Stripe whether active products in the selected environment can use Managed Payments. The Product eligibility list shows each product and Stripe's reason when a product is ineligible.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible | Stripe says the product can be used with Managed Payments. | No action is needed. |
| Ineligible | Stripe returned a product-level reason that blocks Managed Payments. | Fix the reason shown in Stripe, then recheck in Superwall. |
| No active products found | The connected Stripe account has no active products for this environment. | Create or import active Stripe products before testing checkout. |
| Eligibility checks are not enabled | Superwall cannot show per-product eligibility for this environment yet. | Continue only after confirming the account is ready with Superwall. |
| Account not enrolled or unavailable | Stripe rejected the eligibility check or Managed Payments availability check for this account. | Follow the message shown in Superwall, accept Stripe terms if prompted or contact Superwall. |
If Superwall can check eligibility and one or more products are ineligible, Managed Payments will not turn on until those products are fixed. If eligibility detail is unavailable, the final enablement gate is the Stripe account availability check.
Override the default on a paywall
By default, Stripe checkout paywalls follow the Web Checkout app's Managed Payments setting. Some iOS and Android paywalls can override that default when they use Stripe products.
The paywall-level Managed Payments setting appears only when all of these are true:
- The paywall belongs to an iOS or Android app.
- The paywall has at least one Stripe web checkout product.
- Paywall-level Managed Payments controls are enabled for the account.
| Option | Checkout behavior |
|---|---|
| Use Account Setting | Follow the Web Checkout app's Managed Payments default. |
| Use Managed Payments | Use Managed Payments for this paywall's eligible Stripe checkout sessions, even if the app default is off. |
| Use Default Payments | Use the default Stripe payment flow for this paywall, even if the app default is on. |
Use the override when you want to test Managed Payments on a single paywall, exclude a specific paywall from Managed Payments or migrate traffic gradually.
What happens at checkout
When a customer starts checkout, Superwall resolves the paywall override first. If the paywall is set to Use Account Setting, or if the paywall has no override, Superwall uses the Web Checkout app's Managed Payments default.
If the resolved value is Managed Payments, Superwall creates the Stripe Checkout session with Managed Payments enabled. Superwall also records whether Managed Payments was used, plus the paywall override value, on checkout and transaction analytics events so reporting can distinguish managed and default Stripe payments.
If checkout uses a Stripe Elements or Payment Element path instead of a Stripe Checkout session, Managed Payments is not applied to that payment. Embedded checkout session fallback keeps Managed Payments enabled when the resolved setting is Managed Payments.
If the controls are missing
Managed Payments has more than one availability gate:
- The app-level Managed Payments card can be enabled or hidden by Superwall for an account.
- The paywall-level override is enabled separately, so an account can have the Stripe Configuration toggle without seeing the paywall dropdown.
- Stripe can still block enablement until the connected account accepts the required terms or becomes eligible for the Managed Payments preview.
- Product eligibility details can be unavailable even when the app-level switch is visible.
If the Stripe Configuration card, product eligibility list or paywall override is missing, contact Superwall with the app name, Stripe environment and the paywall you are trying to configure.
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