Thanks for choosing the Bank payment method for contributing to 10BitWorks -- we know it's less convenient to set up, but then it's a win-win: we don't have to pay the higher processing fee for card payments, and neither do you. That can really add up with recurring payments like Member Dues, so choosing Bank (ACH) means that you nearly all of your payments actually go to the organization.
Since this process involves several steps, we recommend having these instructions open in case you get lost, and setting aside 15 minutes. You'll likely only need the username and password for your chosen bank account - though the exact requirements vary by bank.
When you're at the end of the Membership Signup form (or any other form where you can do a bank payment) and click "Go to Payment", you will be temporarily taken off 10BitWorks.org to Stripe's portal. We can't see anything you do there. So long as you don't see 10bitworks.org in the address bar, you're in Stripe's territory, not ours. Here are the steps to guide you.
# 1. The Stripe Portal Page
In the first field, enter your full name as it appears on your bank account.
In the second field, search for your bank. If it doesn't appear, you can specify details manually with your account and routing numbers, in which case you should skip to step 4 afterwards.
# 2. The Bank login popup window
If your bank does appear, continue, and a popup appears where you can just enter your bank login - no account numbers needed! Note that your bank partners with Stripe -- the login is going directly to your bank, not us nor Stripe. If you forget your login, try going to your bank's website in another tab - see if you can login there first, you may have your credentials already saved.
When you log in to your bank, there will probably be a few more steps like sending a one-time code to your phone or email. This varies per bank, and can take a bit of patience. (Thanks...)
# 3. Connecting your Bank to Stripe in the popup
Once you're fully authenticated, the dialog will ask you to approve "sharing" info about your bank account with Stripe (shared with them, not us!) like all your account names, numbers, transactions. Rest assured - this is only so that Stripe can show you the list of accounts on a later screen, so you can pick one to pull from.
Sometimes this process can fail. If that happens, you can always close the little dialog, and back at the original tab with Stripe open, re-launch the connection flow. However, if you still see a loading spinner, it may not have failed - just give it a minute.
# 4. Popup done, back to Portal page
Once you've approved sharing, approved the connection, and selected at least one bank account to share, you should see "Continue to 10BitWorks". This finally closes the popup dialog and takes you back to the browser window you have the Stripe portal open in.
# 5. Choose your account (page overlay modal dialog)
Back there, you should still see a dialog overlaying the screen, with the green "> Link" branding at the top. Link is just a Stripe brand, the thing that connects bank accounts together.
The dialog says "Select Account", and only lists the accounts you chose to share previously. If there's multiple, choose the one you want to pay with. Finally, hit "Connect Account" at the bottom.
# 6. Sign up for Link, or skip it
If you have never used Link before, or did not sign in to it this time, this is usually the point where you'll get one more Link-specific screen, "Save Account with Link", which asks for an email address (pre-filled), phone number, and has a "Save with Link" button at the bottom. Doing this will speed up this bank connection process in the future, both on our site and on any other site across the 'net that offers Link. However, it's totally optional! It has nothing to do with paying us, we already have your information. You can skip it by choosing the less-obvious "Finish without saving" link at the very bottom of the dialog.
# 7. Account connected - continue (closes page overlay modal dialog)
Either way, you should then get to "Success! Your account was connected." which lets you finally dismiss the overlay dialog -- click the bottom button, "Continue to 10BitWorks Makerspace".
# 7. Choose the Bank Account you shared
The dialog gets dismissed, but contrary to that last button, you are not actually taken back to 10BitWorks just yet. You're left still on the Stripe portal, where the list of Bank Accounts is now replaced with your actual, selected Bank Account. This is your last chance to make sure that your full name, specified above it, is correct - you can't continue if that field is blank.
# 8. Pay!
You should also see a grey, shimmering "Pay" button. Click it! It will change to "Processing", then if successful, it will turn green. A few seconds later, you're finally back to our website!