Payment method
What this covers
Keeping your card current, and what to do when a payment keeps being refused.
Everything on this page needs the manage-billing permission, which belongs to the
Owner alone — not even a Manager has it. If Subscription is missing from your
settings menu, you are not an Owner (link The Owner account).
Tabledoo never sees your card number
Worth understanding first, because it explains everything else on this page.
Card details are handled entirely by Stripe, the payment provider. When you type a card number, it goes from your browser to Stripe directly — it does not pass through Tabledoo, and Tabledoo has no copy of it.
What Tabledoo receives back is a reference plus the harmless summary you see on screen: the card's brand, its last four digits and its expiry month. That is all anyone at Tabledoo could ever tell you about your card, including support.
Two practical consequences:
- Nobody at Tabledoo can read your card number back to you, or type it in on your behalf. If someone claiming to be support asks for a full card number, that is not support.
- Your bank's security checks are between you and your bank. Tabledoo cannot approve or bypass one.
Updating your card
Two routes, both from Property Settings → Subscription:
In the app
Enter the new card in the secure form on the subscription page. Quickest, and right for a straightforward card swap.
The billing portal
A separate, fuller page hosted by the payment provider. Use it when you need more than a card change:
- Keeping several cards on file and choosing which is default
- Changing the billing address or adding company details for your accountant
- Viewing the full payment history from the provider's own records
You return to Tabledoo when you are done.
Your bank's extra check
Many banks now require a confirmation step — a prompt in your banking app, a code by text, a fingerprint. You may see it when adding a card, and occasionally on a renewal.
Complete it in the window that appears. If nothing appears and the card is refused, the check may have been declined silently — try again and watch your banking app.
When the bank check keeps failing
Work down this list. Nearly every case is on the bank's side.
- Try a different browser, or an incognito window. Ad blockers and strict privacy settings sometimes block the bank's confirmation window from opening at all — this is a surprisingly common cause.
- Check your banking app for a pending approval you have not tapped.
- Ring your bank and ask whether they are blocking the payment. Say it is a recurring subscription to an online business — a first payment to a new merchant is a routine block, and they can authorise it in a minute.
- Check the card itself — expired, insufficient funds, or a prepaid card that does not support recurring payments.
- Try another card. This is often the fastest answer.
Business debit cards and cards issued for single use are the two that most often fail on recurring charges.
Keep the card current
A card that expires between invoices is the commonest way a restaurant ends up suspended — not because anybody chose not to pay.
- The expiry is shown on your subscription page. Glance at it occasionally.
- Update it as soon as the replacement arrives, not when the old one stops working.
- Use a card that outlives individuals. A card in a departing manager's name will be cancelled by the bank when they leave, whatever your intentions.
- Make sure the Owner's email is monitored. A failed payment sends a warning there, and it is your notice before anything is suspended (link A failed payment, and suspension).
Good to know
Updating the card does not change your plan or your billing date.
A new card is used for your next charge, including a retry of a failed one.
The same card pays for SMS credit packs, which are separate one-off charges (link Buying credit packs).
You can update your card while suspended. The billing pages stay reachable on purpose, so you are never locked out of paying (link A failed payment, and suspension).