Stripe Connect is the payments backbone of SalesThumb. Setting it up takes about 5 minutes of clicking and 1-2 business days for Stripe to verify your shop. Here's the full flow.
Why Stripe Connect
Stripe Connect lets SalesThumb route customer payments directly to your bank account — not into ours and then to you. Funds settle to your account in 1-2 business days (US standard), and SalesThumb never holds your money. You're the merchant of record.
This matters for taxes, accounting, and the fact that your business owns the customer relationship end-to-end.
Step 1 — Have these documents ready
You don't have to upload everything during the wizard, but Stripe will eventually need:
- EIN or SSN (for sole proprietors)
- Legal business name + DBA
- Business address (must match your business license)
- Bank account routing + account number
- Owner's date of birth + last 4 of SSN (for identity verification)
- Government ID (driver's license or passport) if Stripe flags for manual review
Have a photo of your driver's license on your phone before you start — you'll need it within 48 hours.
Step 2 — Start the connect flow
In SalesThumb: Settings → Payments → Connect Stripe. Click the big blue button. You'll redirect to Stripe's hosted onboarding flow.
Step 3 — Walk through Stripe's onboarding
The Stripe flow asks for:
1. Business type — sole proprietor, LLC, corporation, etc. Pick what matches your actual entity. 2. Industry — choose "Automotive — Repair / Maintenance" or "Automotive — Detailing." 3. Statement descriptor — what customers see on their credit card statement. Keep it short ("SHOPNAME 555-1212"). This affects chargeback rates — customers who can't identify the charge often dispute. 4. Bank account — routing + account. Stripe does a small test deposit to verify. 5. Identity verification — DOB, last 4, sometimes ID photo upload.
The whole flow takes 4-8 minutes if you have your documents ready.
Step 4 — Wait for activation
Stripe reviews most accounts in 1-2 business days. During review you can use SalesThumb normally — you just can't accept payments yet. You'll get a Stripe email when you're fully activated.
Step 5 — Test a real charge
Once active, run a test:
- Create a $1 quote to yourself
- Pay it with your own card
- Verify the funds appear in Stripe Dashboard within 30 minutes
- Verify they settle to your bank within 2 business days
Then refund the test charge.
Common questions
What does Stripe charge? Standard Stripe Connect rates: 2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction, 0.8% (capped at $5) for ACH. SalesThumb does NOT take a cut on top of Stripe's fee.
Can I use a different payment processor? Not currently. Stripe is the only integrated processor. You can manually record cash, check, or external payments inside SalesThumb (no fee), but anything that goes through SalesThumb's quote-pay flow runs through Stripe.
What if my Stripe gets restricted? Stripe occasionally restricts accounts during review (high chargeback rates, suspected fraud, missing docs). If yours is restricted, the Stripe dashboard tells you exactly what's needed. Resolution usually takes 1-3 business days.