Pause, resume or close Nova Payments

Stop card payments for a while from the Nova Payments Actions menu, start them again after Nova's launch checks pass, or close Nova Payments for good.

In the sidebar, open Settings, then choose Nova Payments under Sales & Billing. The page address is /settings/org/billing/payments. Once payments have been launched, the page shows tabs instead of the setup steps. Pausing, resuming and closing are in the Actions menu, the ⋯ button at the end of the status bar at the top of every tab.

Before you start

• Your role needs the permission to manage Nova Payments. The Owner and Admin roles have it; the Bookkeeper role can see deposits, payments and disputes but cannot pause, resume or close payments. Without the permission, Actions holds only Refresh status.
• Pausing and closing stop every way Nova Payments takes a card, not just the pay-online button: subscriptions billed through Nova Payments and scheduled card charges stop too (see below). Payments already taken, deposits on their way and your payment history are not affected.

Steps

To pause payments for a while:

1. Open Actions and choose Pause payments, in red below the line. A panel under the bar asks Pause card payments? and says what stops until you resume. Press Pause payments to confirm, or Cancel. The bar changes to Paused and the pay-by-card button disappears from your invoices and payment requests online.
2. Pausing also ends card payments that are still open: a payment page a customer has not finished is closed, and a card payment waiting on a phone is cancelled, so nothing is charged while you are paused. A payment that went through a moment before is kept.
3. While you are paused, subscriptions billed through Nova Payments are paused as well: Stripe charges nobody, and the subscription invoices that would have come due in that time are cancelled rather than saved up. A subscription invoice that was already owing before you paused stays owing, but Stripe stops retrying the card until you resume. Scheduled card charges and automatic charges on recurring invoices wait instead of being skipped; each one shows "Waiting: Nova Payments is paused." in its list.
4. When you are ready, open Actions and choose Resume payments, now at the top of the menu. Nova runs the full launch check again (verification, payout account, pricing and Nova's own connection to Stripe) before it turns card payments back on. The bar returns to Live, the subscriptions Nova paused start billing again from their next renewal, and waiting charges go through within the hour. A subscription you paused yourself stays paused, and so do subscriptions while Nova has paused card payments for your business (below).
5. If anything blocks it, payments stay paused and the page reads Nova Payments can't be resumed yet. with each item underneath: something for you to finish (a verification item or the payout account), a Refresh status button when Nova only needs a fresh look at the account, or a note that Nova is finishing a check on its side.

To close Nova Payments:

1. Open Actions and choose Close Nova Payments, the last item, in red. A panel under the bar explains that closing stops new customer payment links and keeps payment history and the payout account.
2. Type CLOSE in the box, then press Confirm close. Cancel leaves everything as it was. The bar changes to Closed.
3. Closing also ends card payments that are still open: a payment page a customer has not finished is closed, and a card payment waiting on a phone is cancelled, so nothing is charged after you close. A payment that went through a moment before is kept. Subscriptions are paused and scheduled charges wait, as they do for a pause.
4. To use Nova Payments again later, open Actions and choose Reopen payments. Reopening runs the same launch check as Resume payments; if something blocks it, the page reads Nova Payments can't be reopened yet. and lists what to clear.

To change the bank account deposits go to, or the business details, see Check on Nova Payments after launch.

What customers see while payments are paused or closed

• An invoice opened online says "Card payments are paused for this business right now. Other ways to pay are listed below." (or "Card payments are no longer available for this business." after a close), followed by the payment methods you have turned on. With no other methods on, it says to contact you to arrange payment.
• A payment reminder sent while payments are paused or closed no longer offers "View invoice and pay securely"; its link opens the invoice and the ways to pay. Nova decides this when each reminder goes out, not when the invoice was first sent.
• Staff who open an invoice see "Card payments are paused. Resume them in Settings → Nova Payments." rather than a prompt to finish setup.

What you see

• The bar at the top reads Live, Paused, Closed or Needs attention, with a sentence saying whether customers can pay right now. On Overview, the Payments card reads On, Off, Paused or Closed.
• Pause payments is in the menu only while payments are neither paused nor closed, and Close Nova Payments only until they are closed. Resume payments appears only while paused, and Reopen payments only while closed.
• Everyone else who manages Nova Payments gets a message, in Nova and by email following their notification settings, when you pause, close, resume or reopen it. You do not get one for your own change.
• Everyone who manages Nova Payments gets a message titled Card payments are back on when whatever stopped them clears, whether Stripe finished a review or accepted the information it asked for. While you have paused or closed Nova Payments yourself, the message is titled Stripe no longer blocks card payments instead: card payments stay off until you choose Resume payments or Reopen payments.

If something looks different

• The bar reads Needs attention and says customers can't pay by card: payments are launched, but Stripe has stopped card payments for now. The first item under Open items on Overview reads Card payments are off and says why:
  • Stripe needs information that was due: press Send the missing info on that item. Card payments come back once Stripe accepts it.
  • Stripe is reviewing the account or checking what you sent: there is nothing to do. Card payments resume on their own.
  • Stripe closed or paused the account: contact Nova support.
• The bar reads Needs attention with "Customers can pay, but deposits to your bank are on hold.": open the Bank account tab and press Change bank account. See Check on Nova Payments after launch.
• The page says "Could not close Nova Payments. Refresh status and try again.": choose Refresh status in Actions, then close again.
• A subscription will not resume and says to turn Nova Payments back on first: subscriptions cannot start billing while payments are paused or closed. Choose Resume payments (or Reopen payments) first.
• You got a message titled Nova paused card payments for your business: Nova support stopped card payments for your business, with the reason in the message. It does what a pause does: payment pages that were still open are closed, subscriptions are paused and are not billed for that time, and automatic charges wait. A subscription will not resume until Nova turns card payments back on; contact Nova support. When Nova does, you get a message titled Nova turned card payments back on, and the subscriptions Nova paused start billing again, unless you have paused or closed Nova Payments yourself.
• Reset test connection is in the menu and Test mode shows in the bar: this is a test setup. Choosing it, typing RESET and pressing Confirm reset archives the test connection and makes a fresh one; it is for trying things out, not for a live account.
• The secure pages say the connection is archived: it is kept for history only and cannot be changed here.

Open Nova Payments