Setting up your Stripe payment gateway in TourCMS

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Creating a new Stripe account in TourCMS

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Stripe onboarding process

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Where do I find it?

CONFIGURATION > SYSTEM & SETUP > Credit card payments

What does it mean?

A payment gateway acts as the secure digital bridge between your TourCMS online booking engine and your merchant bank account. When a customer reserves a tour on your website, the Stripe gateway encrypts and validates their payment details in real time, collects the funds, and immediately confirms the reservation in TourCMS.

Available across your sales channels

The Stripe payment gateway in TourCMS is fully versatile and available for deployment across:

• Direct websites: Integrate card payments directly into your custom website checkouts and bespoke web designs.
• TourCMS Booking Engine: Deliver an optimised, mobile-friendly checkout directly on the standard TourCMS booking engine.
• B2B & agent portals: Allow travel trade partners, concierges, and travel agents to settle reservations instantly by card when booking via your B2B distribution channels.

What should I do?

Setting up your Stripe gateway requires two main phases: creating the gateway link in TourCMS and assigning it to your customer-facing sales channel. Follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Before starting:

• Your country is correct: A new Stripe account is created in your TourCMS account country (Configuration & setup > Account settings > Country). If none is set yet, you choose it when you create the account. Connecting an existing Stripe account doesn't use this setting.
• You have full access to Configuration & setup: Only users with full access can create or manage the Stripe payment gateway from this area.

Phase A: Create and connect the Stripe gateway

1. Log in to your TourCMS back office. From the top navigation bar, go to Configuration > System & Setup. Under the Your Bookings column on the left, select Credit card payments.

   

2. Scroll down to the Create a new payment gateway section at the bottom of the page.

   ⚠️ Support Setup: If Stripe isn't listed as a payment gateway, contact Palisis Support here to have it enabled.

   In the Name field, enter a clear, recognisable title (for instance, Stripe Tour Gateway or Stripe Website GBP). In the dropdown menu immediately beneath the name, select Stripe. Then, click the Create payment gateway button and select OK on the confirmation prompt.

   

3. On the gateway configuration page, you will notice an alert banner stating: “This gateway is not connected to a Stripe account yet.” Click the link labelled Connect with Stripe.

   
4. Then you will be presented with two connection methods:
   • Create a new Stripe account (Recommended): Best practice for isolating your TourCMS bookings and avoiding cross-system transaction confusion.
   • Connect an existing Stripe account: Ideal if you already have a verified Stripe account configured for this specific trading entity.

5. Select the best option for you. We recommend the first: if you already process payments through an existing Stripe account from non-Palisis systems, it can confuse where payments originate. Select Create a new Stripe account (recommended).

   Either way, the Stripe account belongs to you. You can sign in to Stripe anytime to manage it. Both options start from a Stripe payment gateway and end with a connected account whose status and payments you can view in TourCMS.

Option 1: Create a new Stripe account (recommended)

1. Enter your registered legal business or trading name, then click Create account and continue to Stripe.

   
   

2. Authenticate and complete Stripe verification:

   • You will be redirected securely to Stripe's onboarding portal.
   • Enter your business email address, account password, and the two-factor authentication code sent to your mobile device.
   • Confirm your business entity details, agree to Stripe’s terms of service, and click Agree and continue.
   

3. After authentication, Stripe gives you an emergency backup code; store it securely. Use it to unlock your account if needed. Click Next and follow the Stripe process.

   

4. Check the Country. If your TourCMS account already has one, it is shown and cannot be changed here. To change it, go to Configuration & setup > Account settings. If it has none, choose one and TourCMS saves it as your account country. Click Continue to create the Stripe account.

   

5. Enter your business and bank details and verify your identity. The process prompts for the required information at each step. Watch this video for the full process. Finally, click Agree and submit.

   

6. When complete, you will return to TourCMS. In TourCMS, confirm your Stripe Account ID is populated and shows a green status indicator.

   

7. Configure card logos & Save:

   • Scroll to the Show Logos section and select the payment icons you wish to display on your booking engine (such as MasterCard and Visa).
   • Click Save changes.
   

Option 2: Connect an existing Stripe account

Use this option if you already have a Stripe account and want TourCMS to take payments through it. You sign in to Stripe and allow Palisis (TourCMS) to use your account.

1. On the Connect with Stripe page, choose Connect an existing Stripe account.

   

2. On Stripe, sign in to your Stripe account.

   

3. Choose the account you want to use and click Connect to confirm the connection.

   

4. Stripe redirects you to TourCMS and shows "Stripe account connected".

   

Phase B: Assign the gateway to your channel (vital step!)

1. Go to Configuration > Channels in the top navigation bar. Select the sales channel you wish to update (e.g., your primary website channel or your B2B trade channel). Under the General Setup menu, click Payments & Credit cards.

   

2. In the Ecommerce / Web payments / Cardholder non present dropdown menu, select your newly created Stripe gateway.

   
3. Save your settings at the bottom of the page. Your selected channel is now live and accepting payments through Stripe!

Disconnecting an existing account

To disconnect the account, delete its payment gateway in Configuration & setup > Credit card payments. TourCMS asks you to confirm, because this also disconnects your Stripe account from TourCMS.

• Your Stripe account and its payments are not deleted.
• TourCMS can no longer take payments or refunds through that account.
• To use it again, you must connect it again from the start.

Managing bookings paid with Stripe

Once your gateway is active, day-to-day transaction management is smooth and straightforward across all channels. Here is how to handle common operational scenarios:

Monitoring payments on the booking screen

• Whenever a booking is confirmed online or via a B2B channel, TourCMS records the transaction under the MONEY tab of that specific booking.
• The payment record displays the exact timestamp, the currency and amount received, and the unique Stripe Charge ID (ch_... or pi_...).
• The outstanding balance on the booking automatically updates to zero (or reflects the remaining balance if you operate a deposit scheme).

Also, in the booking audit trail you can find the payment reference and full details:

Handling refunds and cancellations

• Issuing Refunds: If a guest or agent cancels or requires a partial refund, you can process the refund directly from TourCMS following the usual process explained in this support article.

Checking your account status

Your Stripe account can take payments only when TourCMS shows "This account is fully configured and can take payments."

To check it, go to Configuration & setup > Credit card payments and click Manage your Stripe account(s). If you have more than one Stripe account, pick it from the Your accounts list.

If Stripe requires additional compliance details (such as proof of identity, updated bank account details, or VAT documentation), an alert will appear here.

Click Complete your details on Stripe to open your Stripe dashboard, review missing requirements and update your business profile without disrupting bookings. You need to sign in to Stripe.

The same page also shows:

• 1️⃣ Connected account: your Stripe account ID, starting with acct_.
• 2️⃣ Connection method: Onboarded (Account Links) for a new account, or Connected (Stripe Connect OAuth) for an existing one.
• 3️⃣ Mode: Live for real payments, Test for test payments.
• 4️⃣ Details submitted, Charges enabled and Payouts enabled: Yes or No.
• 5️⃣ Capabilities: Card Payments, and Transfers on some older accounts. A range warning means pending, a red cross means inactive.
• 6️⃣ Missing configuration: anything Stripe still needs, grouped by topic (for example, Business profile or Individual), with Stripe's reason when it gave one.

Multi-currency & multiple accounts

If you operate across multiple currencies (e.g., GBP and EUR) or separate legal entities for direct retail versus B2B wholesale, you can repeat Phase A to create dedicated gateways for each channel and map them accordingly.

Viewing your Stripe payments

You can see your Stripe payments inside TourCMS, without signing in to Stripe. This option appears once your account is fully configured.

1. Go to Configuration & setup > Credit card payments > Manage your Stripe account(s).

   

2. Under Transactions, click View transactions.

   

The page has three parts:

• 1️⃣ Account: the payment gateway name and the Stripe account ID.
• 2️⃣ Transactions: your Stripe payments. From here you can refund a payment, respond to a dispute and capture a payment that is waiting to be captured.
• 3️⃣ Balance report: a summary of your Stripe balance.

You can also refund transactions here: click the transaction, then click Send refund.

You have to select a reason and add a comment to finalise the process.

Keep in mind that refunds take 5-10 days to appear on a customer's statement. Fees for the original payment won't be returned, but there are no additional fees for the refund.

After that, the transaction will appear as Refunded.

Refunds you make here, or directly in Stripe, are added to the booking in TourCMS, in the MONEY tab.

Good to know

Stripe may request additional verification after the gateway is connected, especially before your first payout. Check the gateway status regularly and complete any required Stripe actions promptly so card payments and payouts continue without interruption.

FAQs