Payment gateways

Tempo doesn't process payments itself and doesn't favour any provider: it hands checkout to WooCommerce, so any WooCommerce payment gateway works, and the money goes through your own account with your own provider. No part of a payment ever routes through us, and there is no per-booking platform fee.

Choosing a gateway

Set up under WooCommerce → Settings → Payments. For most UK clubs the shortlist is:

• Stripe (via the official WooCommerce Stripe plugin): cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, straightforward fees, quick setup. The common choice.
• WooPayments: WooCommerce's own gateway, similar capabilities.
• PayPal: familiar to parents; note its popup-style flow is the classic source of the rare "paid after the hold expired" case described in How bookings become orders. Tempo handles it safely either way.

Whatever you choose, the provider's own plugin walks you through connecting your account; none of that is Tempo-specific.

Requirements worth restating

Tempo is built for the WooCommerce Checkout Block, the default checkout on current WooCommerce installs, and it's gateway-independent by design; it reacts to order statuses rather than to any particular provider's plumbing. If your site is older and its checkout page was customised in the pre-block era, the Minimal checkout layout (Checkout, holds and the countdown) is the low-disruption option while you modernise.

Testing payments before going live

1. The friction-free way: temporarily enable Cash on delivery under WooCommerce payments. A cash-on-delivery order goes straight to Processing, which confirms bookings, so you can exercise the entire booking journey (holds, checkout, confirmation, emails, register) without a card. Disable it again before launch, or rename it "Pay at reception" if you actually want that option.
2. The realistic way: most gateways have a test mode (Stripe's test cards, for example). Run one booking through test mode end to end, then switch the gateway live and run one real booking for a small amount.

Confirm after each test that the booking shows as confirmed in Tempo → Bookings, the order looks right, and the confirmation email arrived. The Quick start has the full pre-launch checklist.

Failed and pending payments, day to day

A declined card leaves the order unpaid and the places held until the reservation expires, so the family can retry calmly. Staff can see who's awaiting payment at any time via the Bookings hub filters, and pending-payment tiles on the dashboard keep the money-chasing list honest. For taking payments over the phone or issuing pay-by-link invoices, see Manual bookings.