Why Didn't My Renter's Payment Go Through?

A renter booked through your store, but the money never reached your Stripe or Square account. The booking shows as Reserved with the full balance still due.

In almost every case, nothing failed. Fleetwire never tried to charge the card, because no payment provider is connected to your Fleetwire account. Fleetwire still takes the booking and tells the renter that payment will be collected at pickup.

This is intentional: some hosts collect payment in person and don't want online payments. If you meant to charge at checkout, connect a provider.

Check 1: Is a payment provider connected?

1. Go to Settings > Integrations > Payment providers.
2. Look at the Stripe card (or Square, if you use Square). A connected account shows Connected with the date you connected it.
3. If you see a Connect with Stripe button instead, Fleetwire can't take renter payments yet.

How to connect Stripe

1. On Settings > Integrations > Payment providers, click Connect with Stripe.
2. Sign in to Stripe and finish its steps. You'll return to Fleetwire when it's done.
3. Make a test booking on your store. Checkout should now ask for a card.

Only a company admin can connect or disconnect a payment provider. If the button is missing, ask your account owner to do this step.

For the full walkthrough, see Connect Stripe to Accept Payments. Using Square? See Connect Square Payments to Fleetwire.

How Fleetwire tells you a provider is missing

• Dashboard banner. After your store takes its first booking, a yellow banner appears across the dashboard: "Checkout is set to charge renters, but no payment provider is connected." Click Payment settings to fix it.
• Settings > Checkout & documents > Payment collection. The page shows a warning, and the payment options that charge a card stay grayed out until a provider is connected.
• Your renters. At checkout they see that their reservation will be submitted now and payment will be collected at pickup. Their confirmation email goes out as usual.

Collect payment yourself? Turn off payment at checkout

If you take payment at the counter, in cash, or through another system, make that official so the warning goes away:

1. Go to Settings > Checkout & documents > Payment collection.
2. Choose Do not show payment options.
3. Click Save.

Then record payments as you collect them. See Logging Manual or Cash Payments.

If only some vehicles are paid at pickup, set that per listing instead. See Listing Payment Collection Mode.

Collecting balances from bookings that already came in

Connecting a provider doesn't charge earlier bookings. For each booking that's still unpaid:

• Send a payment request. From the booking, send the renter a pay link by email or text. See Send Payment Requests to Customers.
• Send the invoice. The invoice lists every charge and has a Pay button. See Invoices on a Booking.
• Take payment at pickup and record it on the booking.

To find them, open Orders and look for bookings with a balance due.

The payment says "Requires Action"

The renter's bank asked for an extra security check, called 3D Secure, such as a code or an approval in their banking app. This usually happens when you charge or hold a card from the dashboard, because the renter isn't there to approve it. Until they do, nothing is charged or held on their card, and the booking still shows the balance as due.

Fleetwire tells you right away: instead of closing, the payment window switches to Approval needed.

Send the renter the link

1. Click Text to renter to text them the payment link, or Copy link and send it your own way.
2. The renter opens the link and taps Authorize. Their bank shows its check, and they approve it.
3. The payment goes through and the booking updates on its own.

Find it again later

Closed the window? The payment stays on the booking marked Requires Action. Click it to get the same link and buttons.

Don't need it anymore? Cancel it

Click Cancel payment, then confirm. The renter's link stops working. Nothing was held on the card, so there's nothing to release.

Other reasons a payment can look missing

The card was authorized but never captured. If your checkout uses Manual capture, Fleetwire places a hold on the card instead of charging it. You have 7 days to capture it from the booking. After that, the hold is released back to the renter's bank automatically, and no money moves. Fleetwire notifies you within 24 hours of an expiring hold. See How to Authorize and Capture Credit Card Holds.

Checkout only charges part of the total. Under Settings > Checkout & documents > Payment collection, you can charge the full amount, a down payment, or only the security deposit. If it's set to a down payment, the rest stays due on the booking until you collect it.

The renter hasn't paid a payment request yet. A request sits unpaid until the renter opens the link and pays. You can see its status on the booking.

It's in Stripe, but not in your bank yet. Stripe pays out on its own schedule, usually a few business days after the charge. Check the payment in your Stripe dashboard.

Still stuck?

Send us the booking number (it starts with b_) through the in-app chat or at hi@fleetwire.io, and we'll trace what happened.

Updated on: 29/10/2026