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Payments & Security

We accept all the most popular forms of payment; credit cards, cards debits and bank transfers.

Secure checkout payments

All payment transactions are processed by Stripe payment gateway which is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1. This is the highest, most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry.

Through Stripe we accept the following debit and credit cards from customers in every country;

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express

We also offer payment option through PayPal on orders up to £5,500 ($10,000). All goods and delivery charges must be paid in full before delivery can be arranged.

Encryption and security

Security is one of the biggest considerations in everything we do. Esper does not hold, handle or process any of your credit or debit card information.

All card numbers are encrypted by Stripe at rest with AES-256. Decryption keys are stored on separate machines. None of Stripe’s internal servers and daemons are able to obtain plaintext card numbers; instead, they can just request that cards be sent to a service provider on a static whitelist. Stripe’s infrastructure for storing, decrypting, and transmitting card numbers runs in separate hosting infrastructure, and doesn’t share any credentials with Stripe’s primary services (API, website, etc.).

Declines and failed payments

Payments can fail for a variety of reasons and it can be frustrating. Most failures are actually preventative measures–working to minimise the possibility of a fraudulent payment that otherwise may have resulted in a dispute.

There are 2 main reasons why a payment might fail:

1. Payment decline by card issuers

When a charge is submitted to the issuer of your credit card, they have automated systems that determine whether or not to authorise it. These systems take various signals into account, such as your spending habits, account balance, and card information like the expiration date and CVC.

Unfortunately, most declines are categorised as “generic” so it’s not always possible to know exactly why a payment was declined. If all of the card information seems correct, it is best to contact your card issuer and ask for more information. In these situations, often resubmitting the payment can result in the payment being accepted.

For privacy and security, card issuers can only discuss the specifics of a declined payment with the cardholders–they cannot discuss this with the merchant (i.e Esper).

2. Blocked by Stripe

Stripe’s automated fraud prevention toolset, Radar, blocks any payments that it identifies as being high-risk. Radar helps effectively combat fraud, with features such as rules that block payments if the CVC or postal code doesn’t match the information on file with your customer’s card issuer.

A blocked payment is initially authorised by the card issuer and could be processed successfully. Instead, Stripe does not charge the card as it’s likely the payment is fraudulent and could result in a dispute.

If you receive a blocked a payment notification please contact us at sales@esperhq.com.