How to Connect Stripe or Square to Blinko — One-Time Setup for Payment Automations

Blinko's payment automations — Pay Now, Request a Payment, deposits, invoices, even fundraising and donations — all do the same quiet thing: they move money from your customer to you, with no chasing and no cut taken by Blinko. But before any of that can run, Blinko needs to know where to send the money. That's a one-time setup: connect the Stripe or Square account you already use.

Here's how to do it in about two minutes.

First, the one prerequisite: a Stripe or Square account

Blinko doesn't process payments itself and it doesn't replace your payment provider. It sits on top of the account you already have. So before you start, you need one of:

• A Stripe account, or
• A Square account.

You only need one. If you already take card payments today, you almost certainly already have one of these — connect that same account, and your money keeps landing exactly where it does now. If you don't have either yet, create a free account with Stripe or Square first (a few minutes on their site), then come back.

Connect your account once

You link your provider a single time. After that, every Blinko automation that collects money uses it automatically — you never set it up again.

1. Go to local.blinko.ai/payments and sign in.
2. On the Connect tab, you'll see two options:
   • Connect with Stripe — Funds land in your Stripe balance. Stripe Connect Standard.
   • Connect with Square — Funds land in your Square seller balance. OAuth.
3. Click the one you use. Blinko sends you to Stripe or Square to sign in and authorize the connection (standard, secure OAuth — Blinko never sees your password).
4. Approve the connection, and you're returned to Blinko with your account showing as connected.

That's it. The Connect tab now shows your provider, your account status, and your payout details, with a Disconnect button if you ever want to switch providers later.

After you connect: every transaction, in one place

Once you're connected, you can see and manage your money wherever is most convenient:

• In Blinko — the Ledger tab on the payments page lists every charge, request, and contribution Blinko has collected for you.
• In Stripe or Square — because the money settles into your own provider account, every transaction also appears in your normal Stripe or Square dashboard, alongside any payments you take outside Blinko.

Same money, three windows into it. Nothing is locked inside Blinko.

Payments and donations land in your account automatically

With the account linked, your automations just work. When a customer pays an invoice, settles a Pay Now charge, leaves a deposit, or gives to a fundraiser, Blinko routes that money straight into your connected Stripe or Square balance — and from there to your bank on your provider's normal payout schedule. You don't move anything by hand, and it works the same whether it's one transaction a month or thousands.

What Blinko charges to do this: nothing

Blinko takes 0% — no commission, no per-transaction fee, no cap — on every payment and donation, no matter how many you collect. You keep 100% of what your customers send.

One honest note so there are no surprises: your payment provider still charges its own standard processing rate (for example, Stripe's or Square's usual per-transaction fee) — the same rate you'd pay them with or without Blinko. Blinko simply never adds anything on top. The platform fee is, and stays, $0.

Common questions

Do I need both Stripe and Square? No — just one. Pick whichever you already use (or prefer), connect it, and you're set. You can switch later from the same page.

Does Blinko take a cut of donations or sales? No. Blinko's platform fee is $0 on every transaction, with no limit. Your Stripe or Square account still charges its own standard processing rate, exactly as it would without Blinko.

Where does the money go? Into your own connected Stripe or Square balance, then to your bank on your provider's normal payout schedule. Blinko never holds your funds.

Can I take donations and contributions this way too? Yes. Fundraisers, event contributions, and one-off gifts route through the same connected account — handy for churches, nonprofits, and community drives.

What if I want to change providers? Open the payments page, disconnect, and connect the other provider. Past payments stay on your record; new charges use the new account.

---

See how Blinko payments work → · Start free →