Collect Booking Deposits from WhatsApp with Stripe

This recipe takes a deposit for a booking inside the chat, using the Stripe account you already have. The customer picks a time, pays the deposit by link and gets a confirmation, without a bank transfer screenshot. Part of the Stripe integration.

What happens today

A customer books a slot over WhatsApp. You ask for a deposit and send your bank details. They say they will pay later. The slot sits held with nothing paid, and you chase them the next day. Some pay, some forget, and some do not turn up. Each chase takes time you could spend on paying customers.

The flow that works

The customer picks a time from the ones AeroChat offered from your calendar or booking system.
AeroChat creates a Stripe payment link for the deposit and sends it in the chat.
The customer pays on Stripe’s page.
When Stripe shows the payment as paid, AeroChat books the slot and sends the confirmation.
Until the deposit is paid, nothing goes in the calendar, so the time stays open to other customers.

The recipe

Copy this into AeroChat

When a customer has chosen a booking time, follow these steps.

Work out the deposit from our deposit rules. Example: US$20 for services up to 60 minutes and US$40 for longer ones.

Create a Stripe payment link for the deposit with the customer’s name, the service and the booking time in the description. Send it in the chat.

Tell them the booking is confirmed once the deposit is paid, that the deposit comes off their final bill, and that the time is only booked once they pay, so it is best to pay within 30 minutes (example).

When the payment is confirmed in Stripe, check the time is still free, add the booking to our calendar with the customer’s name, phone number, service and “deposit paid”, and send a confirmation with the date, time, address and our cancellation policy.

If the time has gone by the time they pay, offer the next three closest times and keep the deposit for the new booking.

If they come back later without having paid, check the time is still free, and send a new link or offer new times.

Never confirm a booking without a paid deposit. Never change the deposit amount or waive it. If they ask to pay another way or for an exception, hand the conversation to a team member. Reply in the customer’s language.

Change the deposit amounts, holding time and cancellation policy to your own before you paste it.

What to connect

Stripe. In your Stripe Dashboard, create a restricted API key that can create payment links and read payments. Enter it in the AeroChat dashboard when the checklist asks. Start with a test-mode key to try the flow, then swap in a live key.
Your calendar or booking system. Google Calendar connects when you connect your Google account and approve the access. A booking system with a public API connects with its key.
Your policies. Upload your deposit rules and cancellation policy to the AeroChat knowledge base.

Airwallex payment links are built into AeroChat if you do not use Stripe. Payment links are included from the Growth plan.

Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.

Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.

What you still decide

Which bookings need a deposit, and how much.
How soon you ask customers to pay after choosing a time.
Whether a deposit is refundable, and up to when.
Who handles requests to pay another way.

AeroChat follows these as written. It never confirms a booking that Stripe has not shown as paid.

The result to expect

Bookings arrive with the deposit already paid, so you stop chasing transfers and checking screenshots. A customer who has paid to hold a slot has a reason to turn up, or to tell you when they cannot.

Measure it with your own numbers: the share of bookings with a deposit paid, and no-shows per month, before and after you start.

Next: answer payment questions from Stripe.

Take your first deposit in chat

Paste the recipe, add a Stripe test key, and book a slot from your own number.

Start your 7-day free trial. No credit card needed.

On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.