Why are there so many incomplete payments in Stripe?

If you are noticing an unusually high number of incomplete payments in your Stripe dashboard, and you use Single Page Checkout with Stripe Elements - this is due to some changes Stripe made recently to their element form.

Please note that these incomplete payments themselves do not create any issues. Once the customer does complete the checkout process, there will be a completed payment. 

The payment form that displays on the checkout page is one that is generated through Stripe, this is called the payment element form. With recent changes, the payment element form requires an incomplete payment to be created in Stripe before it can display. 

For new users, MemberPress waits to display the form until they have entered their email address and all other required payment fields (since version 1.9.41).  Versions 1.9.48a1 and later include a message to the customer letting them know they need to enter their email and physical address (if applicable) to display the payment form. How to Install an Edge Build.

Hiding the form cuts down on the incomplete payments in Stripe. However, if the user is logged in, then every time they visit or refresh the checkout page a new incomplete payment will be created in Stripe. This is because MemberPress already has the user's email address and other required information.

In the meantime you can do one of the following:

• Switch to Stripe Checkout under MemberPress -> Settings -> Payments (recommended)
• Disable the Single Page Checkout option in MemberPress -> Settings -> Account
• Re-Order the Payment Options so that one other than Stripe is first. See Also: Re-Ordering Payment Options