Payment Options

Types of Payment

Hostwinds only stores a single credit card's information at a time. Therefore, Hostwinds recommends keeping the most current credit card on file for your hosting services to renew without potential interruption as a subscription-based service. The Manage Credit Card option will display the current card on file and provide the opportunity to update if needed.

How to Pay with a Card

Note: To make any of the changes outlined in this section, you must log in to the Hostwinds Client Area. The following segments will show you how to add multiple types of payment.

From your Client Area Dashboard, you can access the Manage Credit Card link in two ways:

• Click on the Billing dropdown link from the top menu and then click on the Manage Credit Card link. The link will be the third from the top in the dropdown.
• On the top menu at the far right of the dashboard, click on the "Hello, (your name here)" dropdown link and click on the Manage Credit Card link. The link will be the third from the top in the dropdown.

The Credit Card Details page will provide you with the ability to look at your current payment methods in the Current Payment Method Details table, as well as the ability to enter a new card in the area below it. In this area, Hostwinds displays the credit cards we currently accept for payment. As of the time of the writing of this article, Hostwinds accepts the following credit cards:

• Visa
• Visa Electron
• Mastercard
• Discover
• American Express

Enter your credit card number, card expiration date, and the CVV number ( the number on the back of your card ) in the spaces provided and click on the green Save Changes button.

If you need to change the credit card you would like to charge, follow the same steps provided earlier in this article. Note this will delete the current card from Hostwinds' system.

How to Pay with Paypal

A PayPal Billing Agreement is a pre-approved automatic payment method that Hostwinds requires to be in place to pay via PayPal. Using PayPal's Billing Agreement provides you with the ability to automatically charge your PayPal account for invoices that are due and new orders.

To get started, you must be in your Client Area. Click on the Billing dropdown link from the top menu and then click on the Paypal Billing Agreements link. The link will be the fifth from the top in the dropdown.

Upon entering the Paypal Billing page, a table presents the current PayPal agreements you have created. Click the green Create New Billing Agreement button.

You will now be routed through PayPal's web application. If you do not finish the entire process, Hostwinds cannot save your data.

Additional: Hostwinds supports multiple PayPal Billing Agreements on the same account. You can assign one of these PayPal Billing Agreements as your "Main" Agreement. This acts as a fallback account that can process payments if other payment methods cannot complete payments.

How to Pay with Bitcoin or other Hostwinds Accepted Cryptocurrencies

You can only use Cryptocurrency on individual payments. You cannot set up subscriptions through cryptocurrencies. However, you can purchase Credits for future use with Cryptocurrency. Still, the only current automatic payment options available are Credit Cards and PayPal.

Invoices may display as "unpaid" for up to 24 hours when paying with Cryptocurrency. This is not because of the blockchain itself, but CoinPayments software processing the request. Once processed, the "unpaid" invoice will appear as active.

Note that per our Terms Of Service, we do not refund Cryptocurrency payments. However, suppose you qualify for a refund and have paid via Cryptocurrency. In that case, we will issue an Account Credit to your account.

Go to the invoice you wish to pay by selecting invoices from the billing tab dropdown. Then select the column of the unpaid invoice you want to pay.

Head to the dropdown invoice page and select Cryptocurrency. Next, click on Pay Now underneath the dropdown after selection. Once done, this will take you to the CoinPayments checkout page.

Select the Cryptocurrency you wish from the list of accepted choices, and select Complete Checkout when ready. Then, continue through the prompts to process the payment.

How to pay with AliPay

Note: The option to use Alipay will only be visible within your cart or on your invoice if you come from an IP address in China. (Make sure to set your country to be China as well)

Pay in your Shopping Cart

Add the product you are looking to purchase into your Hostwinds cart

and in the payment options, Alipay will be visible.

Pay an Existing Invoice with Alipay

Log in to the Client Area.

Change the payment method on the invoice so that it shows Alipay. (The option will be visible, as long as the site detects you are coming from an IP address located in China)

Select Pay Now just below the dropdown to be redirected to Alipay to complete the payment.

Note: Payments made through Alipay will not automatically renew. The payment will need to be made manually for the renewal invoices. If you have any questions or would like assistance, we are available through Live Chat or by ticket.

How we charge when Payment Options fail

If a payment method fails, our Billing department follows this process to try to solve the issue:

1. Open the account and check for any active orders. Then check to see if the order is marked paid.
2. Check to see if Hostwinds held the order for manual review or unpaid (True Negative).
3. Attempt to troubleshoot any errors, such as AVS Mismatch, billing error codes, or an attempt to retry the payment until success.
4. Finally, if the payment method does not work, we will recommend another supported payment method. Currently, our accepted payment types are CC, PayPal, Alipay (China only), or Cryptocurrency.

Please note that if you have an overdue payment or failed purchase order, it will remain pending. However, if you purchase a new service, our systems may try to bill the pending purchase order automatically.