Public preview
Represent customers using Account objects Public preview
Manage your customers using the Accounts v2 API instead of the Customers API.
The Accounts v2 API uses configurations to enable functionality for Account objects. When using the v2 API, you can represent a customer using an Account object instead of a Customer object by assigning the customer configuration to the Account. When making a request that accepts a Customer ID as the argument to the customer parameter, instead provide the Account ID as the argument to the customer_account parameter.
The following example creates an Account with the customer configuration and requests the common automatic_indirect_tax capability, which is part of the customer configuration. Requesting the capability is optional; you can simply add the configuration by specifying configuration.customer.
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When you enable the Accounts v2 API, your Stripe-hosted integrations, such as Checkout, create Accounts with the customer configuration instead of Customer objects. If your code references Customer objects, we recommend that you update it to reference customer-configured Account objects instead.
| Purpose | v1 reference | v2 reference |
|---|---|---|
| Customer reference | customer | customer_account |
| Customer identification | cus_xxxxx | acct_xxxxx |
| Set billing address | address | identity.individual.address if the entity type is individual. identity.business_details.address if the entity type is any type other than individual. |
| Set shipping address | shipping | configuration.customer.shipping |
Provide an Account as the customer
API requests such as Subscriptions and SetupIntents require you to specify a customer. These requests accept either the customer or customer_account parameter. The following example creates a subscription and specifies the customer by passing an Account ID as the customer_account.
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Reference Accounts in Customers v1 integrations
A request that specifies customer_account returns both customer and customer_account properties, with correspondingly formatted values. This maintains compatibility with existing Billing and Payments integrations.
Example response
{
"id": "sub_1Mow234",
.
.
.
"customer": "cus_xxxxx",
"customer_account": "acct_xxxxx"
}
You can also retrieve or update customer-configured Accounts using the /v1/customers endpoint.
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Accounts v2 webhooks
Webhooks for Accounts v2 send thin events.
| Action | v1 event | v2 event |
|---|---|---|
| Customer created | customer.created | Accounts v2 sends separate events indicating the account creation and the customer configuration: v2.core.account.created v2.core.account[configuration.customer].updated |
| Billing address updated | customer.updated | v2.core.account[identity].updated |
| Subscription actions | customer.subscription. [action] | None; use the v1 event |
| Customer deleted | customer.deleted | v2.core.account.closed |
Customer invoice properties
| Data value | Customers v1 property | Accounts v2 property |
|---|---|---|
| Customer stored credit | invoice_credit_balance | None; see Reference an Accounts v2 ID in a /v1/customers path |
| Customer invoice prefix | invoice_prefix | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.prefix |
| Custom settings | invoice_settings.custom_fields | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.custom_fields |
| Default payment method | invoice_settings.default_payment_method | configuration.customer.billing.default_payment_method |
| Invoice footer | invoice_settings.footer | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.footer |
| Invoice rendering options | invoice_settings.rendering_options | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.rendering.template |
Reference an Account ID with a Customers endpoint
The Accounts v2 API doesn’t have endpoints for every customer function. To perform the following actions for an Account object, use the v1/customers endpoint and pass the Account ID ( acct_xxxxx) as the path parameter.
| Use case | v1 endpoint with account ID |
|---|---|
| Manage cash balances | the relevant part of the product the relevant part of the product/:id |
| Manage cash balance transactions | GET the relevant part of the product GET the relevant part of the product/:id POST the relevant part of the product POST the relevant part of the product GET the relevant part of the product |
Manage invoice credit balance For Account objects, the ending_balance of the account’s most recently finalised invoice corresponds to the Customer object’s invoice_credit_balance. | POST the relevant part of the product POST the relevant part of the product/:id GET the relevant part of the product/:id GET the relevant part of the product |
Customer-Account object property map
The following table describes how properties of Customer objects correspond to properties of customer-configured Account objects. Except where noted, Stripe copies the mapped values when generating an Account corresponding to an existing Customer.
Mapped values remain synchronised. For example, if you set identity.country on an Account, then when you pass that Account ID as the customer_account to a v1 endpoint, the returned country contains the same value.
| Customers v1 property | Accounts v2 property | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
address | {all properties} | identity.business_details.address or identity.individual.address | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, address is only included if it passes validation. address.country (string in v1 and enum in v2) is only included if it matches either a valid enum or country name, ignoring case and any special characters. |
country | identity.country | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, address.country (string) only copies to identity.country (enum) if it matches either a valid enum or country name, ignoring case and any special characters. | |
business_name | identity.business_details.registered_name | ||
created | {not mapped} | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, the Account ’s created property reflects the timestamp when the Account was created, not the original Customer. | |
currency | {not mapped} | The v2 Account ’s defaults.currency property doesn’t apply to the customer configuration. | |
customer_account | id | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, the Customer ’s customer_account property contains the ID of that Account. The ID of the Customer isn’t available on the Account. Users who create v2 Accounts representing customers don’t need to use a v1 Customer ID. | |
description | {not mapped} | The v1 Customer description isn’t available on the v2 Account. However, it appears (read-only) on the customer details page in the Dashboard. | |
email | contact_email | ||
id | {not mapped} | The ID of the v1 Customer isn’t available on the v2 Account. Users who create v2 Accounts representing customers don’t need to use a v1 Customer ID. | |
individual_name | display_name | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, it only copies individual_name if the Customer ’s name is null. | |
invoice_prefix | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.prefix | ||
invoice_settings | custom_fields | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.custom_fields | The Account array is limited to 4 elements. |
default_payment_method | configuration.customer.billing.default_payment_method | ||
footer | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.footer | ||
rendering_options | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.rendering | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, invoice_settings.rendering_options.amount_tax_display (string) only copies to configuration.customer.billing.invoice.rendering.amount_tax_display (enum) if it matches an enum value ( include_inclusive_tax or exclude_tax). | |
livemode | livemode | ||
metadata | metadata | ||
name | display_name | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, if name is null, the Customer ’s individual_name copies to display_name. | |
next_invoice_sequence | configuration.customer.billing.invoice.next_sequence | ||
phone | identity.business_details.phone or identity.individual.phone | ||
preferred_locales | defaults.locales | The Customer property preferred_locales is a nullable array of strings, and the Account property defaults.locales is a nullable array of enums. When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, a given preferred_locales string is only included if it matches a defaults.locales enum value, ignoring case and any special characters. | |
shipping | configuration.customer.shipping | ||
subscriptions | {not mapped} | The v2 Account object doesn’t include an array of subscriptions. To retrieve a customer’s subscriptions, use the Subscriptions API and filter by customer or customer_account. | |
tax | automatic_tax | configuration.customer.capabilities.automatic_indirect_tax.status {value not synchronised} | The Account property is only available after requesting the Automatic Indirect Tax capability. Also, it doesn’t have an equivalent to the Customer property’s not_collecting value. It only indicates the status of the capability. |
ip_address | configuration.customer.automatic_indirect_tax.ip_address | ||
location | configuration.customer.automatic_indirect_tax.location {value not synchronised} | When Stripe associates a v1 Customer with a v2 Account, tax.location isn’t automatically included. You must request the Automatic Indirect Tax capability to set configuration.customer.automatic_indirect_tax.location. | |
provider | {not mapped} | If a Customer is associated with a third-party tax provider, Stripe doesn’t automatically associate that Customer with an Account. | |
tax_exempt | configuration.customer.automatic_indirect_tax.exempt | ||
tax_ids | {not mapped} | The v2 Account object doesn’t include an array of tax IDs. To retrieve a customer’s tax IDs, use the Tax IDs API and filter by owner.customer or owner.customer_account. | |
test_clock | configuration.customer.test_clock |
Enable the Accounts v2 preview
Previously, the Accounts v2 API was only available to Connect platforms. It’s now available in preview for all Stripe users.
Accounts v2 gives you a unified way to represent your users across Stripe products. Instead of using Customer objects, which only provide functionality for storing payment methods and making recurring payments, you can use Account objects, which offer greater flexibility through the use of configurations when additional functionality is required.
To enable the preview:
- Go to Account previews and features in your Dashboard.
- Enable the Reusable payment methods for Global Payouts toggle. If you don’t see the toggle, request access using the form at the top of this page.
When you opt in, your existing Customer objects are automatically synced with corresponding customer-configured v2 Account objects. When you create a new customer in the Dashboard, it generates a customer-configured Account object, not a Customer object. You can use these Accounts in most integrations that reference Customer objects.
Enabling the Accounts v2 preview also enables reusable payment credentials for Global Payouts, which let you store and reuse payment methods across Global Payouts transactions.
Limitations and opting out
The Accounts v2 preview doesn’t support the following features:
- Cloning customers
- Sharing customers and payment methods in an organisation
- Third-party tax integrations (Stripe Tax is supported)
To opt out, turn off the toggle in Account previews and features.
Opting out doesn’t revert existing Customer objects that are already associated with v2 Account objects. If you need unsupported functionality for those customers, you need to create new Customer objects for them.