Whop and WooCommerce payments glossary

198 terms a WooCommerce merchant meets when taking payments with Whop, each explained in one or two sentences. Links lead to the full guide when there is one.

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3-D SecurePayments

3-D Secure is a protocol that lets the card issuer authenticate the cardholder during an online payment, usually through a banking app or one-time code. A successful check generally shifts fraud chargeback liability to the issuer.

A

Account IDWhop

The Account ID is the public identifier of a Whop business, starting with biz_. WhopForWoo needs it alongside the API key; older Whop screens and tutorials call it Company ID.

ACHPayments

ACH is the US network for bank-to-bank transfers and debits. Whop offers ACH bank transfer to US customers; it is cheaper than cards but takes longer to confirm.

AcquirerPayments

An acquirer is the bank or licensed institution that processes card payments on behalf of a merchant and deposits the funds. It sends each transaction to the card network and carries the risk if the merchant cannot cover chargebacks.

Action SchedulerWooCommerce

Action Scheduler is the background job queue bundled with WooCommerce. It runs delayed or recurring tasks, such as webhooks and subscription renewals, and lists them under Tools, Scheduled Actions.

See also: WP-Cron, WooCommerce, Transient

AfterpayPayments

Afterpay is a buy now, pay later provider that splits a purchase into installments for the customer while the merchant is paid in full. Whop offers it through its financing program, alongside Klarna, Sezzle, Splitit and Zip.

AgencyBusiness

An agency is a business that builds and maintains sites for clients, often installing the same plugins on many stores. Plugin licences with unlimited sites, like WhopForWoo's Pirate plan, suit this case.

Annual licenseBusiness

An annual license gives access to updates and support for one year and is renewed each year. WhopForWoo offers annual and one-time plans; if a licence lapses, payments keep working.

API keySecurity

An API key is a secret string that authenticates a server's requests to an API. Whop API keys are created on the dashboard's Developer page and sent as a Bearer token; they must never reach the browser.

API rate limitSecurity

A rate limit caps how many API requests a client can send in a period. Whop's API allows 600 requests per minute per operation and credential, then returns 429 with rate_limit_exceeded.

Api-Version-Date headerWhop

The Api-Version-Date header pins the response format of the Whop API to a given date, so later API changes do not break an integration. WhopForWoo sends it with its requests.

Apple PayPayments

Apple Pay is Apple's digital wallet, used with Face ID or Touch ID on Apple devices and Safari. On WooCommerce with WhopForWoo it appears in the Whop form once the store's domain is verified for Apple Pay.

Apple Pay domain verificationPayments

Apple Pay domain verification proves you control the domain where the payment form runs. For Whop, you host Whop's file at /.well-known/apple-developer-merchantid-domain-association and register the domain in your Whop dashboard.

AuthorizationPayments

An authorization is the issuer's approval of a card payment for a given amount. It confirms the card is valid and has funds, and places a hold; the money only moves once the payment is captured.

B

BancontactPayments

Bancontact is Belgium's main debit card scheme and online payment method, confirmed in the customer's banking app. Whop shows it to eligible customers in Europe.

Bank transferPayments

A bank transfer is a payment sent directly from the customer's bank account to the merchant, without a card. It has low fees and no card chargebacks, but confirmation can take hours or days.

C

CancelledWooCommerce

Cancelled is the WooCommerce status of an order stopped by the merchant or the customer, or an unpaid order that timed out under the hold stock setting. Any reduced stock is restored.

CapturePayments

A capture is the step that turns an authorized card payment into an actual charge, moving the held funds toward the merchant. Most online stores capture immediately; some capture later, when the order ships.

See also: Authorization, Refund, Settlement

Card networkPayments

A card network, such as Visa or Mastercard, is the system that routes transactions between acquirers and issuers. It sets the interchange rates, the scheme fees and the chargeback rules that every merchant must follow.

D

Debug logWordPress

The debug log is the file, wp-content/debug.log, where WordPress writes PHP errors and warnings when WP_DEBUG and WP_DEBUG_LOG are enabled in wp-config.php. It is the first place to look when a plugin breaks checkout.

DeclinePayments

A decline is a refusal of a payment by the issuer, the provider's fraud checks or the payment method itself. The customer sees an error and the WooCommerce order stays unpaid until another attempt succeeds.

Decline codePayments

A decline code is the short reason returned with a refused payment, such as insufficient funds or card velocity exceeded. It tells the merchant whether the customer should retry, use another card or call their bank.

Full guide →See also: Decline, Failed

DeduplicationSecurity

Deduplication is ignoring a message that has already been processed. Whop delivers webhooks at least once, so WhopForWoo records each webhook-id and skips repeats.

Digital productsBusiness

Digital products are goods delivered online with no shipping, such as ebooks, templates, courses, software or presets. In WooCommerce they are set up as virtual and often downloadable products.

Digital walletPayments

A digital wallet stores a customer's cards on their phone or browser so they can pay without typing card details. Apple Pay and Google Pay are the most common and are charged at the card rate on Whop.

DisputePayments

A dispute is a formal challenge of a payment raised by the customer with their bank or payment provider. On Whop, each card dispute costs $15, and a high dispute rate can lead to a reserve.

Downloadable productWooCommerce

A downloadable product is a WooCommerce product that gives the customer a file to download after payment, with optional download limits and expiry. WooCommerce only grants access once the order is paid.

DropshippingBusiness

Dropshipping is a retail model where the store sells products a supplier ships directly to the customer, so the merchant holds no stock. Long delivery times raise dispute risk, which payment providers watch closely.

E

Embedded checkoutCheckout

An embedded checkout keeps the payment form inside the store's own checkout page, usually in an iframe, so the customer never leaves the site. WhopForWoo embeds Whop Elements on the classic checkout and the order-pay page.

Express checkoutCheckout

Express checkout lets a customer pay in one or two taps with a saved wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, often skipping the address form because the wallet supplies it.

F

FailedWooCommerce

Failed is the WooCommerce status of an order whose payment was declined or did not complete. The customer can usually try again, and the order is not counted as a sale.

Flat-rate pricingPayments

Flat-rate pricing is a fee model where every card payment costs the same percentage plus a fixed amount, whatever the card type. Most payment service providers, Whop included, use it for small and mid-sized merchants.

Fraud screeningSecurity

Fraud screening is the automated review of a payment for signs of fraud before or after approval, using signals such as card BIN, IP address, device, velocity and address checks. Suspicious payments are blocked or flagged.

See also: Card testing, Velocity check, AVS

Free trialBusiness

A free trial gives a customer access to a subscription product for a limited time before the first charge. Whop plans can include one; clear reminders before billing reduce disputes.

Friendly fraudPayments

Friendly fraud is a chargeback filed by the real cardholder for a purchase they made, often because they forgot it, did not recognise the descriptor or wanted to skip the refund process.

FulfillmentBusiness

Fulfillment is everything that happens after payment to deliver an order: picking, packing, shipping and tracking for physical goods, or granting access for digital ones.

G

Gateway IDWooCommerce

A gateway ID is the unique identifier WooCommerce stores on each order to record which payment method was used. WhopForWoo's gateway ID is whop, and its settings live under WooCommerce, Settings, Payments.

Google PayPayments

Google Pay is Google's digital wallet, available in Chrome and on Android. Whop charges it at the card rate, and on an embedded form it becomes available once the domain is set up for Apple Pay.

Guest checkoutCheckout

Guest checkout lets a customer buy without creating an account. WooCommerce supports it in its account settings; forcing account creation is a common reason buyers abandon the cart.

H

High-risk merchantPayments

A high-risk merchant is a business that providers expect to generate more fraud or chargebacks, because of its category, its refund model or its history. It faces higher fees, reserves or outright refusal.

HMACSecurity

HMAC, hash-based message authentication code, combines a secret key and a message into a signature using a hash function such as SHA-256. Only someone with the key can produce a valid signature.

Hold stockWooCommerce

Hold stock is a WooCommerce inventory setting, in minutes, that reserves stock for unpaid orders. When the time runs out, pending payment orders are cancelled and the stock is released.

See also: Pending payment, Cancelled, WP-Cron

HookWordPress

A hook is a named point in WordPress code where plugins can run their own functions. There are two kinds: actions, which do something, and filters, which change a value before it is used.

Hosted checkoutCheckout

A hosted checkout is a payment page run by the provider on its own domain. The store redirects the customer there and back. WhopForWoo uses Whop's hosted page for the WooCommerce Checkout Block.

HPOSWooCommerce

HPOS, High-Performance Order Storage, stores WooCommerce orders in dedicated database tables instead of the WordPress posts table. It is the default for new stores since WooCommerce 8.2; WhopForWoo is HPOS compatible.

HTTPSSecurity

HTTPS is HTTP encrypted with TLS. Whop rejects webhook URLs that are not public https, and browsers block wallets like Apple Pay on pages served without it.

I

iDEALPayments

iDEAL is the most used online payment method in the Netherlands, where the customer confirms the payment in their bank app. Whop lists iDEAL among its European methods, up to €1M per payment.

IdempotencySecurity

Idempotency means that running the same operation several times has the same result as running it once. For payments, it guarantees a retried request or a repeated webhook never charges or completes an order twice.

Idempotency keySecurity

An idempotency key is a unique value sent with an API request so the server can recognise a retry and return the original result instead of acting again. WhopForWoo sends one with its Whop creation calls.

IframeSecurity

An iframe is a frame that loads a page from another domain inside the current page. Browsers isolate it, so card details typed into a provider's iframe cannot be read by the store's scripts.

Interchange feePayments

An interchange fee is the amount the acquirer pays the issuer on each card transaction. Card networks set it by card type and region; in the EU consumer cards are capped at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit.

International card feePayments

An international card fee is a surcharge applied when the card was issued in a different country from the merchant. Whop adds 1.5% for international cards on payments processed in the US.

IssuerPayments

An issuer is the bank that gave the customer their card. It approves or declines each authorization, runs 3-D Secure checks, and decides the first round of any chargeback the cardholder opens.

See also: Acquirer, Authorization, Chargeback

K

KlarnaPayments

Klarna is a buy now, pay later provider that lets customers pay in installments. On Whop it is part of the financing program, with per-country limits such as $10,000 per transaction in the US.

KYBPayments

KYB, Know Your Business, is the verification of a company rather than a person: its registration, ownership and activity. Providers run it alongside KYC when a business, not an individual, receives the payouts.

KYCPayments

KYC, Know Your Customer, is the identity check a payment provider runs on a merchant before paying them out. On Whop it means entering your details, linking a bank account and uploading an ID with a selfie.

Full guide →See also: KYB, Whop KYC, Payout

L

Least privilegeSecurity

Least privilege means giving a key or user only the permissions they need. Whop recommends replacing an Admin-role API key with a custom permission set covering only the endpoints you call.

License keyWhop

A license key on Whop is the unique key each customer gets when buying a product that includes the Software app. Servers validate it with GET /memberships/{id}, which accepts the key in place of a membership ID.

Local payment methodPayments

A local payment method is a payment option popular in one country or region, like iDEAL in the Netherlands or Bancontact in Belgium. Whop shows eligible local methods automatically based on the customer's location and currency.

M

MembershipWhop

A membership on Whop is a customer's access to a product, created when they buy a plan. Its status, such as active, trialing or completed, tells your app whether to grant access.

Membership webhooksWhop

Membership webhooks are Whop events such as membership.activated and membership.updated, sent when a customer's access starts or changes. Sites selling Whop subscriptions use them to grant or remove access.

Merchant accountPayments

A merchant account is a bank account opened with an acquirer that lets a business accept card payments under its own merchant ID. With a payment service provider, merchants share the provider's account instead.

Merchant Category Code (MCC)Payments

A Merchant Category Code is a four-digit number that classifies what a business sells. Card networks use it for interchange rates, rewards and risk rules, and some categories are treated as high risk.

Merchant discount rate (MDR)Payments

The merchant discount rate is the total percentage a merchant pays to accept a card payment, covering interchange, scheme fees and the provider's margin. On Whop, the standard domestic card rate is 2.7% plus $0.30.

Merchant of recordPayments

A merchant of record is the legal seller named on the customer's payment, responsible for processing, refunds and chargebacks, and sometimes tax. Whop states it acts as merchant of record on Whop Payments.

MetadataWhop

Metadata is a set of custom key-value pairs attached to an API object, such as a Whop checkout configuration or membership. WhopForWoo stores the WooCommerce order reference there to match payments to orders.

Mobile checkoutCheckout

Mobile checkout is the checkout as experienced on a phone, where typing is slow and redirects feel longer. Digital wallets and a short form matter most here, since most store traffic is now mobile.

Multi-currencyPayments

Multi-currency means accepting payments in more than one currency. WhopForWoo passes the WooCommerce order currency to Whop, which supports 47 currencies natively, so the customer pays the exact amount shown in the store.

Must-use plugin (mu-plugin)WordPress

A must-use plugin is a PHP file placed in wp-content/mu-plugins that WordPress loads automatically on every request. It cannot be deactivated from the admin, so it suits site-wide fixes and hosting rules.

N

NonceSecurity

A nonce in WordPress is a token tied to a user, an action and a time window, added to forms and AJAX calls to block cross-site request forgery. Unlike a true nonce, it can be reused for up to 24 hours.

O

On holdWooCommerce

On hold is the WooCommerce status of an order awaiting payment confirmation, typically for bank transfers or manual review. Stock is reduced, but the merchant should not ship until the payment is confirmed.

One-time paymentBusiness

A one-time payment is a single charge with no renewal. WhopForWoo charges each WooCommerce order once; its own licences can also be bought with a one-time payment, updates included.

Online courseBusiness

An online course is paid educational content delivered through videos, lessons or a community, usually sold as one-time access or a subscription. WooCommerce stores often pair a payment gateway with a learning plugin.

Online storeBusiness

An online store is a website where customers browse products, add them to a cart and pay. On WordPress, WooCommerce provides the store and a payment gateway plugin connects it to a processor.

Options tableWordPress

The options table, wp_options, is where WordPress and plugins store settings as named values. A gateway's settings, such as its API key and webhook secret, are saved there and stay on the server.

See also: Transient, Gateway ID, API key

Order keyWooCommerce

An order key is a random string, starting with wc_order_, attached to every WooCommerce order. It appears in thank-you and order-pay URLs so a guest can only view or pay for their own order.

Order metaWooCommerce

Order meta is extra data stored with a WooCommerce order as key-value pairs, such as a payment ID or checkout reference. With HPOS it lives in a dedicated order meta table.

P

Page cacheWordPress

A page cache stores the full HTML of a page and serves it to the next visitors without running PHP. Cart, checkout and account pages must be excluded, or customers see stale carts and expired nonces.

R

Race conditionSecurity

A race condition happens when two processes act on the same data at once and the result depends on timing. A webhook and the customer's return can arrive together; WhopForWoo locks each order to avoid completing it twice.

Raw request bodySecurity

The raw request body is the exact bytes of an incoming request before any parsing. Webhook signatures must be checked against it, because decoding and re-encoding the JSON changes the bytes and breaks the check.

Recurring paymentPayments

A recurring payment is a charge repeated on a schedule, such as monthly or yearly, using a payment method the customer saved and authorised once. Subscriptions rely on it.

RedirectCheckout

A redirect sends the customer from the store to another site, such as a hosted payment page or a bank, then back. Each redirect adds load time and a chance to drop off.

RefundPayments

A refund returns all or part of a captured payment to the customer, at the merchant's initiative. It avoids a chargeback, but most providers keep the original processing fee.

See also: Partial refund, Chargeback, Refunded

Refund policyBusiness

A refund policy states when and how customers can get their money back. A clear, visible policy reduces chargebacks, because customers ask the store first instead of their bank.

See also: Refund, Chargeback, Friendly fraud

RefundedWooCommerce

Refunded is the WooCommerce status of an order whose full amount has been returned to the customer. A partial refund keeps the previous status and records the refunded amount on the order.

See also: Refund, Partial refund, Order status

Replay attackSecurity

A replay attack resends a valid, captured request to repeat its effect, such as marking an order paid twice. Whop asks receivers to reject webhooks whose timestamp is more than 5 minutes off.

RepresentmentPayments

Representment is the merchant's answer to a chargeback, sent with evidence such as tracking, delivery confirmation, logs or terms accepted at checkout. If the issuer accepts it, the funds are returned to the merchant.

S

SaaSBusiness

SaaS, software as a service, is software sold as an online subscription instead of a one-off download. Billing usually relies on recurring payments and license or account checks.

Sales tax and VATBusiness

Sales tax and VAT are consumption taxes added to the sale price and paid to the authorities of the customer's location. With Whop, merchants choose whether Whop collects and remits, collects only, or they handle tax themselves.

SEPAPayments

SEPA, the Single Euro Payments Area, is the system that makes euro bank transfers and direct debits work the same way across the euro area and neighbouring European countries. Whop supports SEPA Direct Debit and EU bank transfers.

SEPA Direct DebitPayments

SEPA Direct Debit lets a merchant collect euros from a customer's bank account using an IBAN and a mandate. On Whop it is limited to €11,500 per payment and is not available in sandbox.

Server-side verificationSecurity

Server-side verification means the store's server confirms a payment directly with the provider instead of trusting the browser. WhopForWoo checks the order, site, checkout configuration, amount and currency before marking an order paid.

SettlementPayments

Settlement is the process by which funds from captured payments move from the issuer, through the network and acquirer, into the merchant's provider balance. It usually takes one to several business days.

See also: Capture, Payout, Settlement currency

Settlement currencyPayments

A settlement currency is the currency in which a merchant receives their funds, which can differ from the currency the customer paid in. When they differ, a currency conversion fee usually applies.

Software appWhop

The Software app is the Whop app that generates a unique license key for each purchase of a product. WhopForWoo licences are themselves Whop license keys issued this way.

Staging siteWordPress

A staging site is a private copy of a live store used to test updates, themes and payment settings before they reach customers. Payment tests there should use sandbox keys, never live ones.

Standard WebhooksSecurity

Standard Webhooks is an open specification for signing webhooks with webhook-id, webhook-timestamp and webhook-signature headers. Whop follows it, so its signatures can be checked with any compliant library.

Statement descriptorPayments

A statement descriptor is the merchant name that appears on the customer's bank or card statement. A descriptor the customer does not recognise is a common cause of friendly fraud chargebacks.

Store APIWooCommerce

The Store API is WooCommerce's public REST API for the cart and checkout, used by the Cart and Checkout Blocks. It needs no API keys because it only acts on the visitor's own cart and session.

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)Payments

Strong Customer Authentication is the European rule that online payments must be confirmed with two of three factors: something the customer knows, owns or is. Card payments meet it through 3-D Secure.

See also: PSD2, 3-D Secure, Decline code

SubscriptionBusiness

A subscription is a product billed on a repeating schedule, such as monthly or yearly, until the customer cancels. WhopForWoo charges one-time WooCommerce orders; recurring billing can run on Whop itself.

Swish, MobilePay and VippsPayments

Swish, MobilePay and Vipps are Nordic mobile payment apps used in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. Whop supports them for one-time payments only, with Swish and Vipps limited to kr 50,000.

T

Test cardWhop

A test card is a fake card number that only works in a sandbox, used to simulate approved or declined payments. In the Whop sandbox, 4242 4242 4242 4242 simulates a successful payment.

Thank-you pageCheckout

The thank-you page, or order received page, is the WooCommerce page shown after checkout with the order summary. Its URL carries the order key, so guests can view their own order without logging in.

TLSSecurity

TLS, Transport Layer Security, encrypts traffic between the browser or another server and your site; it is what puts the s in https. Payment pages and webhook URLs must use it with a valid certificate.

V

Velocity checkSecurity

A velocity check limits how many payment attempts can come from one card, email, IP address or device in a short time. It is a basic defence against card testing and brute-force attacks on checkout.

Virtual productWooCommerce

A virtual product is a WooCommerce product with no shipping, such as a service, a membership or access to content. Checking virtual hides shipping fields and lets paid orders skip the processing status.

W

WC-API endpointWooCommerce

The WC-API endpoint is a WooCommerce URL of the form ?wc-api=name that gateways use to receive callbacks. WhopForWoo receives Whop webhooks at https://yourstore.com/?wc-api=whop_webhook.

WebhookSecurity

A webhook is an HTTP request one system sends to another when an event happens, such as a completed payment. The receiver must verify its signature, since anyone can send a request to a public URL.

Webhook secretSecurity

A webhook secret is the shared key used to sign and verify webhook requests. Whop's start with ws_, are shown in the Secret column of the webhooks table, and are pasted into WhopForWoo's Webhook Secret field.

Webhook signatureSecurity

A webhook signature is a hash sent with each webhook that proves it came from the sender and was not changed. Whop's is an HMAC-SHA256 of the message ID, timestamp and raw body, keyed with the webhook secret.

WhopWhop

Whop is a platform for selling digital products, memberships, software and physical goods, with its own payment processing, payouts and storefronts. Its payments layer can also be used on an external store.

Whop APIWhop

The Whop API is a REST API at https://api.whop.com/api/v1, authenticated with a Bearer API key. It covers payments, checkout configurations, memberships, refunds, payouts and webhooks.

Whop businessWhop

A Whop business is the account that owns products, API keys, payments and payouts on Whop. It is identified by a biz_ Account ID, and signing up to Whop creates the first one.

Whop checkout limitWhop

The Whop checkout limit caps new accounts at $2,500 per checkout. Merchants apply in Settings, Payments to raise it, and Whop says it answers within 24 hours.

Whop checkout linkWhop

A Whop checkout link is a shareable URL to a Whop-hosted checkout for a free, one-time or recurring price, created from the Checkout links page of the dashboard. It needs no website integration.

Whop ElementsWhop

Whop Elements are Whop's embeddable UI components, loaded from cdn.whop.com or the @whop/elements packages. For stores, the Checkout element and the payment elements let customers pay without leaving the site.

Whop financingWhop

Whop financing is the program that offers buy now, pay later through Klarna, Afterpay, Sezzle, Splitit and Zip. It costs 15% per financed sale and requires a verified account, a low dispute rate and enough recent volume.

Whop KYCWhop

Whop KYC is the verification a seller completes when setting up Whop Payments: personal or business details, a payout bank account, and an ID with a selfie. Payments can start before it is done, but withdrawals cannot.

Whop PaymentsWhop

Whop Payments is the payments layer behind every Whop business, covering cards, wallets, local methods, crypto, financing and payouts. Whop states it is the merchant of record on Whop Payments.

Whop productWhop

A Whop product is what a business sells on Whop, such as a course, community, software or service. Each product has one or more plans that set its price and billing.

Whop sandboxWhop

The Whop sandbox is Whop's test environment, with its own dashboard at sandbox.whop.com and API at sandbox-api.whop.com. No money moves, and it shares no accounts, keys or webhooks with production.

Whop webhookWhop

A Whop webhook is a signed POST request Whop sends to your server when an event happens, such as payment.succeeded. It marks the order paid even if the customer closes the tab before returning.

WhopForWooWooCommerce

WhopForWoo is a WordPress plugin that adds Whop as a WooCommerce payment gateway, with an embedded Whop Elements form, server-side payment verification, signed webhooks and HPOS support.

WooCommerceWooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin that turns a WordPress site into an online store, with products, cart, checkout, orders and payment gateways added through extensions.

WooCommerce logsWooCommerce

WooCommerce logs are the files or database entries written by WooCommerce and its extensions, visible under WooCommerce, Status, Logs. Payment gateways write their errors there for troubleshooting.

WooCommerce payment gateway classWooCommerce

The payment gateway class is the PHP class, extending WC_Payment_Gateway, that a plugin registers through the woocommerce_payment_gateways filter. Its process_payment method runs when a customer places an order with that method.

WooCommerce REST APIWooCommerce

The WooCommerce REST API lets external apps read and manage products, orders and customers over HTTP using API keys created in WooCommerce settings. It is separate from the Store API used by the Checkout Block.

See also: Store API, REST API, WC-API endpoint

WordPress pluginWordPress

A WordPress plugin is a package of PHP code that adds features to a WordPress site without editing its core files. It is installed from a zip file or the plugin directory and can be activated or deactivated.

wp-config.phpWordPress

wp-config.php is the WordPress configuration file holding database credentials, security salts and constants such as WP_DEBUG or DISABLE_WP_CRON. It sits at the site root and should never be publicly readable.

WP-CronWordPress

WP-Cron is WordPress's task scheduler. It runs scheduled tasks when someone visits the site, not at exact times, so low-traffic sites often replace it with a real server cron using DISABLE_WP_CRON.