Connect & Agreement
Sign the Platform Services Agreement and connect a Stripe account so your conference can accept registration payments, covering the three-step setup, account-type choice, and billing model.
Purpose
Connect & Agreement is the first sub-tab under Payments. It walks you through everything needed to take registration payments: signing AirBalloon's Platform Services Agreement, then connecting a Stripe account so funds settle into your organization's bank account. AirBalloon uses Stripe to process payments securely. AirBalloon's Platform Fee is deducted from each paid registration before disbursement, and Stripe's own processing fee is charged in addition to it.
The sub-tab tracks your progress through three steps shown at the top: Sign Agreement → Connect Stripe → Ready.
When you use it
Use this sub-tab before opening registration, to sign the agreement and connect Stripe. Return to it to finish onboarding if it was interrupted, to switch your billing model (Standard accounts only), to open your Stripe Dashboard, or to refresh your connection status.
Walkthrough
- 1
Open the Payments tab and stay on the Connect & Agreement sub-tab. Read the "How registration payments work" panel at the top to orient yourself, then check the three-step progress indicator.
- 2
Step 1: Sign Agreement. Review the Platform Services Agreement summary. The Fee Structure table matches the plan you saw when creating the conference: AirReg per paid registration, AirOne (waived during the promotion), the one-time AirUp storage fee for presentation materials, and the free modules. Below it, Your rate per paid registration shows the rate that applies today. Open Read the full Platform Services Agreement for the complete terms.
- 3
Fill in Organization Information (name, address, city, country, and optional state, ZIP, and phone). The address fields autocomplete as you type and fill in related fields when you pick a result. Required fields are marked with an asterisk.
- 4
Fill in the Authorized Signer (Contact Person): full name, title, email, and phone. This must be someone authorized to sign on behalf of the organization.
- 5
Check the "I have read and agree to the Platform Services Agreement" checkbox, then draw your signature in the signature pad. Use Clear Signature to redraw if needed.
- 6
Click Sign Agreement & Continue. If any required field is missing or invalid, the page highlights it and scrolls to the first problem; fix the flagged fields and try again. On success you advance to Step 2.
- 7
Step 2: Connect Stripe. Choose how to receive payments. Create New Account sets up a new Stripe Express account (best if you have no Stripe account, ~2–3 minutes). Connect Existing links an account you already have via Stripe OAuth (Stripe Standard, ~30 seconds). Click the ? icon to open a side-by-side comparison of the two options.
- 8
If you choose Create New Account, a Quick Setup form appears. AirBalloon pre-fills what it can (organization type, country, name, contact email, website). Confirm and adjust these details, then click Continue to Stripe. You'll be redirected to Stripe to finish verification.
- 9
Complete the rest on Stripe's own hosted pages, then return to AirBalloon. If onboarding is incomplete, this sub-tab shows an Onboarding Incomplete notice with a Complete Setup link and a Refresh Status button.
- 10
Step 3: Ready. Once Stripe reports the account fully enabled, you'll see "Ready to Accept Payments!" with your Stripe Account and Platform Agreement details, plus revenue totals once charges exist.
- 11
From the Ready state, use View Stripe Dashboard to open your Stripe account (a fresh one-time link for Express accounts) and Refresh Status to re-sync. On Standard accounts you can also pick a Billing model: Platform-managed payouts or Direct on my account (recommended).
AirBalloon never asks for card numbers, bank account numbers, or ID documents in its own forms. Those are always entered on Stripe's secure, hosted pages during onboarding. If something on AirBalloon ever asks for raw payment credentials, stop and report it.
Tips
The Platform Fee covers AirBalloon only. Stripe's processing fee (and its surcharges for international cards, manually entered cards and currency conversion, plus any dispute fees) is charged in addition, whichever billing model you use. See agreement §3.4 and stripe.com/pricing.
If your organization already uses Stripe, Connect Existing lets you reuse the same Standard account across multiple conferences and keep your own Stripe Dashboard branding. A new Express account, by contrast, is created per conference and shows AirBalloon's platform identity at the top of its dashboard.
After returning from Stripe, click Refresh Status. A connected (Standard) account must have both charges and payouts enabled. Finish any remaining requirements (such as adding a bank account) in your Stripe Dashboard, then refresh.
Once signed, your Platform Services Agreement is on file and cannot be changed in the console. For a correction (for example, a typo in your organization name), email support@airballoon.com with your conference name and the change you need. Material changes may require signing a new agreement.