Why checkout claims need a source card
Accepted-payment wording often lives in several places: ecommerce settings, POS rules, invoices, financing-provider pages, marketplace profiles, gift-card terms, and support macros. If those sources disagree, AI search tools can turn stale notes into confident checkout promises. This source card gives the business one approved reference before public wording changes.
STOP PUBLISHING: do not let AI invent accepted payment methods, card-network coverage, wallet availability, financing eligibility, credit approvals, tax or surcharge rules, gift-card stacking, refunds, failed-payment retries, deposit handling, chargeback outcomes, or legal/financial advice. Owner/bookkeeper/provider review is required for money-moving claims.
Copy/paste payment and checkout source card
| Field | What to capture | Review rule |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted payment methods | Cards, ACH, wallets, cash/check, invoice terms, deposits, subscriptions, in-person vs online availability, and last verified source. | Do not say a method is accepted unless the active checkout/POS/provider source confirms it. |
| Fees and surcharges | Tax, service fee, convenience fee, delivery fee, card surcharge, currency, minimum order, and disclosure location. | Route fee/tax/surcharge wording to owner/bookkeeper review before publishing. |
| Financing and pay-over-time | Provider name, eligibility handoff, approved public wording, terms source URL, and what the business must not promise. | Never imply approval, rates, credit decisions, or universal eligibility. |
| Failed payment handling | Retry cadence, dunning message, grace period, access/scheduling hold, support path, and evidence required before customer updates. | Customer-facing messages need invoice/source proof and owner/bookkeeper review. |
| Exceptions and boundaries | Gift-card/store-credit stacking, refunds, deposits, chargebacks, manual invoices, phone payments, high-risk orders, and escalation owner. | Publish the boundary in cautious terms and link to the active policy source. |
Safe public wording templates
Payment-method answer: We accept the payment methods shown at checkout or on your current invoice. Available methods can vary by order type, location, provider, and account status. Contact [support path] before assuming a method, wallet, financing option, or manual invoice is available.Financing-safe answer: Financing or pay-over-time options, if shown, are provided by [provider/source]. Approval, rates, repayment terms, eligibility, and availability are handled by the provider, not by an AI summary.Internal AI note: STOP PUBLISHING. Do not invent accepted payments, financing approvals, fees, refunds, tax rules, deposit treatment, failed-payment retries, chargeback outcomes, or customer-specific exceptions. Use only the approved payment source card.AI audit prompt
Act as a cautious AI-search and checkout-content QA assistant. Review the payment-method and checkout source card below and identify claims an AI answer engine, chatbot, or support macro might overstate or invent.
Do not invent accepted payment methods, financing approvals, credit terms, tax/surcharge rules, deposit handling, failed-payment retries, refunds, chargeback outcomes, gift-card stacking, or customer-specific exceptions. Use only verified sources.
Source card:
- Checkout/POS/provider source URL:
- Accepted methods by channel/order type:
- Fees/taxes/surcharges and disclosure source:
- Financing/pay-over-time source and provider handoff:
- Failed-payment retry and access/scheduling hold rules:
- Deposit/refund/gift-card/store-credit exceptions:
- Owner/bookkeeper/provider reviewer:
- Stale/conflicting pages, invoices, marketplace listings, ads, or support macros:
Return: 1) approved public summary, 2) claims needing owner/bookkeeper/provider review, 3) stale/conflicting source risks, 4) safe chatbot/FAQ answer, 5) STOP PUBLISHING items, and 6) next source-maintenance tasks.Weekly source-maintenance questions
- Do checkout settings, invoices, pricing pages, support macros, and marketplace profiles list the same payment options?
- Are financing, pay-over-time, and credit-related statements linked to the provider source instead of rewritten from memory?
- Are taxes, surcharges, convenience fees, deposit rules, gift-card limits, and failed-payment rules reviewed by the owner/bookkeeper?
- Which stale ads, FAQs, PDFs, receipts, or chatbot answers could make AI search quote the wrong checkout policy?
Related free assets: Tax/Surcharge/Fee Checklist, Gift Card and Store Credit Policy Checklist, and Financing Page Checklist.
Disclosure: Horizon Flow is Andrew Burton's digital product catalog. This worksheet is useful without purchase; product links are labeled and UTM-tagged.
Product signal: if payment-method and checkout source-card pages earn clicks, replies, or reuse, consider adding a SEO After AI appendix for checkout/financing/payment-method source-of-truth QA.