# Customer Payment Methods
**Manage your customer payment methods from the Alternative Payments partner dashboard.**
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Managing payment methods for your customers is an important aspect of your business operations. Whether you're dealing with one-off invoice payments or recurring payments, having a streamlined process for adding and removing payment methods saves time and enhances customer satisfaction.
## Supported Payment Method Types
Alternative Payments supports the following payment method types:
* **Credit cards** -- Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover
* **Debit cards** -- Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit, Interac (Canada)
* **Bank accounts** -- ACH (US), PAD (Canada), EFT (Canada)
## Adding a Payment Method
1. **Navigate to Customers**
Log into your partner dashboard account and select "Customers" and then "All customers." Click on the hyperlinked customer profile.
2. **Add the Payment Method**
Scroll down to the payment method section and proceed to add a new payment method.
3. **Select your payment method type** -- Credit Card, Debit Card, or Bank Account.
4. **Enter your payment method details and select "Add Card" (or "Add Account") to confirm.**
## Default Payment Method
When a customer has multiple payment methods on file, one is designated as the **default**. The default payment method is used for:
* Auto-Pay charges
* "Charge now" and "Charge on due date" invoice options
* Any automatic payment processing
To change the default, click the ellipses next to the desired payment method and select "Set as default."
## Payment Methods Cannot Be Edited
Once a payment method has been added, its details (card number, expiration date, bank account number) **cannot be edited**. If a customer's payment details change, you must add a new payment method and archive the old one.
## Removing Payment Methods
There are two ways to remove a payment method, depending on where the action is taken:
### Archive (Partner Dashboard)
From the partner dashboard, click on the ellipses next to the payment method you would like to remove and click "Archive." Archiving removes the payment method from active use but retains the record for historical transaction reference.
### Remove (Customer Portal)
When a customer removes a payment method from their own portal, it is fully removed from their account. This action is performed by the customer, not by the partner.
## Auto-Pay Relationship
Payment methods are directly tied to the Auto-Pay feature. If Auto-Pay is enabled for a customer:
* The customer must have at least one payment method on file with a default selected.
* If the default payment method is archived or removed, Auto-Pay will fail until a new default is set.
* When adding a payment method for a customer who uses Auto-Pay, consider setting the new method as the default to avoid payment interruptions.
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