What is a Guest customer in Stripe?

A guest customer in Stripe is a temporary placeholder for contact information associated with a payment that hasn't been fully processed or tied to a registered Stripe customer yet. This feature allows for quicker payment processing, especially during high-volume periods, by separating the initial payment creation from customer association.

In the context of Fundraise Up, the platform creates Stripe Payments first to ensure swift processing. Information is then propagated asynchronously to associate the Payment with the Customer. This approach helps serve donors efficiently, even during peak times.

Guest customers can appear in various scenarios, such as one-time donations from new donors, payments made before a donor account is fully created, or temporary storage of payment information during high-traffic events. Seeing guest customers in your Stripe dashboard is normal and indicates that the system is working as intended.

For more detailed information about this feature, you can refer to Stripe's Guest Customer FAQ documentation.