Payments · Guide10 min readUpdated November 3, 2026

How to Migrate Away From Shopify Payments

Leaving Shopify Payments: what happens to saved cards, Shop Pay and subscriptions, what you lose, the steps, and what happens to payouts and reserves.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 17 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

Shopify publishes no way to export saved cards, and its staff says they can't move to a new gateway. So most merchants stay on Shopify with a third-party provider. Turning Shopify Payments off ends Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments and Shopify Protect, adds a Shopify fee of 0.2% to 2%, and Shop Pay subscribers must add a new payment method.

Shopify staff, July 8, 2022: "there is currently no possible way of exporting that data to a new gateway".
"Shop Pay is included as part of Shopify Payments", and Shop Pay Installments requires both.
If Shop Pay is turned off, "subscription payments will fail", and subscriptions are canceled after several failed attempts.
Shopify allows "only one credit card payment provider activated at a time"; a third-party one costs 2% on Basic down to 0.2% on Plus. Shopify Payments can stay on beside it for Shop Pay, local methods and failed-card recovery, at a 1.25% premium.
After closure, the processor "may elect to continue to hold any funds deemed necessary, pending resolution".

Want to go further? Ask

On this page

This page covers leaving Shopify Payments specifically. For the general method with any processor, see how to switch payment processors. More Shopify guides are in the Shopify hub.

What you keep and what you lose

Leaving Shopify Payments usually doesn't mean leaving Shopify. Your store, catalog and orders stay. What changes is everything that runs through Shopify Payments.

Item	After you switch to a third-party provider
Store, products, orders, customer profiles	Stay in Shopify
Saved cards	Stay in Shopify's vault; no published export1 2
Shop Pay	Off if Shopify Payments is off: it is "included as part of Shopify Payments"5
Shopify Payments beside the new provider	Possible for Shop Pay, local methods and failed-card recovery, at its rates "plus a 1.25% premium"; early access on Shopify Plus with a contract17
Subscriptions paid with Shop Pay	Payments fail, then subscriptions are canceled6
Shop Pay Installments	Off: it requires "both Shopify Payments and Shop Pay activated"7
Shopify Protect (US)	Off: it covers only orders processed through Shop Pay, on a US Shopify Payments account8
Shopify POS	Must use the same gateway as your online store11
Shopify fee per order	2% Basic, 1% Grow, 0.6% Advanced, 0.2% Plus4

Check each line against your store before you start. Shop Pay is often a large share of mobile orders, and its loss shows up in conversion, not in a fee line.

Can you export cards from Shopify Payments?

Not through any procedure Shopify publishes. Its help center says "Customer payment information is stored securely by Shopify" and that you "can't access your customers' full credit card information after it's been entered"1.

Asked by a merchant in 2022, Shopify staff wrote that "we are not able to transfer payment details" and that "the best option is to have your customers resubmit their payment details after the migration"2. The thread was still collecting the same question in February 2026, with no official update2.

Fig. 1Leaving Stripe vs. leaving Shopify Payments

Stripe
Publishes a card export to a PCI DSS Level 1 processor, on request16. See migrate away from Stripe.
Shopify Payments
No published export. Cards stay in Shopify's vault and keep working inside Shopify.
What it means
Stay on Shopify with a new provider, or ask customers for their card again.

the card file is the difference

Based on Shopify Help Center and Shopify Community staff replies, read November 3, 2026; Stripe Docs, read November 2, 2026.

If a provider tells you it can import cards from Shopify Payments, ask for the method in writing before you plan around it. More on how vaults move: token vault migration.

What happens to your subscriptions

It depends on how each subscriber pays. There are two groups, and they don't behave the same way.

Card subscribers. Shopify staff wrote in 2022 that "existing subscription contracts created under Shopify Payments will be billable after the switch to Auth.net"10. In 2023, the same staff member said "new and previous subscription contracts will be automatically billed via Authorize.net as primary payment gateway"10. These are forum replies, not help center pages: get written confirmation from Shopify and your subscription app for your own gateway.

Shop Pay subscribers. Shopify's help center is explicit. Subscriptions created with Shop Pay "are designed to use Shop Pay for the entire duration of the subscription", and if Shop Pay is turned off, "subscription payments will fail"6. "After multiple failed billing attempts, the subscriptions are canceled", and this "applies to all subscription apps that use Shop Pay as a payment method"6.

The new gateway must also work with your subscription app. Shopify Subscriptions supports five9:

Gateway	Note from Shopify
Shopify Payments	Automatic card updates; Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal
PayPal Express	"Third-party transaction fees are charged if Shopify Payments isn't activated on your store."
Authorize.net	"Google Pay and Apple Pay aren't supported."
Adyen	"limited to organizations with an existing Adyen approval"
Stripe	"Available only to select merchants."

Watch out

A renewal declined on Shopify Payments and charged again on the new gateway is still a reattempt for Visa: up to 20 attempts in 30 days, and none after a category 1 decline such as a lost card15. Don't let two systems retry the same renewal.

Tagada follows Visa and Mastercard rules and the laws that apply to payments.

The migration, step by step

Open the new account first. Nothing in Shopify should change until a test payment and a refund have gone through on the new provider.

Get approved by the new provider for your category, and check it supports your subscription app9.
Export what you can: customers, orders and, from your subscription app, plans, prices and next charge dates.
List your Shop Pay subscribers. They will need to add a new payment method if Shop Pay goes off6.
Write to them before the switch, with a link to update their payment details, and tell all subscribers if the statement name changes.
Activate the provider in Settings, Payments. Only the store owner can add one, and only one card provider can be active3.
Move POS too, if you use it: it must use the same gateway as the online store11.
Watch the first renewal cycle closely: failed renewals, wallet payments, refunds on old orders.

Sources: Shopify Help Center and Shopify Terms of Service, read November 3, 2026; Shopify Community staff replies, 2022 and 2023.

Your funds after you leave

Plan for money to stay behind for a while. Three rules apply.

Held funds. Shopify can close the account "at any time, for any reason", and a processor "may elect to continue to hold any funds deemed necessary, pending resolution"12.
Reserves. "Before a reserve expires, your account is reviewed to determine whether to keep, reduce, or raise the reserve." The terms arrive by email13.
Disputes. On Shopify Payments, a chargeback "is deducted from your next available payout"14. Disputes on past orders keep coming after you switch.

How reserves work in general: rolling reserves. If payouts are already paused: Shopify Payments payouts on hold.

Leaving under pressure

If Shopify Payments closed the account, the same steps apply, faster: the switch is no longer your choice. Start with the reason in the email, then the subscribers. The full playbook: Shopify Payments closed your account. If the whole store was terminated, see Shopify closed your store.

Switch, or add a processor?

Inside Shopify checkout, you can't run two card providers side by side: "only one credit card payment provider activated at a time"3. Shopify Payments can stay on beside the new provider, but only for Shop Pay, local payment methods and recovery of failed card transactions, at its standard rates "plus a 1.25% premium"17.

On Shopify Plus with a contract, that option is in early access, by request17. Keeping Shop Pay on this way also keeps Shop Pay subscriptions billing. Routing cards across several processors still means a separate checkout.

Fig. 2Two ways to leave Shopify Payments' single point of failure

Third-party provider

Shopify checkout
all cards toNew provider onlyApproved

One card provider again, a new one

Separate checkout

Checkout outside Shopify
routes toTwo or more processorsApproved

Several processors with routing

the second needs a separate checkout

Illustrative example. Shopify's terms restrict processing orders outside Shopify's Checkout: read them first.

Shopify's terms, updated October 20, 2026, say "You agree to use Shopify Checkout for any sales associated with your online store", and ask you not to work around its limits, "including to process orders outside Shopify's Checkout"11. Read them before you move checkout. What an outside checkout changes: Shopify checkout alternative.

By industry

Industry	What changes	Guide
Supplements	Auto-ship subscribers are most of the value: sort card and Shop Pay subscribers before the switch	Switching processors for supplement brands
Skincare	Refill subscriptions and a recognizable descriptor keep disputes down during the move	Switching processors for skincare brands
Fitness	Keep the old account open until late equipment deliveries and disputes have cleared	Switching processors for fitness brands
Info products	Check who holds the cards first: a course platform's built-in payments may not export them	Switching processors for info product businesses
Online pharmacy	The new acquirer must register you with Mastercard, and with Visa unless you hold a recognized accreditation, before it processes	Switching processors for online pharmacies
Telehealth	Strip anything clinical from the export and run both processors for one billing cycle	Switching processors for telehealth companies

How Tagada helps

A vault you own, wherever you process

A vault you own: "Your PCI-tokenized cards, your customer profiles, your subscription data, all portable."
No lock-in next time: "Switch processors without re-onboarding customers. No vendor lock-in. Ever." and "Export your vault, cards, and customers anytime."
Already on Shopify? "Already on Shopify, WooCommerce, ClickFunnels or BigCommerce? Drop TagadaPay in."
Routing: "Route to the processor most likely to approve it, retry on decline. No engineering required."
Onboarding: "One KYC. One signed package." TagadaPay says most merchants are live in under 24 hours.

Apply on TagadaPay; Tagada CRM plans are on the pricing page.

Apply for processing

Updated on November 3, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

Can I export my customers' credit cards from Shopify Payments?

Shopify publishes no procedure for it. Its help center says you can't access customers' full card information, and Shopify staff wrote in 2022 that there was no way to export that data to a new gateway. The usual path is to keep the cards in Shopify with a third-party provider, or ask customers to enter them again.

What happens to my subscriptions if I leave Shopify Payments?

Card subscribers can keep billing through the new gateway, according to Shopify staff replies about Authorize.net, but confirm it for your app. Shop Pay subscribers can't: once Shop Pay is off, their payments fail and the subscriptions are canceled after several attempts. Ask them for a new payment method first.

Do I lose Shop Pay if I switch to a third-party provider?

Yes, if you turn Shopify Payments off: Shop Pay is included as part of Shopify Payments. Shopify Payments can stay on beside the new provider for Shop Pay and local methods, at its rates plus a 1.25% premium. Shop Pay Installments needs both Shopify Payments and Shop Pay, and Shopify Protect only covers Shop Pay orders on a US Shopify Payments account. All three go when Shopify Payments does.

Can I use Shopify Payments and another processor at the same time?

Not for cards in Shopify checkout: Shopify allows only one credit card payment provider at a time. Shopify Payments can still run beside it for Shop Pay, local methods and failed-card recovery, plus a 1.25% premium. If you use Shopify POS with Shopify Payments, you can't use another processing service at the same time. Shopify's terms name PayPal Express Checkout and Shopify Payments together as default gateways.

What happens to my payouts after I leave Shopify Payments?

Some can stay behind. The processor may hold funds it deems necessary pending resolution, reserves are reviewed before they expire, and chargebacks are deducted from your next available payout. Keep an eye on the account until past orders are out of the dispute window.