Ask users for Payment card details
This guidance is for government teams that build online services. To find information and services for the public, go to GOV.UK.
New WCAG 2.2 criteria affects this pattern
To ask users for ‘Payment card details’ and meet the new Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 criteria, make sure that users can successfully:
See the full list of components and patterns affected by WCAG 2.2.
When to use this pattern
Before using this pattern, check if GOV.UK Pay is suitable for your service.
If you cannot use GOV.UK Pay and need to build your own payment service, follow this pattern to collect payment card details from your users.
How it works
Allow different formats
Let users enter payment card numbers in whatever format is familiar to them. Allow additional spaces, hyphens and dashes.
Help users enter valid card information
Present all fields on a single page, in the order in which they appear on a credit or debit card. This makes it easy for users to transcribe the information from their payment card.
Make sure to add adequate spacing between the month and year fields. Ideally, leave at least 24px of space between the fields, either horizontally (inline) or vertically. This is to make sure users can easily interact with the fields. This relates to WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.8 Target Size (minimum).
Show logos for the cards you accept as icons so users can see whether their card is supported.
Use Issuer Identification Number (IIN) lookups to validate the card number as the user enters it. Once you’ve been able to identify the user’s card type, leave only the relevant logo highlighted and grey out the others.
This video shows the card number validation in practice. It does not have any audio.
If JavaScript is not available, display all of the logos anyway, as they still help users to understand which card types you support.
When you validate the card number, the card security code information should update according to the type of card being used. For example, if a user enters an American Express card, the hint text and icon should change to match the front of the card.
Do not use CVV or other acronyms for the card security code.
If you need to ask for a user’s name elsewhere in your service, do not assume that the name on their card will be the same.
Research on this pattern
This pattern is based on the one used in GOV.UK Pay, which has been live since November 2016.
The GOV.UK Pay team tests this pattern quarterly as part of its user research.
Services using this pattern
As of August 2018 the following services were using this pattern as part of GOV.UK Pay.
Office of the Public Guardian
Lasting Power of Attorney
Ministry of Justice
Send money to a prisoner
Border Force
Registered Traveller: faster entry through the UK border
Global Entry: apply for faster entry to the USA
Electronic Visa Waiver
Disclosure and Barring Service
Basic Disclosure
Disclosure Scotland
HM Courts and Tribunals
Probate Fees
Civil Money Claims
Divorce Fees
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Emergency Travel Documents
Ministry of Defence
Defence Academy
Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Government Art Collection
Press Accreditation
Department for International Trade
Overseas Market Introduction Service
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Private Care
Land Registry
Local Land Charges
Environment Agency
Waste Permitting
Help improve this pattern
To help make sure that this page is useful, relevant and up to date, you can:
- take part in the ‘Payment card details’ discussion on GitHub and share your research
- propose a change – read more about how to propose changes in GitHub
Tell us if your service uses this pattern
Take part in our usage survey (opens in a new tab) to help us improve this pattern to better meet the needs of the services that use it.
Need help?
If you’ve got a question about the GOV.UK Design System, contact the team.