How VBA gets created automatically for ACH/SEPA credit transfer via Stripe?

Problem Statement

This article explains how Virtual Bank Accounts (VBA) are created automatically for ACH/SEPA credit transfer via Stripe and what prerequisites apply.

Solution

A Virtual Bank Account is a unique account number used instead of sharing your sensitive bank details. Customers can pay via ACH credit or wire transfer; payments are matched to invoices.

How it works

• Stripe creates a virtual bank account (linked to your bank account) for each customer using their email address.
• Chargebee auto-generates VBAs when a Payment Due, Posted, Not Paid invoice is created for a customer.
• Customers receive account details instead of your actual bank account details.
• Payments to the VBA are reconciled in Chargebee.

Prerequisites

• Email and Country (US) must be set correctly when creating customers.
• Stripe applies this feature only to US customers; Chargebee generates VBAs only when the customer country is US.

Important Notes

If a customer already has an online payment method on file, a VBA is not created automatically. You can still create one via the API or bulk operations. This behavior applies to customers added or updated after November 21, 2025.