# What is vaulted-card payment for B2B, and how is it different from storing a card on a regular customer account?

Reviewed by Martin Dejnicki, Director of SEO & AI Search · facts verified October 9, 2026 · canonical: https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/b2b-vaulted-card-payments-vs-saved-cards

## Short answer

A vaulted card in Shopify business-to-business (B2B) belongs to a company location, not a person, so every customer with permissions for that location can use it at checkout ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026). A card saved on a regular customer account belongs to that one customer ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/objects/CustomerPaymentMethod), October 2026). B2B card vaulting also requires Shopify Payments.

- **Owner of a B2B vaulted card:** The company location, not a person. Every customer with permissions for the location can use the card at checkout, and update or delete it in customer accounts (October 2026). ([Shopify Help Center, Setting up credit card vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards))
- **Gateway required:** Shopify Payments. Card vaulting is available only on Shopify Payments; bank account vaulting also needs a US store and a buyer with a US bank account (October 2026). ([Shopify Help Center, Setting up credit card vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards); [Shopify Help Center, Setting up bank account vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-bank-accounts))
- **Charge when terms expire:** Not automatic; Shopify's pages disagree on Flow. Shopify's card vaulting page says Flow can charge vaulted cards automatically; its payment terms page says a saved card must be charged by hand in the admin (October 2026). ([Shopify Help Center, Setting up credit card vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards); [Shopify Help Center, Setting up payment terms in B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/payment-terms))
- **Deleted card, open orders:** Still chargeable. Deleting a vaulted card blocks it for future orders, but you can still charge it for existing orders placed with it that are pending payment (October 2026). ([Shopify Help Center, Setting up credit card vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards))

## Deploi's call

Treat a vaulted card as a convenience for the buyer and a collection mechanism for you, never as security for the terms. If the commercial intent is "we have recourse," the recourse is a signed credit application and a limit you enforce, not a card on file.

**CUSTOMIZE: Vault company cards for collection when**

- Your store runs Shopify Payments, which card vaulting requires ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026).
- Buyers on terms pay by company card, so [our net terms record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/net-terms-and-b2b-payments) has you collect on the stored payment method when due (October 2026).
- Someone owns the due-date charge, from the admin or through Shopify Flow, piloted on one account first.

**BUILD: Build a credit limit instead when**

- You want security for the terms, because a vaulted card checks no balance before an order.
- An overdue account must be stopped before its next order, which [our credit limits record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/b2b-credit-limit-and-order-hold-management) scores BUILD (October 2026).

## Who owns a B2B vaulted card, and how is it different from a saved customer card?

A business-to-business (B2B) vaulted card belongs to a company location, while a card saved on a regular customer account belongs to one customer. So every customer with permissions for the location can use the vaulted card at checkout ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026). Shopify's developer docs describe a regular customer's card as "A customer's saved payment method", stored for recurring charges such as subscriptions ([Shopify developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/objects/CustomerPaymentMethod), October 2026). [How net terms run from invoice to payment](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/b2b-net-terms-invoice-to-payment-flow) shows where the vaulted card comes in: the buyer names it at checkout for the end of the term.

**What a B2B vaulted card is, who controls it and when your staff can charge it**

| Question | B2B vaulted card |
| --- | --- |
| Belongs to | One company location |
| Who can pay with it | Every customer with permissions for the location |
| Who can update or delete it | Those customers in customer accounts; your staff can delete it, or email the buyer a link to update it |
| Who can save it | Only B2B customers, at checkout or in customer accounts |
| When your staff can charge it | On orders pending payment, and on draft orders with the Charge vaulted card permission |
| Gateway | Shopify Payments only |

Sources: [Shopify Help Center, Setting up credit card vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards). Verified October 9, 2026.

## Why is a shared company card a different risk from a personal saved card?

A shared company card is a different risk because the cardholder, the buyer and the approver can be three different employees of a company you have a contract with. A personal saved card belongs to the shopper who uses it, so the person paying and the person approving are the same. A business-to-business (B2B) chargeback arrives against a corporate card with an internal approval story you can't see. Three consequences follow:

- **Departures break payment silently.** When the employee whose card sits in the vault leaves, their employer cancels the card and nobody tells you. The failure surfaces on the next charge, which on Net 30 to Net 60 terms comes 30 to 60 days after the order.
- **Shopify gives you a repair step, not a warning.** You can email the buyer a link to update a vaulted card, "such as when the credit card has expired or failed" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026).
- **Deleting a card doesn't stop payment.** A deleted card can't be charged for future orders, but "You can still charge the card for any existing orders that were placed using that card" while they're pending payment.

## Does Shopify charge a vaulted card when payment terms expire?

Shopify doesn't charge a vaulted card on its own when payment terms expire: "This card isn't automatically charged when the payment terms expire" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026). At checkout the business-to-business (B2B) buyer picks which card to charge at the end of the term, and after that only your staff can switch it. You charge the card from the admin, or a Shopify Flow workflow does through the Charge vaulted payment for B2B order action, which requires Shopify Payments ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-flow/reference/actions/charge-vaulted-payment-for-b2b-order), October 2026). Shopify's own pages disagree on that Flow route.

> **Shopify's pages disagree on charging a saved B2B card**
> - Shopify's credit card vaulting page says you "can automatically charge vaulted credit cards for orders with payment terms using Shopify Flow" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026).
> - Shopify's payment terms page says that for a saved card "you must manually capture the payment by charging that credit card in your Shopify admin" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/payment-terms), October 2026).

So pilot the Flow charge on one account, and keep a manual charge from the admin as the fallback.

## How do vaulted bank accounts differ from vaulted cards?

Vaulted bank accounts work like vaulted cards but debit by Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Debit, and only in the United States. Bank account vaulting is "available only to merchants in the United States that use Shopify Payments and to customers with United States bank accounts" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-bank-accounts), October 2026). Your store must also accept USD and have fulfilled more than 100 orders ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/local-payment-methods/ach), October 2026). The money is slower and less certain than a card's. A debit takes up to 4 business days to confirm, and a failed debit costs $4 USD. Buyers can dispute a debit through their bank for up to 60 calendar days. Like a card, a vaulted bank account isn't debited automatically when terms expire. Flow's charge action debits it only when you and the buyer are both in the United States ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-flow/reference/actions/charge-vaulted-payment-for-b2b-order), October 2026). So [buyers outside the United States settle terms another way](https://deploi.ca/shopify/faq/b2b-net-terms-currencies-international-buyers).

## When should you not vault a card for a B2B account?

Don't vault a card for a business-to-business (B2B) account when you need it to do a job a payment instrument can't do.

> **When not to do this**
> - **When you intend the card to be a credit limit.** A vaulted card is a payment instrument, not a guarantee, and nothing checks the available balance before an order. [Our credit limits record](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/b2b-credit-limit-and-order-hold-management) scores real limits BUILD (October 2026).
> - **When the account pays by wire and always has.** A vaulted emergency card that nobody uses is card data you store for no reason.
> - **When your store doesn't run Shopify Payments.** You can't vault without it, because card vaulting is "available only to merchants that use Shopify Payments" ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026). Switching gateways for this feature alone is a much larger decision than the feature.
> - **When your team keys in cards for buyers.** Only B2B customers can vault a card, and you can't vault card details you enter in the admin ([Shopify Help Center](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), October 2026).

## Deploi's point of view

**Where we disagree.** Vaulting is routinely presented as the reason a B2B store can extend terms safely. It is not. The card reduces the friction of collecting from a customer who intends to pay. It does nothing about the customer who does not, which is the only case the risk budget is for.

**What we tell clients to do first.** In our judgment the stale card is the failure that costs money, because it stays invisible until a term expires. We ask clients to run a low-value authorization against every vaulted card on a schedule they choose, so a dead card surfaces on their calendar rather than on the buyer's due date.

**What this page adds.** The parent shows where a vaulted card enters the payment cycle. This page shows that the card belongs to the company location rather than a person, that a deleted card still pays its open orders, that Shopify's pages disagree on charging it through Flow, and that the costly failure is a cancelled company card found 30 to 60 days late.

## When this answer changes

- Shopify reconciles its payment terms page with its card vaulting page on charging saved cards through Flow.
- Shopify lets staff vault card details entered in the admin, or opens card vaulting beyond Shopify Payments.
- Shopify adds an expiry warning or a scheduled check for vaulted cards.
- Bank account vaulting opens to stores or buyers outside the United States.

## Sources

1. [Shopify Help Center, Setting up credit card vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-cards), checked October 9, 2026
2. [Shopify developer docs, CustomerPaymentMethod object](https://shopify.dev/docs/api/admin-graphql/latest/objects/CustomerPaymentMethod), checked October 9, 2026
3. [Shopify Help Center, Setting up bank account vaulting for B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/vaulted-bank-accounts), checked October 9, 2026
4. [Shopify Help Center, Setting up payment terms in B2B](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/checkout-and-orders/payment-terms), checked October 9, 2026
5. [Shopify Help Center, Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Debit payments for B2B orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/local-payment-methods/ach), checked October 9, 2026
6. [Shopify Help Center, Charge vaulted payment for B2B order action](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-flow/reference/actions/charge-vaulted-payment-for-b2b-order), checked October 9, 2026
7. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Should You Build or Buy Net Terms & B2B Payments on Shopify?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/net-terms-and-b2b-payments), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research
8. [Deploi Build vs. Buy, Build or Buy B2B Credit Limits and Order Holds on Shopify?](https://deploi.ca/shopify/build-vs-buy/b2b-credit-limit-and-order-hold-management), checked October 9, 2026, Deploi research