How to implement Memberstack paid subscriptions in South Korea with alternative payment solutions?

allinweb dave asked November 24, 2023 07:54

Answered

I work as an agency in South Korea. To create a paid membership plan on Memberstack, I'm unable to register a Korean bank with Stripe. Is there any way to work around this issue? I would appreciate it if you could provide any alternative solutions.

2 comments

Memberstack Team Official comment March 08, 2026 07:42
Stripe doesn't support South Korean bank accounts for payment processing, which normally would make Memberstack's paid plans impossible to use. But Script #201 lets you bypass Stripe entirely by using PayPal instead.

How it works for your agency:
1. Set up a PayPal Business account (can be registered in South Korea or another supported country)
2. Add Script #201 to your Webflow site with the PayPal SDK
3. Create payment buttons for your membership plans (both one-time and subscriptions)
4. Members pay via PayPal (credit cards, PayPal balance, or bank transfers through PayPal)
5. Script automatically verifies payment and assigns the Memberstack plan
6. Subscription management happens through PayPal's system
Why this works for South Korea specifically:
- PayPal accepts South Korean customers (both merchants and buyers)
- Your clients can pay with Korean credit cards through PayPal
- No Stripe bank account needed at all
- You get full subscription management (monthly/yearly recurring)
- Members can cancel subscriptions through a built-in portal
Example setup:
html
```

<script src="https://www.paypal.com/sdk/js/script?client-id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&vault=true&intent=subscription"></script>


<div data-ms-code="paypal-container"
     payment-type="subscription"
     subscription-plan-id="P-YOUR_PAYPAL_PLAN_ID"
     default-plan="pln_memberstack_plan_id_xyz"
     plan-name="Monthly Membership">
</div>


```
The tradeoff: You'll need a PayPal Business account instead of Stripe. PayPal fees are slightly higher (around 3.4% + ₩290 in Korea vs Stripe's 2.9% + ₩290), but that's worth it since Stripe isn't even an option for you.

One heads up: Make sure your PayPal Business account can create subscription plans (you need this enabled in PayPal settings). Some newer accounts have this feature limited initially, but you can request it from PayPal support.
Niket Kumar November 25, 2023 19:37

Hey there allinweb dave
I can see you're having trouble registering a South Korean bank to create a paid membership plan in Memberstack. Although I'd request you to please have a look at the stripe's global availability list. https://stripe.com/in/global , where South Korea isn't listed - that means, South Korean banks are not YET supported to create any kinds of payment on Stripe.

What could be an alternate solution for this? Not ideally possible, but can give it a shot.
To setup a paid membership plan you can use a bank that's registered in one of these listed countries by simply transferring the payment from South Korean bank account to new listed Stripe account and then further create your paid membership plan on Memberstack.

Ps: There's no workaround possible for this logically speaking, as it's a stripe's issue that lacks on the availability of bank integrations from certain countries, that's still in progress. Hope the link shared above can give more details.

Thanks, let me know if you face any further issues.

Cheers!

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