How to Charge Two Stored Credit Cards on the Same Matter using Clio Payments

Today, we’re talking about a super practical topic—using stored credit cards in Clio Payments, especially when two clients are splitting a bill.

Let’s say you have a matter where two clients are sharing the cost 50/50. Sounds simple, right? But if you’ve ever tried to do this in Clio, you know it can get a little tricky.

First, a Quick Overview of Stored Payment Methods in Clio

Clio Payments has a fantastic feature that allows you to securely store your clients’ credit card information. Here’s how it works:

1. Go to your client’s contact record in Clio.
2. Click on the Billing Information tab.
3. Select Request Payment Method.
4. Clio generates a secure link that you can send to your client.
5. The client inputs their credit card details, which are securely stored in Clio (you can’t see them, but you can charge them against future bills).

✅ It’s secure, simple, and ideal for recurring payments or reducing manual entry.

The Challenge: When Two Clients Are Splitting the Bill

Now here’s where things get complicated: Clio only allows you to store a payment method under one client per matter. So if you’ve got Client A and Client B splitting a $10,000 bill, you can only charge the stored credit card of the primary client listed on the matter.

Even if Client B is listed as a Related Contact on the matter, Clio doesn’t see their payment method when you go to charge the bill.

The Workaround (Until Clio Adds Multi-Client Support)

1. Here’s a quick and easy trick to make this work:
2. Charge Client A’s stored credit card for their half (e.g., $5,000).
3. Then go into the matter settings and temporarily make Client B the primary client.
4. Now when you go to charge the bill again, Clio will recognize Client B’s stored credit card, and you can charge the remaining $5,000.
5. After charging, don’t forget to switch the original client back to avoid confusion later!

🚨 Pro Tip: This only works if both clients have their credit cards stored via the Request Payment Method link. Make sure that step is complete before you begin.

Not Ideal, But Totally Worth It

I’ll be the first to admit—this isn’t the most elegant solution. But the ability to store and use credit card info securely within Clio is a game-changer.

✅ It helps eliminate risky practices like storing PDFs of credit cards in Dropbox.
✅ It keeps your clients’ information more secure.
✅ And it simplifies billing for everyone involved.

Clio has already announced that support for multiple clients per matter is coming, so hopefully this workaround won’t be needed forever. But in the meantime, it’s a simple way to keep your billing streamlined and your firm secure.

If you haven’t started requesting stored credit cards from clients yet, I highly recommend it. And now—you know how to handle shared bills, too!

Looking for more ways to streamline your law firm? Check out Streamlined Legal Plus, or talk to us about how Clio can transform your practice.  AND Use promo code CCC-STREAMLINED to sign up for Clio and get 3 months of streamlined.legal Plus FREE!  (That’s a $1,500 value!)