What is the customer portal and what can I do there?

The customer portal is the hosted page run by Stripe (or the equivalent flow on Paddle) where Valid Email Checker hands off card-management work that does not fit inside our own in-app forms. Most of the time you will manage payment methods directly from Account Settings → Billing & Payments → Payment Methods. The portal is the escape hatch when the in-app option is not enough.

What you can do in the portal

• Add a card to your processor profile. Stripe attaches the card to your Stripe customer ID; Paddle attaches it to your Paddle anchor subscription. Either way it becomes available for future renewals.
• Replace the card behind an anchor subscription. This is the main reason VEC routes Paddle users through the portal — Paddle requires updating the anchor subscription rather than swapping cards loosely. The portal handles that exchange in one flow.
• Update billing address on a card. AVS-tied issuers occasionally require the billing address on file to match the card. The portal can rewrite that without you removing and re-adding the card.
• Set 3DS preferences. Some banks let you pre-authorise 3DS for off-session renewal charges. The portal exposes those processor-level options.
• View processor-side history. Past charges, refund metadata, and dispute records that Stripe or Paddle hosts on their side (not stored in VEC).

What the portal does not do

The portal is not a complete VEC settings page. It cannot cancel your VEC subscription, change your VEC plan, schedule a downgrade, view your credit history, or pay a VEC invoice. All of those live inside the Valid Email Checker app itself. The portal is purely a processor-level surface for cards, billing addresses, and processor-stored history.

Stripe vs Paddle portal differences

The how-to is in how to open a customer portal session. For day-to-day card adds and removes, the in-app Payment Methods tab is faster.