Understand how Stripe handles automatic card updates for saved cards via issuer-pushed updates and the payment_method.automatically_updated webhook event
Stripe participates in Visa Account Updater and Mastercard ABU on behalf of merchants; when an issuer pushes a card update, Stripe automatically updates the corresponding PaymentMethod in your account
No code change or batch submission is required — Stripe handles enrollment and update receipt transparently
Subscribe to the payment_method.automatically_updated webhook event to be notified when Stripe has updated a stored card's expiry date or account number
In the webhook handler, retrieve the updated PaymentMethod to read the new card details and update any internal records (e.g., display the new expiry to the cardholder in their account settings)
If the card has been replaced with a new account number, Stripe creates a new card fingerprint on the PaymentMethod; detect this by comparing the card.fingerprint before and after the event if you use fingerprint-based deduplication
Test this flow in Stripe's sandbox using the test card numbers and update simulation tools documented in Stripe's testing guide
Known gotchas
payment_method.automatically_updated is fired asynchronously after the issuer push; do not assume synchronous update at time of a declined charge — you may need to handle the decline first and then re-check the PaymentMethod
Stripe's automatic updates apply only to PaymentMethods stored in your Stripe account; if you store raw PANs outside Stripe, you must run your own VAU/ABU integration
Not every card issuer participates in updater programs; for cards where no issuer update is available, Stripe will not fire the event and the card may still expire or become invalid
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