--- title: How to Enable Payment Methods by Date and Time in WooCommerce description: "Schedule payment gateways with date and time ranges: business hours, weekends, seasons or single days." url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/conditional-payments-date-time/" updated: "2026-09-27" category: How to --- # How to Enable Payment Methods by Date and Time in WooCommerce To enable or disable WooCommerce payment methods by date and time, use [Conditional Payment Methods for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/conditional-payment-gateways-for-woocommerce/): go to **WPFactory > Conditional Payment Gateways > Date/Time**, enable **Require Date/Time** or **Exclude Date/Time**, enter one date or time range per line next to the gateway and save. Examples: offer Cash on delivery only during business hours, switch off bank transfer on weekends, or run a gateway for a seasonal period only. ## Before you start - Conditional Payment Methods installed and active. - Free version: date and time rules work for Direct bank transfer, Check payments, Cash on delivery and PayPal Standard. Other gateways need Pro. - Check your site timezone at **Settings > General > Timezone**. Ranges are compared with the current time in that timezone. The Date/Time section shows the **Current date** in its notes so you can confirm it. ## Schedule a payment method 1. Go to **WPFactory > Conditional Payment Gateways** (also reachable at **WooCommerce > Settings > Conditional Payment Gateways**) and open the **Date/Time** section. 2. To show a gateway only inside certain periods, tick **Enable section** under **Require Date/Time**. 3. To hide a gateway during certain periods, tick **Enable section** under **Exclude Date/Time**. 4. Next to the gateway, enter each range as `from-to`, one range per line. 5. Optionally edit the **Additional notice**. The default reads `Currently "%gateway_title%" is not available.` 6. Click **Save changes**. ![Date/Time section with Exclude Date/Time enabled and two ranges entered for Direct bank transfer, plus the Notes & Examp](https://wpfactory.com/wp-content/uploads/conditional-payments-date-time-1.png) ## Range format and examples The hyphen separates the start and end of each range, so do not use hyphens inside a date. Each side can be anything PHP's `strtotime()` understands, such as times, weekdays or relative dates. When several lines are entered, the rule matches if the current time falls in any of them. | Goal | Block | Value | | --- | --- | --- | | Available only before 3:00 PM each day | Require | `00:00:00-14:59:59` | | Hidden after 4:00 PM each day and all weekend | Exclude | `16:00:00-23:59:59` `Saturday 00:00:00-Saturday 23:59:59` `Sunday 00:00:00-Sunday 23:59:59` | | Available in summer only | Require | `first day of June - last day of August 23:59:59` | | Hidden during February | Exclude | `first day of February - last day of February 23:59:59` | More examples are shown under **Notes & Examples** at the bottom of the section. ## FAQ ### Can I enter dates like 2026-12-24? No, because the hyphen is reserved for splitting the range. Use a format without hyphens, such as `24 December 2026` or `2026/12/24`. A date without a time means midnight at the start of that day, so add `23:59:59` to an end date to include the whole day. ### Can a range span midnight, such as 22:00 to 06:00? Not in one line, because the end would come before the start. Split it into two lines: `22:00:00-23:59:59` and `00:00:00-05:59:59`. ### Why should each weekday get its own line? Weekday names are read relative to today. On a Sunday, `Saturday` points to the next Saturday, so a single `Saturday 00:00:00-Sunday 23:59:59` line would not match on Sundays. One line per day, as in the table above, always works. ### Get more control Date and time rules are free for the four built-in WooCommerce gateways. [Conditional Payment Methods for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/conditional-payment-gateways-for-woocommerce/) Pro applies them to any payment gateway. [See what Pro unlocks](https://wpfactory.com/item/conditional-payment-gateways-for-woocommerce/). Need a hand? Our team answers every ticket on the [Conditional Payment Methods support forum](https://wpfactory.com/support/item/conditional-payment-gateways-for-woocommerce/). Related articles - [How to Restrict Payment Methods by Currency or Language in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/conditional-payments-currency-language/) - [How to Hide Payment Methods by Product, Category or Tag in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/conditional-payments-by-product/) - [How to Restrict Payment Methods by User Role, User or IP Address in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/conditional-payments-user-role/) - [How to Show Payment Methods by Country in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/conditional-payments-by-country/) - [How to Hide a Payment Method Based on Cart Total in WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/docs/conditional-payments-cart-total/)