Stripe amounts are integers: cents, zero-decimal currencies, and minimums

TL;DR

Test-mode $0.10 charges that pass locally will fail as "amount too small" in real currencies. From Stripe's docs: to charge 10 JPY you pass amount 10, not 1000.

Steps

1. For zero-decimal currencies the amount IS the charge, no multiplication. From Stripe's docs: to charge 10 JPY you pass amount 10, not 1000.
2. Zero-decimal examples: JPY, KRW, VND, and others on the supported-currencies list. Three-decimal currencies exist too (e.g. BHD, JOD), where 1000 means 1.000 units.
3. Rules:
4. Look the currency up on the supported currencies list before writing amount math.
5. If zero-decimal, pass the face amount as the integer.
6. If standard (USD, EUR, GBP), multiply the major-unit amount by 100 and round to an integer first.
7. Never branch on "looks like" logic. Branch on the documented list.
8. Stripe enforces a minimum charge amount per currency (about $0.50 USD equivalent). Test-mode $0.10 charges that pass locally will fail as "amount too small" in real currencies. Check the minimum for the currency you charge in.

When to use

You are seeing this: amount is always an integer in the smallest currency unit. Use this skill when you run into "Stripe amounts are integers: cents, zero-decimal currencies, and minimums".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Stripe's currencies docs state that for zero-decimal currencies "the charge and the amount are the same, without requiring multiplication", with the worked example "to charge 10 JPY (or any other zero-decimal currency)" using amount 10 (docs.stripe.com/currencies). The same page documents three-decimal currencies and per-currency minimum charge amounts, and requires lowercase three-letter currency codes. Silent 100x bugs from JPY mishandling are a classic agent failure. Verified against live docs 2026-09-26.