diff --git a/Stripe/payments/api_key_in_db.php b/Stripe/payments/api_key_in_db.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8bb5ee9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Stripe/payments/api_key_in_db.php
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+<?php
+
+// Store API key encrypted 
+/* This requires the user to add define('STRIPE_ENCRYPTION_KEY', 'your-secret-encryption-key'); to their wp-config.php */
+
+
+// Store API key encrypted
+function save_stripe_api_key($api_key) {
+    // Get the encryption key from wp-config.php (assuming it's defined there)
+    if (defined('STRIPE_ENCRYPTION_KEY')) {
+        $encryption_key = STRIPE_ENCRYPTION_KEY;
+    } else {
+        // Fallback: handle the case where the encryption key is not defined
+        // Ideally, throw an error or show an admin notice that the key is missing
+        return new WP_Error('missing_encryption_key', 'Encryption key not defined in wp-config.php');
+    }
+
+    $iv = openssl_random_pseudo_bytes(openssl_cipher_iv_length('aes-256-cbc')); // Generate an initialization vector
+
+    // Encrypt the API key
+    $encrypted_key = openssl_encrypt($api_key, 'aes-256-cbc', $encryption_key, 0, $iv);
+
+    // Store the encrypted key along with the IV
+    update_option('stripe_encrypted_key', base64_encode($encrypted_key));  // Save encrypted key
+    update_option('stripe_iv', base64_encode($iv));  // Save IV for decryption
+}
+
+// Retrieve the API key
+function get_stripe_api_key() {
+    // Get the encrypted key and IV from the database
+    $encrypted_key = get_option('stripe_encrypted_key');
+    $iv = get_option('stripe_iv');
+
+    if ($encrypted_key && $iv) {
+        // Decode the base64-encoded values
+        $encrypted_key = base64_decode($encrypted_key);
+        $iv = base64_decode($iv);
+
+        // Get the encryption key from wp-config.php
+        if (defined('STRIPE_ENCRYPTION_KEY')) {
+            $encryption_key = STRIPE_ENCRYPTION_KEY;
+        } else {
+            // Fallback: handle the case where the encryption key is not defined
+            // Ideally, throw an error or show an admin notice that the key is missing
+            return new WP_Error('missing_encryption_key', 'Encryption key not defined in wp-config.php');
+        }
+
+        // Decrypt the API key
+        $api_key = openssl_decrypt($encrypted_key, 'aes-256-cbc', $encryption_key, 0, $iv);
+
+        return $api_key;
+    } else {
+        return false;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file