The short answer
Asking someone to create a password before they can pay you is a good way to lose the payment. The task a member came to do — pay dues, register for the banquet — should not require a second task first.
What a first-time visitor has to do
- Enter a name, an email address and a card — that's the whole form for a guest payment or registration.
- Get a confirmation by email, with the ticket or the receipt attached.
- Nothing to remember, and nothing that blocks the payment if they don't come back.
An account is there for anyone who wants one — a returning member managing their own details, checking their dues status, or registering for a second event without retyping everything. It's an upgrade a member opts into, not a gate the organization puts in front of its own money.
The question worth asking any vendor: can a first-time guest pay in under a minute, with no account? If the answer involves "first they'll need to sign up," that's a step between the organization and its own dues.