🔒 To set up in-app payments, you will need the Can set up and manage in-app payments permission enabled
Where to Find In-app Payments
Famly offers speedier payments for parents by debit card, credit card, and direct debit directly in the app. Parents can pay their outstanding balance in Famly with just a couple of clicks or automatically by direct debit without any manual work from you. Your financial reports and accounts will, of course, be updated in real-time. To find in-app payments:
Click on Settings → Finances → Billing → In-app payments
💡 Reach out to support@famly.co if you're not seeing in-app payments in your Settings
Fees
Famly charges a processing fee when using this feature but there are no additional cost besides that. When a parent pays their outstanding balance in Famly, the fee will be deducted before the money arrives in your account. You can see a detailed overview of fees here:
How In-app Payments Work
When the setup is complete and you've chosen which payment methods you'll accept, in-app payments can be activated and made ready for the parents to use.
Parents can only pay the full outstanding balance of their account in Famly, unless you have ticked the box in your in-app payments settings to allow parents to pay custom amounts.
BACS Direct Debit
Parents can setup BACS Direct Debit (DD). It can either be setup and used as a card, or it can be set to charge automatically, which we recommend.
When a parent has setup their DD and approved automatic charges, they will be included in a DD run (if their mandate is verified. It takes about 2-3 business days). You then select the date you want the DD run to begin, and the parents who have setup automatic DD will be charged. Famly automatically sends an email to parents about the upcoming payment one day prior to the billing date you've selected. Managers receive a notification in Famly at the same time.
When the payments have been processed, you'll get a payout of the total to your bank account.
The parents will receive an email confirming that they have been charged via Direct Debit.
Debit and credit cards
When paying by debit or credit card, the parents will be asked to enter their card details - just like online shopping. A card payment receipt will show on the parent's account right away. Parents will instantly receive an error message if the transaction cannot be completed. Therefore, card payments won't show in Famly unless they are verified.
Parents can also save their card details in Famly and approve automatic charges to clear their outstanding balance. Automatic card payments will follow the transaction timeline of BACS Direct Debit payments.
PCI Compliance is a shared responsibility and applies to both Stripe (our payment provider) and your setting. When accepting payments, you must do so in a PCI-compliant manner. The simplest way for you to be PCI compliant is to never see (or have access to) card data at all. But don't worry, Famly takes care of this for you, by making sure you can't see or get access to credit card details. Stripe makes this easy for you as they can do the heavy lifting to protect your parents’ card information.
Transaction Timelines and Payouts
It takes about 2 business days (depending on the payment method) before a payout will reach your bank account. Please note that reaching the “payment success” status can take a few days depending on your bank - this is mainly due to a 3 business day anti-fraud initiative by our payment provider. The money moves from the parent's bank account, to your account with our payment provider, to your bank account.
Possible statuses of payments
Failed: The payment failed accompanied by an error message explaining why.
Pending: The payment has not been initiated yet - usually because it’s waiting for the payment method to be ready (such as BACS mandate to be verified).
Processing: The payment has been initiated (“sent”) and Famly is awaiting the result.
Completed: The payment completed successfully.
Manual card payments
The transaction of a manual card payment begins right away. If it fails, it will show immediately. Our provider holds the money for 3 business days due to an anti-fraud initiative. Therefore, you can expect the money in your account about 5-6 business days after the payment was made by the parent.
Automatic card payments
Parents can set a card as the automatic payment method. If a parent has done so, the automatic card payment will begin on the day of the month you select when setting up in-app payments. It will charge the outstanding balance of the parent on that day.
The timeline is as follows:
1 business day before the run, Famly sends the parents an email informing them about the upcoming charge, and managers receive a notification in Famly at the same time.
On the day of the run, Famly will withdraw the money from the parent's card and put it on your account with our payment provider. Our payment provider will then hold the money for 3 business days due to their anti-fraud initiative.
At around midnight on the same night, the money will be transferred from your Stripe account to your bank account. The speed of the money transfer varies from bank to bank.
Automatic direct debit payments
A automatic direct debit run takes place based on the day chosen when setting up in-app payments. For a parent's DD mandate to be included in a DD run, it must have been verified at least 1 business day before the DD run begins.
The timeline is as follows:
1 business day before the run, Famly sends the parents with a verified automatic DD an email informing them about the upcoming charge, and managers receive a notification in Famly at the same time.
On the day of the run, Famly will send a request to the banks to begin the transaction of the automatic DD payments. The payment will show on the parent's account in Famly as processing meaning that it has been initiated (“sent”) and that Famly is awaiting the result. The money will be transferred from the parent's bank account to your account with our payment provider.
2 business days after the run, automatic DD payments are completed. The money is in your secure account with our payment provider and will be paid out that evening.
3 business days after the run, automatic DD payments will be included in the next payout. The money is transferred from your account with our payment provider to your bank account. The speed of the money transfer varies from bank to bank.
Payouts
You will receive bulk payouts for payments made on the same day. Payouts will show as 'Famly' on your bank statement.
Setting Up In-app Payments
To get started with in-app payments, follow our set-up guide:
Getting Parents Started with In-app Payments
We've put together some resources to help you get parents set up with in-app payments.
Take a look at our Payments Pack to download your very own parent poster, newsfeed template and badge for your website.