SimplePractice’s integrated online payments system offers a way to process all major credit, debit, FSA, and HSA cards at a rate of 3.15% + $0.30 for each successful transaction.
Note: If you already have your online payments account set up, see our guide on using online payments for processing credit cards for next steps.
In this guide, we'll cover:
- Benefits to using our online payments system
- Supported business types
- Setting up your online payments account
- Setting up online payments under a supervisor
- What happens next?
- FAQs
Benefits to using our online payments system
The most important criteria we considered when building our online payments feature was security and pricing. It's fully PCI-compliant, gives you the ability to store cards securely, and saves you time because you don't have to manually enter payments. If you have the Client Portal enabled, your clients can log in to make payments directly from their Client Portal.
Once your account is up and running, you won't have to worry about using card readers or terminals, as all transactions are processed directly through SimplePractice.
Important: Credit card information should only be stored within the designated payment fields in your SimplePractice account. Storing this information outside of these fields, or in any other manner, means you acknowledge the risk associated with storing this data within your account. For more information, see Adding a card to a client’s profile.
Supported business types
SimplePractice is partnered with a third party payment processor to provide a secure, integrated payment processing solution for our customers. In order to comply with our partner’s regulations, SimplePractice isn’t able to support or facilitate payments for business types outside of the health and wellness industry.
Supported business types include:
- Behavioral Health Therapy, including:
- Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LICSW) (MSW) (LCSW)
- Psychologists (PhD)
- Psychiatrists
- Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC)
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT)
- Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors (LADC)
- Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA)
- National Certified Counselor (NCC)
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Language Pathology
- Dietitians
- Nutritionists
- Yoga Instructors
- Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
- Acupuncture
- Professional/Life Coaching
- Dentistry
- Physical Therapy
- Chiropractic
- Massage Therapy
If your business type isn’t included in this list, our Underwriting team will work with our processing partner to review your online payments account and determine if we’re able to support payment processing for your business. As part of this review, our team may reach out to request additional information to help determine if your services are supported.
Our team will follow up with the status of your online payments account once additional review is complete.
See our payment processor’s Prohibited and Restricted Businesses List for additional services that aren’t supported. Please note that this isn’t an exhaustive list of all restricted services.
Setting up your online payments account
To get started, navigate to Settings > Payment processing > Online payments.
Before you start setup, select What do I need to complete setup? to make sure you have everything you need to complete the process. This includes:
-
Business information
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Business type
- Government-issued ID or passport
- Device with camera
- Bank login information
Next, to start setting up your online payments account:
- Click Set up online payments
- Indicate whether you’re currently under supervision, then click Continue
Important: If you’re under supervision and require your supervisor’s bank, your setup steps will be different. To learn more, skip to Setting up your online payments account under a supervisor.
- On the Business Verification page, click Get started
- When prompted, click Begin verifying to continue with identity verification through our partner, Persona
Follow the steps below to set up your account and learn about our verification process:
- Business details
- Banking details
- Bank verification
- Government ID and identity verification
- Business Representatives and Beneficial Owners
Business details
Enter your business information across the following screens:
-
Business type
- Sole proprietor/Individual
- Corporation
- LLC
- Non-Profit
Important: Depending on your business type, you may be required to complete an additional form to provide details about the financial management of your practice. To learn more, scroll down to Business Representatives and Beneficial Owners.
-
Country
- Select the country where the account representative resides or that the business is legally established
- For example, if you are in the United States and the business or user you’re creating an account for is legally represented in Canada, use Canada as the country for the account being created
- Legal business name (must match IRS-issued documents)
- Doing business as (DBA) name, if applicable
-
Statement descriptor
-
This is the information that will show on your clients' bank statements. Use the name for your business that your clients will recognize to help prevent unintended chargebacks
- Enter between 5 and 22 characters
- Must contain at least 5 letters
- Cannot use special characters, such as <, >, \, ', ", .
- Note: The Statement descriptor should be representative of your business. Please do not use “Stripe” or “Stripe Payments” as your Statement descriptor
- If you don’t enter a Statement descriptor, it’ll default to SimplePractice LLC
-
This is the information that will show on your clients' bank statements. Use the name for your business that your clients will recognize to help prevent unintended chargebacks
Note: Disputes are forced transaction reversals that are initiated by the cardholder’s bank. They are meant to serve as a consumer protection mechanism. To learn more, see Managing disputed charges.
- Business phone number
- Website URL (or select that your business doesn’t have one)
- Review and agree to our payment processor’s Terms of Service
Click Continue to complete the following information:
-
Product description
- A brief description of the services that your business provides
-
Tax identification number (EIN) or SSN
- Your Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a unique nine-digit number assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- If you don’t have an EIN, you can enter your Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
- Optional support address (may be visible to clients)
- Physical business address (no P.O. boxes or private mailboxes)
-
Legal registered address
- Check the box if it’s the same as your physical address
Click Continue.
Banking details
Depending on your bank, you’ll be prompted to either securely connect your bank account or enter your details manually.
- Select whether you’re using a Business or Personal bank account
Important: This must be a checking account and not a savings account.
- Click Continue
Connect your bank account
If prompted, securely connect your bank account.
Follow the prompts to log in to your bank and select the account you’d like to use. This allows your account information to be verified automatically.
Enter your bank details manually
If your bank can’t be connected, you’ll be asked to enter your bank account details instead:
- Account holder name
- Account number
- Routing number
Note: This information is typically found on checks provided by your bank.
- Last four digits of your SSN
- Account holder email
Click Continue.
Depending on the business type you choose when signing up for an online payments account, our integrated processor has different requirements for the bank account that you provide for payouts. Meeting these requirements is important to avoid unexpected delays to your payouts. You can refer to these requirements below:
Sole proprietorships or Single-Member LLCs
-
Your bank account must be either a personal bank account registered under your Business Representative's name, or a business bank account registered under your business DBA.
- If creating an account under your SSN, you can add your personal bank account or business bank account
LLCs, Corporations, and Non-Profits
-
Your bank account must be registered under either your business's legal name or DBA.
- If creating an account under an EIN, the business account on file has to match your business name or DBA. If it's registered under your Business Representative's name instead, it may be flagged by our processor. This can result in delays to your payouts
Bank verification
To verify your bank account, you may be asked to complete one of the following verification methods:
- Secure bank login through MX
- Uploading a bank statement
Note: MX is a secure bank verification service that helps confirm your bank account details. If you choose this option, you'll sign in using your online banking credentials through MX. Your login information isn't stored or visible to SimplePractice.
The verification method you’re prompted to complete will depend on the information entered during setup and whether your bank account details can be automatically verified.
If additional verification is needed, you may be asked to upload a bank statement before moving to the next step.
If the uploaded bank statement can’t be verified, you may be prompted to upload another document before continuing setup.
Uploading a bank statement
If you’re prompted to upload a bank statement to verify your account, you can either:
- Select Take photo to use your device’s camera
- Select Upload to choose a file, or
- Select Continue on another device
If continuing on another device:
- Scan the QR code, or
- Click Send Email to receive a secure link
On your other device:
- Tap Continue when prompted to confirm you switched devices
- Take a photo or upload a photo/file of your bank statement
- Allow access to your camera if prompted
- Tap Use this photo or Submit
Note: You can upload multiple images if needed
Your document will begin processing once submitted.
Government ID and identity verification
To confirm your identity:
- Verify your personal details
- Take a photo or upload one of the following government-issued IDs:
- Passport
- Driver's license
- Identity card
- Complete a selfie verification by following the on-screen instructions
After completing verification, you’ll see a confirmation screen indicating your application has been submitted.
Business Representatives and Beneficial Owners
If the business type you've selected is a Non-Profit, Corporation, or LLC, you will be prompted to complete an additional form hosted by our payment processor. This form will ask you to provide additional information about the financial management of your practice.
This form must be completed by a Business Representative of your practice. A Business Representative should be an executive, senior manager, or someone who otherwise has significant responsibility for the control and management of the business. If this does not describe yourself, you will need to ask the Business Representative to complete the form.
- Non-Profit business types will be required to enter the last 4 digits of their Social Security number or provide a government issued ID number
- Business Representatives for Corporation and LLC business types will need to enter the last 4 digits of their Social Security number or a government issued ID number and will need to declare any additional Beneficial Owners. A Beneficial Owner is considered any person who owns 25% or more of the business
Be prepared to have this information readily available when completing this form for your practice.
Note: This form will not be required for Sole proprietor/Individual business types.
Setting up online payments under a supervisor
If you’re under supervision and your bank account must be set up under your supervisor’s name, your setup process will be slightly different.
After selecting Yes, I’m under supervision and confirming that your account must be set up under your supervisor’s name:
- You’ll be guided through identity verification, including:
- Entering your personal details
- Uploading a government-issued ID
- Completing a selfie verification
- After completing verification, you’ll be prompted to enter your supervisor’s information
Your supervisor will then receive a request to complete the remaining setup steps on their end.
What happens next?
Once you've successfully entered the required information, there are three states that your account can go into:
-
Verified
- We'll send you an email letting you know that your account has been verified
-
Pending
- On average, it takes 2-3 business days to get verified
- You may need to provide additional information, but we'll reach out and let you know if this is the case
-
Unverified
- We'll reach out and let you know what other actions need to be taken
Important: The security of your account and data are our top priority. We've implemented various mechanisms to alert us when there might be suspicious activity in your account. In most cases, our team is able to quickly verify your account activity and remove the alert. If your account needs to be reverified, you can rest assured that your account is being carefully reviewed. If you have any questions, you can submit a request, and we'll be glad to work with you.
FAQs
- My routing number doesn't have 9 digits, how can I add it?
- My online payments account can't be verified, what are my next steps?
- I'm part of a group practice, can we connect multiple online payments accounts to our SimplePractice account?
- Can I connect an already existing online payments account to SimplePractice?
- What information can I change after my account has been verified?
- What information can't be changed after my account has been verified?
My routing number doesn't have 9 digits, how can I add it?
If your routing number doesn’t have 9 digits, submit a help request and we'll assist you with entering your bank details in your online payments account.
My online payments account can't be verified, what are my next steps?
When you create or update your online payments account, our payment processor attempts to verify the information you provided with what the IRS has on file for you. It's important to provide the exact information that the IRS has on file, including your name and SSN or EIN, to prevent a delay in receiving your payouts.
If our payment processor is unable to verify your information, submit a help request so that we can assist you with your account verification.
I'm part of a group practice, can we connect multiple online payments accounts to our SimplePractice account?
SimplePractice accounts with multiple clinicians can share one online payments account, and each online payments account can only connect to one bank account for payouts.
Can I connect an already existing online payments account to SimplePractice?
There isn't an option to connect an already existing online payments account with your SimplePractice account. You can create a new online payments account directly within your SimplePractice account by navigating to Settings > Payment processing > Online payments.
What information can I change after my account has been verified?
Once your online payments account is verified, you can update the following details in your account:
- Bank account associated with your online payments account
- Statement descriptor
- Payout schedule
- Email or business address
Note: If you need to make any other changes to your online payments account, submit a help request for further assistance.
Changing the bank account that's connected to your online payments account
To change your bank account:
- Navigate to Settings > Payment processing > Online payments
- Scroll down to Bank details
- Click Change bank account
- In the flyout window, input your new routing and account numbers
- Click Save changes
Note: If you’re having difficulty updating your bank account details, submit a help request for assistance. We recommend having a voided check for the account ready, as we require these to assist you with updating your bank account details
There are different bank account requirements depending on the business type selected for your online payments account.
Sole Proprietorships
Your bank account must be registered under either your business DBA or the name of the Business Representative on your online payments account. This can be either a personal bank account or a business bank account.
LLCs, Corporations, and Non-Profits
Your bank account must be registered under the company’s legal business name or DBA. This must be a business bank account.
If it's registered under your Business Representative's name instead, it may be flagged by our processor. This can result in delays to your payouts.
Changing the statement descriptor for your online payments account
See What will online payments charges look like for my clients? to learn how to change your statement descriptor.
Changing the payout schedule for your online payments account
To change your payout schedule:
- Navigate to Settings > Payment processing > Online payments
- Under Payout schedule, click Change schedule
- Select the schedule that you’d like to receive payouts: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
- Click Save changes
Note: For details on each type of schedule, see Keeping track of your payouts.
Changing the email or business address for your online payments account
To change the email or business address:
- Navigate to Settings > Payment processing > Online payments
- Under Your details, click Edit email or address
- Update your email and/or business address
- Click Save changes
What information can't be changed after my account has been verified?
Once your online payments account is verified, the following information can't be manually updated:
- Business type
- Business name
- EIN/TIN
If you need to update any of this information for your online payments account, submit a help request for further assistance.