Once you've linked your bank account information to your Online Payments account, you can begin processing client payments without needing to worry about using card readers or terminals. 

Note: For a walkthrough of how to set up your Online Payments account, see Getting started with Online Payments. 

In this guide, we’ll cover: 

• Online Payments processing fees
• Adding a card to a client's file
• Setting a default card and adding nicknames
• Deleting a card from a client's file
• Charging a client
• Refunding a client
• Keeping track of card payments

Note: See Online Payments FAQs to learn more about our card processing feature.

Online Payments processing fees

SimplePractice is partnered with Stripe to provide a secure, integrated payment processing solution for our customers. This partnership makes online card payments easy and safe. 

The integration fee for online payments is 3.15% + $0.30 for each successful transaction, whether you're running the card at the time of service or you've stored the card to charge at your leisure. 

Some of our credit card processing competitors may offer a lower fee for card-in-hand transactions, but a much higher one for card-absent transactions. Our credit card processor gives you more power to make sure that you get paid for the services rendered and that you get paid quickly. We care about our customers' success, which is why we encourage the use of our integrated credit card processor.

Adding a card to a client's file

Once you’re ready to start processing Online Payments, clients’ cards can be securely stored in their file. You’re able to manually add a client’s card to their file or can request their information via the Client Portal.

To manually add a card:

• Navigate to to the client’s profile
• Click Edit > Billing and Insurance
• Scroll down to Credit & Debit Cards and click + Card
• Enter your client’s card information

• Click Save card

If the client has an international card, the zip code must be entered in a standard, 5-digit format. 

If the zip code is longer than 5 characters, a dash will be included automatically, which can be left as is. If entering the zip code in this format doesn’t work, you can use any 5-digit US zip code as a placeholder, such as 00000 or 12345.

To request a client’s card information through the Client Portal:

• Navigate to the client’s profile
• Click Share in the upper right corner

• Select the Credit card information form

• Click Continue to Email
• Review your selection and the associated email and click Share & Send Now

Important: 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.

Setting a default card and adding nicknames

Multiple cards can be stored for a client. For clients who use multiple cards, you have the ability to mark one as their default, and can use nicknames to differentiate one card from another. To do this: 

• Navigate to the client’s Overview page
• Click Edit > Billing and Insurance
• Locate the card under Credit & Debit Cards
• Click Edit
• In the flyout, enter a nickname under How do you want to refer to this card? and use the Make this the default card? toggle 
  • Clients won’t be able to add or view card nicknames through the Client Portal 

• Click Save card

Note: The first card entered will be set as the default card for the client. You’ll only see the Make this the default card? option if the client has multiple cards on file. If additional cards are added, either manually or through the Client Portal, they won’t be automatically set as the default card.

Deleting a card from a client's file

You can delete a client's card from their file at any time. To do this:

• Navigate to the client’s profile
• Click Edit > Billing and Insurance
• Scroll down to Credit & Debit Cards 
• Click the trash icon next to the card 

Note: Transactions associated with deleted cards can’t be refunded to the client’s card, even if you re-add the card to their file. If you need to refund a client, and their card has already been deleted, you can refund them outside of SimplePractice and mark the transaction as manually refunded. 

Charging a client

There are multiple ways to add a client payment: 

• From the appointment fly-out on the calendar
• From the client’s Overview page
• From an unpaid invoice

Adding a payment from any of these places will open the Add Payment flow. To charge a client’s credit, debit, or FSA/HSA card:

• Select the invoice

• Select Online card on file for the payment method

• If you’d like to charge a different card than the default, click Change
• If the client doesn’t have a card on file, or if you’d like to add a new card, click +New online card
• Review the Summary and click Charge

Refunding a client

If you need to refund a client for any reason, you can perform a full or partial refund. To do this:

• Navigate to Billing > Card Transactions
• Locate the transaction you’d like to refund
• Click Refund

• Under Refund amount, enter the exact amount you'd like to refund your client
• Click Refund to complete the transaction

Important: Refunds take 5-10 business days to appear on a client's statement. If you issue a full refund within SimplePractice, the entire amount is refunded to your client. There’s no additional fee associated with processing refunds. However, you're responsible for the processing fee that was incurred as part of the original transaction. The processing fee is 3.15% + $0.30 for each successful transaction, and this information is included in our Terms of Service under Section 11 Stripe Payment Service. In the future, you may be able to charge your clients for credit card fees in SimplePractice, as long as this is legal in your state and permitted by card network rules. You can learn more here: Can I add a credit card processing fee to an invoice?

Refunds in SimplePractice can be made within 180 calendar days of the initial transaction, and the card that was originally charged must still be on file.

The refund can’t be made if:

• The card was deleted and later re-added
• A client paid through their Client Portal and didn’t check the box to allow the system to save their card information

Refunds for older transactions may fail for a variety of reasons. We recommend confirming with your client that the card is still open, as refunds to cards that have been closed will still appear as if they went through. In this case, your client will need to follow up with their bank to track the refund.

Note: If you'd like to refund a card payment that doesn't meet the refund requirements above, you can either enter that refund amount on a more recent card payment or handle the refund outside of SimplePractice. If you refund the client outside of SimplePractice, see Refunding a client to learn how to record this in your client's file.

Keeping track of card payments

The Card Transactions report details all of the credit card charges processed through your Online Payments account, making it easy to to keep track of transactions associated with your account. You can access this report by navigating to your Calendar homepage and clicking Billing > Card Transactions. This report will show you the following details relating to each charge: 

• The Date of the charge
• The Client charged
• The Type of transaction
• The Status of the charge
• The Fee associated with the transaction
• The Amount charged

Clicking Details will allow you to view the Transaction Details associated with the charge:

• The Payment ID associated with the transaction
• The Statement Descriptor 
• The Amount of the charge
• The Fee 
• The Net amount of the charge that will be paid out to you
• The Date and Time that the transaction occurred
• The Payout date
  • View payout links you to the exact payout this transaction was included in
• Additional details about the card that was charged

You can track the actual payouts delivered to your bank account by utilizing the Payouts report. You can access this report from your Analytics dashboard by navigating to your Calendar homepage and clicking Analytics > Reports > Payouts. The Payouts report outlines the details of each payout, including:

• The Date of the payout
• The Status of the payout
  • If the Status is Failed, hover over the information icon to learn more
• The Bank/Card used for the payout
• The Description of the payout
• The Est. Arrival of the payout
  • For Pending or In Transit payouts, this is the expected date your payout will arrive in your bank account
• The Amount of the charge

Clicking Transactions to the left of a payout will take you to the Card Transactions report. This report will show you a breakdown of every transaction included on each payout you receive.