Set up payment plans

Payment plans are one of the payment options you can enable for customers at checkout. Payment plans allow customers to pay the total price in instalments, ideal for high-cost experiences and accommodations. If a customer chooses a payment plan option, their credit card will be automatically charged equal payments on a monthly basis until the full balance is paid. 

Payment plans are only available for Easol Plus and Easol Pro pricing plans. 

How to offer payment plans

1. From your admin dashboard, go to Settings > Payments.
2. Under Manage Payment Plans, click Create a Payment Plan.
3. Next, set the Number of monthly instalments (between 2 to 12 instalments).
4. Optionally, switch on Set a custom first instalment to specify the amount charged at moment of booking. The rest will be split equally into the remaining instalments.
   • Tip: Set the first instalment as 0 for a "buy now, pay later" payment option
5. Optionally, switch on Charge a Payment Plan Fee to add an extra fee for customers that choose the payment plan option. Choose between a fixed fee or percentage fee. Learn more about payment plan fees.
6. Click Create new payment plan.
7. Next, go to Experiences or Accommodations, and select the product you'd like to switch on a payment plan for.
8. Navigate to the Payment Settings tab and, under Choose a Payment Plan, select your payment plan from the dropdown menu.
9. Click Save to publish changes.
10. Repeat for other experiences and accommodations that this payment plan applies to.

The option to pay in full or with a payment plan will now be available for customers at checkout.

Note that payment plans can't be offered if:

• The order does not meet the minimum order total of GBP 50
• The last payment in this plan is after your experience's start date

How to edit a payment plan

Editing a payment plan will only affect future customers that book. To edit an existing customer on an active payment plan, please see instructions here.

To edit a payment plan for all experiences and accommodations that it's applied to:

1. Go to Settings > Payments in your admin dashboard.
2. Click Edit on the payment plan you'd like to update.
3. Under Settings, change the Number of monthly instalments and/or Set a custom first payment amount.

To edit a payment plan for a specific experience or accommodation:

1. Go to Experiences or Accommodations, and select the product you'd like to edit a payment plan for.
2. Navigate to the Payment Settings tab and click Create a new Payment Plan.
3. Next, set the Number of monthly instalments (between 2 to 12 instalments).
4. Optionally, switch on Set a custom first instalment to specify the amount charged at moment of booking. The rest will be split equally into the remaining instalments.
5. Click Create new payment plan.
6. Check that the last payment in your new payment plan is after your experience's start date so that it can be enabled at checkout.

How customers are charged on payment plans

Once a customer makes a booking with the payment plan option, their credit card will be charged for the first instalment in the plan. The customer will then be automatically billed every month on the same day they made the original purchase (including payment plan fees if applicable), until the full balance is paid.

Example

Troubleshooting payment failure

In the event a customer's credit card fails to be charged, they will receive an automatic email notification and Easol will attempt to charge the card two more times. The attempts to charge the card on file will be made in one-week intervals.  

If all the attempts to charge the card fail, the customer will need to update their credit card details and pay for the remaining balance at yourdomain.com/bookings.

How customers can update payment details

To update payment details at any point during the payment plan, the customer can go to yourdomain.com/bookings and follow the link CHANGE CARD on the booking.

Learn more about your customer booking system

What happens if a customer doesn't update payment details

The booking will remain active (unless you cancel it). However, the payment plan will automatically be cancelled and revert to a manual payment within 24 hours of the third failed payment attempt. From here, you can send a payment link where the customer can manually pay the remaining balance. To find the payment link:

1. Go Bookings and select your customer's booking reference
2. Under Balance Details, copy the payment URL.

Learn more about managing customer bookings