Managing in-app payments using eypay

Managing in-app payments using eypay

Introduction

With eypay, we've partnered with Unipaas to make it easier to manage payments. Unipaas are a leading payment provider that specialise in powering payment solutions for software platforms. Rather than relying on multiple external payment gateways, our in-app payments solution brings together cards, pay by bank and Direct Debit into a unified platform and we have combined this with our existing TFC payment integration so that all payment methods can be managed from eypay.  As soon as you’ve completed the sign-up process and had your information verified, bill payers can start making payments to you immediately via eyparent and eyenquiries payment links and you can view and manage transactions and pay outs from within eypay.

Payouts made through eypay will appear as UFS*eypay on your bank statement. On a parent's bank statement, in-app online payments made to you will appear as UFS*[your business name].

Are eypay in-app payments secure and reliable?

Yes! eypay includes industry-leading security measures powered by Unipaas Financial Services LTD (licence number 929994), regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Unipaas is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, the highest industry standard for card payments, ensuring your bill payers’ data is fully protected.


Creating a payment account

By creating a payment account, you're able to manage the payment methods you want to accept from within eypay. Each payment account should be linked to a registered entity, so if multiple nursery branches are registered together as one entity they should be grouped within one payment account, so that you can see all their transactions in one place. 

In the process of setting up a payment account, you will also need to set up the payment methods that parents can use, and complete the required onboarding checks. The payment methods we support are Card (including Apple Pay and Google Pay), Pay by Bank, Direct Debit, and Tax-Free Childcare. You can learn more about the different payment methods in this article.

Payment Account and Methods

  1. Go to  > Global Settings.
  2. Click on the Payments tab.
  3. Click Manage Payments > Create Payment Account.
  4. Enter your account details into the Payment Account section:
    1. The Registered Business Name must be the same as the one recorded on Companies House.
    2. The Email Address should belong to someone with financial responsibility.
    3. Multiple nursery branches can share the same payment account if they also share a bank account; select them from the list. If you have a lot of branches under your company, use Filter Nursery by Tags to make it easier to find the ones you want.
  5. Under Payment Methods, enable which methods parents can use to pay their fees.
  6. Click Next.

Payment Method Setup

  1. This section is where you complete the onboarding for whichever payment methods you chose.
  2. If you enabled Cards/Direct Debit/Pay by Bank, then fill out the information in the first section, making sure to complete every page of the setup. When you're done, Unipaas will take 24-48 hours to review the submission before your payment account is made active.
  3. If you enabled Tax-Free Childcare (TFC), you'll need to fill out the second section. For every nursery branch that uses TFC, enter its Post Code and Nursery URN, then click Enable. TFC payments are available immediately following setup.
  4. Click Next.

Summary

  1. On this screen, you'll see a summary of your account information and what payment methods have been chosen.
  2. It can take some time for payment methods to be confirmed once onboarding is complete. You'll see the status of each method as part of the summary.
  3. Click Finish Setup.
  4. Your payment account should now show up on the Payment Accounts screen, with an overview of its payment methods, and the nurseries linked to it.

What documents are required to verify my account? 

Companies:

  1. Business: legal name, registration number, addresses, email, phone.
  2. Stakeholders/UBOs: name, date of birth, address, nationality, role, % ownership, ID copy
  3. Bank: account holder, account number, sort code.
  4. Documents: Incorporation document (automatically pulled), proof of address: bank statement/voided cheque, proof of identity: passport, driving licence.

Sole Traders:

  1. Personal: name, date of birth, email, phone, address, (profile URL/goods/service description may be   pre-filled)
  2. Bank: account holder, account number, sort code
  3. Additional (if requested): bank statement, passport, utility bill, confirmation of fields

How do I close my eypay (payments) account?

If you wish to close your eypay (payments) account, you can simply send Unipaas an email - eypay@unipaas.com 

Please note:
If you close your account before completing registration and have already taken payments, you’ll need to either complete onboarding so we can release the funds to your bank account or we can refund the transactions directly to your customers.

To stop using eypay altogether, you will need to follow our full cancellation process. More information can be found on our website on our cancellation procedures.


Editing payment methods

Even once your setup is complete, you have the option to go back and enable/disable certain payment methods.
  1. From the Payments screen, click on the name of the payment account.
  2. Enable or disable your chosen payment methods.
  3. Complete the onboarding.

How do I update my bank account details?

To update your bank account details, email our support team at eypay@unipaas.com. We’ll re-open the onboarding form so you can make the changes. Only bank accounts in your registered company’s name can be accepted. You’ll need to provide a recent bank statement (dated within the last three months) showing your business name, sort code, and account number.

How do I customise checkout pages with my business name?

To ensure a professional and consistent experience for your customers, your trading name is displayed on checkout pages.

During onboarding, you were asked to select your trading name, which is what currently appears at checkout. If you entered this incorrectly or want to update it, contact our support team at eypay@unipaas.com. We’ll reopen your onboarding form so you can update your trading name, and the changes will then appear across all checkout pages.



Using Direct Debit

The Direct Debit payment method allows you to withdraw funds directly from parents' bank accounts. This can be done manually for individual invoices, or you can set up automatic collection to save time on chasing fees every month.

Because of the way Direct Debit works, it's essential that parents give you permission to access their funds. You do this by setting up Direct Debit Mandates, where 'mandate' refers to the authorisation from a parent for you to collect payments.

Sending Direct Debit Requests

  1. Go to  > Global Settings.
  2. Go to Payments > Manage Payments.
  3. Click Direct Debit Mandates for the nursery you're using.
  4. You'll be taken to a page with a summary of the mandates along the top, and a list of parents below, along with their associated nursery, children, email address, and mandate status.
  5. Each row of the table has a box on the left that lets you select it. Click on the top-most box to select every row on the page. You can also click Select all [ ] matching rows to select every row on all pages.
  6. Click the Send Direct Debit Mandate button above the table.
  7. Click Send Mandates, and all parents with a No Mandate status will be sent a direct debit request with a short online form for them to complete.
  8. Once a parent submits the form it can take up to 10 working days for their mandate to be set up, after which their DD Mandate Status will change from Request Sent to Active.

Collecting Direct Debits manually

  1. Click on  Children in the sidebar.
  2. Click on a child's name to bring up their profile.
  3. Go to the Invoices tab.
  4. Click on the Collect Now button next to an approved invoice. This button only appears if direct debit is active for this child's parent.
  5. In the pop-up, choose the Bill Payer for this invoice. This will automatically fill in the Invoice Balance field. 
  6. Edit the Chargeable Amount field to the amount you wish to collect from the parent's account. 
  7. Click Confirm.

Collecting Direct Debits automatically

  1. Go to  > Global Settings.
  2. Go to Payments > Manage Payments.
  3. Click Direct Debit Mandates for the nursery you're using.
  4. Click on the  button.
  5. Check the box next to Automatically collect payments.
  6. Use the Invoice Due Date field to customise how many days before or after the due date you want to collect payments.
  7. Select the payment ID you want to use from the Payment Identifier field.
  8. Click Save.

The Payment Dashboard

Once you've finished setting up your payment account, you'll have access to the Payment Dashboard, where you can see a summary of all In-app payments (excluding TFC) and their statuses, and manage your payouts, refunds and chargebacks.

Payouts

On the Balance and Activity screen, you'll see a summary of all your payment activity. At the top are the Payable Funds: this is the net total of all payments made to your nursery, once the fees are removed. Eligible payments that are moved into Payable Funds will be moved into your bank account when a payout is performed. By default, automatic payout is carried out daily at 17:30, but you can adjust this at any time by clicking the  icon and choosing between daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly payout. If you select No scheduled payout, then payouts are initiated when you click the Pay out now button. 

Funds will be available for payout 1 day after they are received in your Unipaas account (T+1). Funds are typically settled in the account daily, excluding weekends.   Please note that there is a small fee of £0.30 per payout.

For any transactions that involve foreign exchange, there is a 2% charge applied to convert the currency.

Why hasn't my payout been processed yet?

If your payout hasn’t been processed, it may still be within the standard settlement timeframe, or some onboarding details may need to be completed. The payment dashboard will display the payout status. If the status shows Pending funds, make sure there are no outstanding onboarding actions and confirm that the funds are not still within the standard processing times listed below.

Payment collection schedule:
  1. Card payments: Funds are available three business days after collection.
  2. Direct debit payments: With an active mandate, funds are settled three business days after collection.
  3. Pay by Bank (Open Banking): Direct bank transfers will clear almost instantly.

Transactions

In the table under the payouts section, you can switch between viewing a record of your Payments, Refunds, Disputes, and Payouts. From the Payments screen, you can click on All Payments, Authorise, Charged, Settled, and Paid into bank to organise the list based on payment status. Click on the arrow next to each line to see more details about the payment. 

Any of this data can be exported for reconciliation or other reasons by going to the relevant tab and clicking Export. You will receive an email containing a .csv file with information from the table.

When do payments show in eymanage?

Once payments have been processed successfully in eyparent, we will show the payments in eymanage immediately. Depending on your allocation settings, we will either automatically add payments to invoices or we will show them as payments on account, ready for you to allocate. For TFC and Direct Debits, we will show their status as pending until they have been confirmed as successfully received.

What happens with failed payments?

If a payment fails, the payer will be notified immediately and no funds will be collected. If the failed payment is not due to a lack of funds, they can try issuing a payment again.

If a Direct Debit collection fails, you will receive an email with all the necessary information needed to contact the payer to discuss the failed collection.  Please note that there is a small fee of £0.35 charged for each failed direct debit.

Refunds

If you need to offer a refund, the method will depend on the method used to make the payment. 

Card and Direct Debit: You can process full or partial refunds of settled payments from the payment dashboard by clicking Refund next to the relevant transaction. Please note that you will also have to record refunds in eymanage separately. The refund option will only appear against payments you can refund or partially refund.

Bank Transfer and funds already paid out to your bank account - Once funds have been credited to your bank account, you can no longer refund them through the payment dashboard. Instead you will need to arrange a refund directly, or raise a credit note via eymanage.

For any refunds returned via the payment dashboard, there is a small fee of £0.35 per refund.

Tax-Free Childcare: For refunding TFC payments, you must follow HMRC rules: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sign-in-to-your-childcare-provider-account-for-tax-free-childcare

N.B. Please note that any refund of monies you have issued through the payment dashboard will still need to be recorded manually in eymanage. Our knowledge article explains how to do this - https://help.eyworks.co.uk/portal/en/kb/articles/creating-a-refund


Chargebacks

Unipaas reviews chargebacks daily. When a chargeback is received, the merchant is emailed with detailed information, including:
  1. Transaction details (date, amount)
  2. Payer details (email, name)
  3. Chargeback details (amount, due date to submit evidence, reason code)
Please note that you will be charged £15.00 per chargeback (non-refundable) and a representation fee of £15.00. 

Merchant options

If you have been notified about a chargeback, you have the following options:
  1. Resolve with the customer – The preferred approach is for you to contact the customer directly, resolve the issue, and request cancellation of the chargeback. 
  2. Defend the chargeback – If you choose to dispute the chargeback, Unipaas will guide you on providing appropriate supporting documents.

Chargeback disputes

If you decide to dispute a chargeback, you will have to go through the process of submitting evidence to the issuer for them to review.

Documentation submission and review

  1. You have 14 days to submit supporting evidence.
  2. If no defence is submitted within this period, you will automatically lose the dispute, and the issuer will release the funds to the payer.
  3. It is crucial to provide all required documents promptly and in the correct format.
  4. Once submitted, Unipaas forwards the evidence to the issuer for review.

Chargeback Resolution

After review, the issuer determines one of the following outcomes:
  1. Decision in favour of the merchant (funds returned)
  2. Decision in favour of the payer (funds retained by the customer)
  3. Pre-arbitration, request for additional information (further evidence needed)
Unipaas will promptly inform you of the final outcome.

Supporting examples

The required evidence depends on the chargeback reason. Common supporting documents include invoices, communication records between the merchant and the customer, proof of service delivery (such as what was ordered vs. what was provided), delivery confirmation and tracking numbers, order forms, and a history of previous transactions from the same customer that were not disputed.

For physical goods merchants, this may include an invoice detailing the product purchased, shipping details (including tracking number), refund history, and communication records with the customer. Digital goods merchants may need to provide invoices, proof of service usage (e.g., IP logs, internal data), social media postings confirming receipt of the service, and payment history for previous, undisputed transactions. Digital services merchants should provide signed service agreements (physical or electronic), invoices and documentation confirming service delivery, social media postings or other records proving service receipt, and IP logs or other digital proof of access.

Merchants are encouraged to maintain thorough records to improve their chances of successfully defending chargebacks.

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