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Client Account Credit System

  • Credits act as a virtual currency, allowing your clients to pay for classes.
  • While credits can also be used for course and workshop payments, they're primarily used for reserving individual classes.
  • When making a reservation, the class's price (e.g., 170 credits) gets deducted from the client's credit account.

Advantages of the Credit System​

Simple for Both You and Your Clients
  • Payments are always made in advance.
  • Credits are automatically deducted upon reservation.
  • Cancellation fees are transparent and fair.
  • Supports automatic registration from the waiting list.

1) Clients Can Purchase Credits in Advance​

... allowing them to book without reaching for their credit card or transferring money between banks.

2) You Receive Payments in Advance​

Every booking is automatically prepaid.

3) The Limited Validity of Credits Encourages Their Use​

4) Automatic Registration from the Waiting List​

  • If you've enabled automatic registration from the waiting list, clients will be automatically registered for classes using their credits.
  • The requisite credits are temporarily reserved.
  • If a spot in the class doesn't open up, the credits are automatically released back to the client's account.
  • This feature is available in Settings > Class booking. settings enable waitlist

5) Transparent and Fair Cancellation Fees​

  • Canceled bookings result in an immediate credit refund.
  • If a client cancels within your defined penalty period (e.g., 4 hours before class), they'll only receive a fraction of their credits back.
  • Unlike credit card transactions, there are no fees for refunding credits. Refer to How Zenamu minimizes fees from canceled bookings.
  • And unlike bank transfers, all refunds are automatic; there's no need to manually move money between accounts.

6) Marketing Opportunities​

  • Offer discounted credit bundles or give better rates for credit payments. For instance, offer 100 credits that are valid for 6 months for only 90 EUR. This essentially gives your clients a "free" class worth 10 EUR.
  • Another approach is to combine credit and cash payments, pricing credits below the cash rate. This effectively compensates for card payment fees.

Setting up the Credit System​

How to Set Up Credits?​

  1. Go to Settings > Bundles > Add

Settings credit system - reservation system Zenamu

  1. Input the necessary details:
  • Type of bundle: client account credit
  • Number of credits
  • Price (set a price below the credit number to show the discount clients will receive)
  • Description/title
  • Validity period from purchase date

Adding credits in the system - Zenamu booking system

  1. The credit bundles will now be visible on your public schedule.

Credits and bundles - schedule

How to Set Cancellation Policies for Credits?​

With the credit system, cancellation policies are straightforward. If clients cancel with sufficient notice, credits are returned to their Zenamu account. This spares you the hassle of issuing refunds or incurring fees from payment gateways. For more details, check information about Stripe payment gateway fees.

For instance, if a client cancels a reservation 5 hours before the class, they get 50% of their credits back.

To set this up, define your cancellation policies in Zenamu. These will be automatically shown in the Rules and Conditions section of your public schedule. Clients will be made aware of these terms in advance.

Cancellation policies on the public schedule - Zenamu reservation system

How are credits adjusted after cancellations?

Clients receive a proportional credit refund based on your cancellation policy's terms. The refunded amount, represented as a percentage, is always rounded up in favor of the client (e.g., a class costing 101 credits with a 50% cancellation fee will return 51 credits).

How to Accept Payments Solely in the Form of Credits?​

  • Navigate to Settings > Bundles > Payments for classes

Payment methods with credits and bundles only

When creating a new class, course, or workshop, credits become the exclusive payment method (unless you also offer ticket payments).

How Can Your Clients Purchase Credits?​

  1. Through cashless payments in the system.
  2. Via in-person cash payments.

Cashless Payments​

To allow clients to buy credits directly within the reservation system (found in the Bundles section), you'll need to activate at least one electronic payment method: either credit card payment or bank transfer. Instructions for these setups can be found in the Set up Card Payments and Bank Transfer Payment Settings guides.

Clients Must Have a User Account in the Reservation System

To purchase and utilize credits, clients need a user account in the reservation system. Without it, the system won't be able to manage or refund credits.

Managing Client Account Credits​

Manage credits from the client's detail page. Here, you can add credits by either allocating pre-existing bundles or manually entering an amount.

Client profile - credits

You can also deduct credits from client accounts. However, always be transparent. Clients should always know when and why their credits are being adjusted.

When a Client Forgets to Book

Sometimes, a client might attend a class without a reservation. In such cases, manually add them to the class and choose "credits" as the payment mode. Their account will automatically be debited. Add a client directly from your schedule using "Add Participant."

Payment using studio credits

Understanding Credit Validity Periods​

Credits remain in client accounts even after their validity period. However, these credits are deactivated and can't be used. When clients buy new credits, any old, unused credits are added to the new batch, incentivizing them to spend rather than hoard them. This also ensures clients don't feel penalized for buying more credits.