Manage a variety of existing payment methods
As you begin to using White Fuse you will probably need to import your existing contacts and help your members migrate to using the new software platform. Your current members may pay their subscription fees in a number of different ways.
We usually suggest that it is in your interests to encourage everyone to pay membership fees by Direct Debit. This will greatly reduce your admin and usually results in higher member retention as payments are collected automatically.
Here's what you can do depending on how people currently pay.
Paying via GoCardless
If your members currently pay by Direct Debit via GoCardless you can import the Direct Debit mandate into White Fuse without your members having to do anything. You will need to include the GoCardless mandate ID in your White Fuse contact import file. If you currently use the GoCardless Plans functionality to manage the renewal of subscriptions you may need to cancel these because this function will be dealt with by White Fuse instead.
Please get in touch if you need this and we will help guide you through the steps as part of our contact import service.
Paying via other Direct Debit
If your members currently pay by Direct Debit using a different payment gateway (e.g. SmartDebit, MoorePay, FastPay, etc) you can arrange a bulk transfer over to GoCardless without needing any manual actions from your members. To find out about this approach, contact GoCardless and they will guide you through the process. Once all Direct Debit mandates have been moved over to GoCardless you can import them to White Fuse as described above.
Paying via Credit or Debit card
If your members currently pay by Credit or Debit card on a recurring basis using a card payment gateway (e.g. PayPal, WorldPay, etc) you won't be able to import this information. You will need to ask your members to set up a new payment method via White Fuse, probably Direct Debit. Once your members set up a new Direct Debit you will need to remove them from your card billing system so they aren't double charged.
We have guidance on how to invite people to set up a Direct Debit in the related articles below.
Paying by standing order, bank transfer, cheque or other
If your members currently pay by standing order, bank transfer, cheque or some other manual method you can manage these payments using the Manual payment method in White Fuse. However, this will require you to manually record each payment in White Fuse so we recommend that you ask these members to set up a Direct Debit as an automated payment method as soon as possible.
What's the best strategy?
We recommend that you require all members to transition to paying by Direct Debit via GoCardless. This is how White Fuse is designed to be used and it is the method that causes you the least amount of admin in the long run. Allowing manual payments causes a lot of extra admin that is easily under-estimated.
If you are currently planning your transition process, we recommend that you take a forceful approach to move members over to Direct Debit. You may face opposition from some members but it will save you a lot of work in the long run.