Online Payments - Synergetic with Stripe Product Summary and FAQ v2

Owned by David Rogers
Last updated: Apr 09, 2024 by James Overell
7 min read

 

Date: 20/2/24

Table of Contents

Product Summary

Integrating Stripe’s leading payment platform with Synergetic gives schools access to seamless automated payments for one-off and recurring payments, greater financial data security, more payment options for parents and real time-savings through more efficient finance workflows.

With Stripe, schools no longer need to hold parent payment details. As a leading global payments provider, Stripe is a certified PCI (Payment Card Industry) Service Provider - Level 1 and offers leading fraud protection tools. Through integration with Synergetic, Stripe offers a broad range of options for parents to make payments via the Synergetic Community Portal (Portal) including credit cards and bank transfers, with more to come in future. Importantly, all payment options are through the single Stripe provider, with freedom for schools to choose their preferred bank.

With Stripe and Synergetic schools can accept payments for:

  1. School fees

  2. Ad Hoc payments - Trips, excursions, uniform, and other general ledger receipts

  3. Events – dinners, reunions

  4. Donations

  5. Online Applications

Through our Synergetic Stripe integration, the following features and benefits are enabled:

  1. Debtors can store payment methods safely in Stripe with no need to enter details each time a payment is made – and no need for schools to ever hold these details

  2. Recurring payments no longer require manual GL recording and receipts are generated automatically to Parents

  3. Live transaction status is available making reconciliation easier

  4. Other known associates (e.g., grandparents / personal assistants) can log on and make payments

  5. Non-family debtors can make donations, and pay invoices (e.g., hiring of school facilities)

  6. Parents can make payments when making an online application for their child(ren) to attend the school

  7. Debtors can nominate a preferred payment method for school administered Payment Plans

System Requirements

Listed below are initial requirements that need to be met. Please use this initial preparation guide to help you get ready.

Do you use the Synergetic Portal?

Yes: That’s great! Now would be a good time to start talking to your System Administrator about how parents can log in. Will parents share a log in or have separate logins?

No: You will need to install this product before you can receive payments via the portal

Is your Synergetic v71.12 or above?

Yes: This version and above includes functionality required for this product

No: You will need to schedule an upgrade to be able to use this product

Do you have an SSL (Secured Socket Layer) certificate for your Portal Site?

You will need one for encryption of data to keep banking and credit card details safely online. (i.e., the web address must be https://... Rather than http://...)

Have you subscribed to Synergetic eCommerce Receipting (Online Payments) using Stripe?

To set up Synergetic Online Payments using Stripe you will need to subscribe to eCommerce Receipting. This product is included in the Diamond Package but may be included as an add on for a Gold+ Package. You will also need to sign a separate Education Horizons/Stripe product agreement. This will provide you with access to the functionality and our agreed pricing.

Stripe Registration

You must register for an EH/Stripe account via a unique URL link (provided by Education Horizons) and enter a separate user agreement with Stripe directly. Please visit Synergetic Help and review the EHG Stripe Hosted Onboarding for Standard Connect for the information you will need to provide when opening your stripe account.

If you already have a Stripe account and use the same email address when registering via the Education Horizons link, your Stripe dashboard will display a consolidated view

Other Considerations

Do you have NAB (National Australia Bank) Transact enabled?

Stripe can exist alongside existing NAB Transact payment methods. Once Stripe is enabled any new payment methods recorded on the Community Portal will be Stripe records.

It is fair to say that whilst we have no plans to stop supporting customers who use the NAB Transact payment gateway, the Stripe solution is more modern and flexible in its design and will be in the market long after NAB Transact has been deprecated. From our previous dealings with NAB, it is clear they have been working on replacing NAB Transact, however that project has been continually delayed, which is one of the reasons we opened discussions about a long-term option for schools through Stripe.

Do you have existing Automatic Payments?

A key advantage of using online payments with Stripe is the automation of the direct debit process. The SQL job Synergetic Scheduled Payments will draw data from Debtor Automatic Payments records linked to a Stripe payment method and send the data to Stripe for processing. Synergetic will poll Stripe for the results and once those payments are approved the payment will appear in Cash Receipts Entry, on the Debtor Ledger, on the Finance tab in the Portal and in the GL.

This process means the Accounts Receivable role can focus on following up declined payments rather than manually processing files, uploading them to the bank and reversing unsuccessful payments.

Do you have a Test Portal?

Ideally you have a test portal to do enough testing before implementing in your Production/Live environment. Once you have an EH/Stripe account we can create a test Stripe account for you.

Does your school want to use the Payment Plans functionality through the Portal?

Enhancements to Payment Plans in Synergetic mean these can be published with fully charged fees and are available year-round. When a parent visits the payment plan page the portal will calculate the number and value of the payment instalments (for each available frequency) to ensure accounts are fully paid by the payment instalment stop date.

Does your school already use the Payment Plans functionality through the Portal?

Since v70.20 payment plans can be made available year-round in Synergetic using fully charged fees and/or instalment charged fees. With our Stripe integration, payment plan selection will update the automatic payments record and the Schedule Payments job will pick up the automatic processing.

Which payment methods will be offered?

Stripe integration offers payment methods of Mastercard, Visa, Amex, and bank transfer. Future releases will include other options. Stripe does not support Diners Club.

Do you already have Online Payments via NAB Transact?

Once Stripe is configured, NAB Transact payment methods will no longer appear on the Portal for your parents. New payment methods will default to Stripe.

The Managed Stored Cards page will look slightly different because of the different payment options now available via Stripe but the process is still the same. Stripe validates the Credit Card and/or the Bank Account details entered via the portal at the time of entry.

In Synergetic both Stripe and NAB Transact records will show under the Online Payments tab. If a Stripe online payment record exists, the scheduled payments job will take care of the direct debit processing. If the online payment record is NAB Transact only the user will need to continue processing direct debits via Electronic Banking.

FAQs

Q: Do we need to have the Synergetic Portal to deploy Online Payments?

A: Yes, your school will be required to install the Synergetic Portal.

Q: Who can see the payment details saved on the Portal?

A: Payment details saved on the Managed Stored Cards page are linked to the user logged in. Once a payment method is saved, only abbreviated details are displayed on the portal and in Synergetic.

Q: Do I have to change banks?

A: No. Stripe delivers more payment options for parents via the Portal - including credit card and bank transfers (with more to come in future) – through a single payment provider that works seamlessly with your school’s preferred bank.

Q: Can a debtor have multiple payment plans?

A: It is possible for a debtor to have multiple payment plans if you are using sub-ledgers. The debtor may have an Automatic Payments record for each sub ledger account.

Q: How does a grandparent log on and make an account payment?

A: They would need to be:

  1. A community member with a Portal logon and password

  2. Set up as a debtor statement recipient

Once these steps are done, they will be able to log on and make payments

Q: What error checking does Stripe provide in relation to credit card or bank account details?

A: Stripe validates credit card and bank account details as they are entered onto the portal.

Q: Will Stripe accept a payment if there are insufficient funds?

A: No, the payment will be declined. Credit Card payments will be declined immediately. Bank account payments can take 1-3 days to clear, during this time the payment will have a pending status. The payment will be declined if it does not clear. Pending payments will not show as a receipt on the Portal or in Debtor Maintenance.

Q: After a payment is made, are debtor account balances updated instantly?

A: Credit card payments will take a few minutes. Bank account payments can take 1-3 days to clear, during this time the payment will have a pending status and not show as a receipt on the Portal or in Debtor Maintenance.

Q: How can I track online payments?

A: The Online Receipts Report (DEBRCPTOLLIST) lists all online receipts including in process, approved, and declined payments. Once a payment is approved the report will update and the receipt will populate on the Portal, in Cash Receipts Entry and Debtor Maintenance.

Q: What happens if a pending payment is declined?

A: No receipt is created. The Online Receipts Report (DEBRCPTOLLIST) will show an Error record and reason for the payment being declined.

Q: Can I have multiple merchant ID’s that link to different bank accounts/Synergetic databases?

A: At this time, each Synergetic instance can have a single Stripe account which will pay out to a single bank account.

Q: Can I select when Payment Plans / General Ledger items / Events appear on the Portal?

A: Yes, the dates for each of these items to appear are configurable by the user.

Q: Do donations interact with pledges?

A: Not at this stage, however you can nominate for a notification email to be sent to your relevant staff whenever a donation is made.

Ready to go ahead…

If you are a Synergetic supported user, please log onto the Synergetic Help Portal and raise a case to implement Stripe for Online Payments. Our Professional Services Coordinator will work with you and your CSM (Client Success Manager) to provide the next steps in the process.

Alternatively, you can reach out to your CSM at customersuccess@educationhorizons.com to discuss how to move forward with your Synergetic / Stripe integration.