British Fencing announces upgrade to online payment system

British Fencing has announced an upgrade to the online payment system within its membership and events portal which will enable event organisers to directly receive entry fees.

Recognising the cashflow burden placed on event organisers that have to wait until after the event to receive entry fee income, payment processing will be improved. From early 2019, event organisers will no longer have to apply and wait for payment to be released after an event has taken place. Funds will be automatically released to the event organisers within 7-10 working days of payment being made by the customer. This will enable event organisers to manage cashflow and reduce the upfront financial burden of organising events. Accepting payment and issuing refunds will also be a simpler process with all payments tracked through the system.

Chloe Hobden, Event Manager for British Fencing says, “This move is great news for event organisers who have requested an easier way to manage event payments. In the past, they’ve had to pay for things like venue costs ahead of time, then wait until after the event to receive the entry fee income. Now, they’ll receive funds in a timely manner, be able to track payments and even issue refunds in a much simpler way.”

To accept payments after the upgrade, clubs and regions applying for a new event license will be prompted to set up an account with Stripe, the payment gateway provider used within the portal. The account will then be linked to their organisation within the British Fencing portal, a process which takes just a few minutes. In order to link to Stripe and accept event payments the user must be logged in as an admin of an organisation, as the option is not available to individuals.

The work to improve the payment features within the British Fencing portal has been carried out alongside the Governing Body’s technology partner, Sport:80. Jonny Turner, Chief Operating Officer at Sport:80 explained, “The improvements to the payment system will provide a secure and straight-forward means of allowing event organiser to collect entry fees. It is the first of a number of new features we are hoping to introduce in 2019 working with British Fencing.”

For further questions and information please contact British Fencing [email protected]

Read the FAQ below for more information about the switch to Stripe.

FAQs

What is Stripe?

Stripe is the online payment gateway that British Fencing uses within its membership and events portal to process payments. More information can be found at https://stripe.com/gb

When will the upgrade happen?

January 2nd, 2019

How will I be able to set my own Stripe account to collect payments?

When you license an event, you will be prompted to create an account. This will involve completing a short online form which takes just a few minutes.

I have an event running right now, will it be affected?

Current events at the time of upgrade will continue to run and will not be affected. Only new license applications after January 2nd, 2019 will trigger the prompt to set up a Stripe account.

Can I set up an event from my individual account?

No, only organisations such as clubs and regions can link a Stripe account and accept payments. If you are not an administrator for a club but would like to run your events through the system use the ‘add club’ feature from within your personal account to create an organisation that you can use to connect a Stripe account to. You will not be required purchase a club membership to do this.

Will I be able to issue refunds?

Yes, you will have access to an admin panel which displays all the payments you have collected. This will include the ability to make full or partial refunds, and because the system is aware of amounts taken, you can never refund too much money.

Will an entry be cancelled if I issue a refund?

Yes, if you refund an entry fee, the entry will be cancelled. Remember to refund all line items on a booking to ensure the individual is completely removed from all elements of the event.

How do I see payments?

You will be able to see all the payments processed in your Stripe admin panel which also offers the ability to generate payment reports with information on funds received.

How will payments show in my bank account?

You can choose how payments appear on your bank statement during the Stripe account set up process.

How much will it cost?

There will be no change to the fees and the event costs for accepting payment will remain the same.

Will British Fencing still need to approve event license applications?

Yes, the process for running an event won’t change. Events will still be approved by British Fencing but entry fees will now be processed and released directly to the organiser’s bank account.