Credits are an internal payment method for members to make bookings and purchase services, such as event tickets or shop products. Setting up a credit system allows you to:
Include credits in membership plans so members can book rooms and make other purchases.
Enable members to pay with credits instead of money for small transactions, avoiding commission fees.
Sell credit packages for fast, convenient bookings and payments.
Set up credits
Press the (...) menu next to the location name on the left-side panel > go to Location settings > Credits.
Turn on the "Credits" switch.
Enable "Discount" if you want all discounts in plans and subscriptions to apply to credit prices as well.
If you have multiple locations, set cross-location credit usage.
Set credit prices for all the resources and services you want customers to be able to pay for with credits.
Before setting prices in credits, define the monetary equivalent of 1 ☆ to maintain consistency. For example, 1 ☆ always equals $10. Then, if the room's price is $20 per hour, the credit price will be 2 ☆. This makes it easier to set credit prices alongside monetary ones for all resources and services and ensures fair pricing.
6. Set up plans with expiring credits or credit packages with permanent credits.
How credits work
There are two types of credits:
Expiring credits: Tied to membership plans; they expire and accrue when the subscription renews.
Permanent credits: Purchased via credit packages; do not expire and can be used indefinitely.
Only members can receive and use credits. Nonmembers and external users cannot use credits.
How members receive and use expiring credits
Once you've created plans with credits:
Users can sign up for a plan, or administrators create a subscription for them.
Users receive the number of credits their plan includes with each subscription renewal.
When making bookings or purchases, members see a "Personal credits" and "Company credits" payment methods at checkout, depending on whether they are an individual or company member.
For bookings within the current subscription period, event tickets, and shop products, credits are charged immediately at the time of booking or purchase.
Members can also make bookings for future periods. In this case, a scheduled credit transaction is created and charged when the relevant subscription period begins and the credit balance for that period accrues.
If their subscription is set to start on a future date, members can also book with scheduled credit transactions. They can begin making bookings with credits even before their subscription starts, but only for dates that go after their subscription start.
Unused credits expire when the subscription renews and the new balance accrues.
If the subscription ends or is canceled, the member's credits expire as well.
Users can use credits to make bookings for future dates beyond their active subscription cycle. To restrict how far in advance users can book, set the "Book ahead" property on the Locations settings > Rooms, Desks, Parking, and Equipment pages.
How members purchase and use credit packages
Once you've created credit packages:
Members can discover them on the Membership > Credits page.
When members and companies buy credit packages, they receive permanent credits to their balance immediately.
Members can use their permanent credits indefinitely as long as they remain members and are not removed from the location.
Credits used for canceled bookings or purchases are automatically refunded according to refund and rescheduling policies.
Track credit usage
To check the credit balance and spending:
Individual members go to the Membership > personal section > Credits page.
Company members and managers go to the Membership > company section > Credits page.
Administrators go to the Customers page > user or company profile > Credits page.
Administrators can manually give or charge both expiring and permanent credits to the customer here, if needed.
Administrators can also download the "Transactions > Credits" report from Analytics with filters for comprehensive insights.
Best practices
Give credits instead of a refund. If your users request a refund on the monetary transaction, suggest they accept the exact equivalent in permanent credits to keep on their balance. This way, you retain members and allow them to keep credits for future payments.
Sell credit packages to reduce the number of microtransactions and, as a result, save on payment gateway fees for credit card payments. Encourage members to buy credit packages and use credits for all bookings and purchases. To incentivize users, sell credit packages at a slightly lower price than the monetary value of that number of credits or give a discount on purchasing credit packages in members' subscriptions. This will encourage them to pay a reduced amount upfront.
FAQs
How do members pay when they run out of credits?
How do members pay when they run out of credits?
If a member runs out of credits, the app notifies them about it and prompts them to top up their balance by purchasing a credit package. Otherwise, the member makes a payment with money or another payment method.
What credits are spent first (expiring or permanent)?
What credits are spent first (expiring or permanent)?
If the user has permanent and expiring credits at the same time, the expiring credits are deducted first by the system.
Where can I set up the value of 1 credit in terms of money?
Where can I set up the value of 1 credit in terms of money?
Spacebring does not have a specific field to set the value of 1 credit. Instead, you can define the credit-to-monetary unit ratio with your team and consistently apply this rule when setting pricing for all resources. For example, you might decide that 1 ☆ equals 1 monetary unit or 1 ☆ equals 10 monetary units.
By maintaining this consistency, you ensure that customers cannot exploit the credit system. They will always pay the credit price equivalent to the price in money. As a result, if users choose to book more expensive services using their credits, they will run out of their credits faster and will be able to make fewer bookings or purchases, maintaining fairness.
Why didn’t a member receive credits or received fewer than expected?
Why didn’t a member receive credits or received fewer than expected?
If a member is missing credits or received fewer than expected with their subscription, check the following in their profile on the Customers page:
1. Subscription > "Items" > "Expiring credits"
The customer's subscription may not include credits. If the plan was updated recently, note that changes don’t apply to existing subscriptions—you need to update it manually.
Another administrator on your team might have mistakenly edited their credit allowance in the subscription.
The credit number may have been edited to the correct one after the customer's subscription renewed. In this case, the customer will get the new, bigger number of credits only starting the next subscription cycle. If you can see a bigger number of credits set in their subscription but they received fewer this month, it means that their subscription was edited after renewal and not before. Understand how changes to a subscription apply
2. Credits > Transactions in their profile
Check their recent credit accruals and spendings. The customer may have already spent their credits on bookings.
3. Correct email address
Make sure the member is logged in with the email tied to their subscription or their company’s subscription.
4. Subscription "Start date"
Credits are granted on the subscription start date. If the subscription starts in the future, credits will be added on that date.
4. Subscription "Current period"
If the member signed up mid-month and your billing cycle anchor is set to the "First day of the month" option, customers receive a prorated credit amount for the first cycle. Full credits and invoice will be issued on the 1st of the following month.
Can a member pay for a booking partially with credits and partially with money?
Can a member pay for a booking partially with credits and partially with money?
Each purchase requires a single payment method — either full credits or full monetary payment.
Instead of splitting a payment, members are encouraged to purchase extra credits with a credit package if their balance is not enough for making a purchase. This helps you upsell customers and allows users to top up their credit balance whenever they need.
Credit packages include permanent credits, which do not expire, so your users can safely purchase them and keep them on their balance to use when they run out of credits from their plan.