Credits is an additional payment method for members to purchase different services, such as rooms, desks, event tickets, or shop products.
You can easily set both the monetary and credit prices for each service. We recommend setting equivalent prices in money and credits for each resource in the app. For example, 1 ☆ = 1 monetary unit.
How to enable credits
Go to Spacebring > press the (...) button next to the location name > Location Settings page > Credits.
Turn on the "Credits" switch.
Enable "Discount" if you want all discounts in plans and subscriptions to apply to credit prices as well.
Set prices in credits for the necessary services in your app, upon adding or editing them in Spacebring.
5. Proceed with setting plans with credits and credit packages as described below.
How credits work
Spacebring offers two types of credits: expiring and permanent.
Expiring credits
Users sign up for a plan with credits, or administrators create a subscription for them.
Users receive credits to their balance on the subscription start date or with the subscription renewal. They can use them for bookings or purchases during the subscription cycle. Unused credits expire at the end of the subscription cycle.
Important notes:
Users receive credits for their first subscription cycle only on the subscription start date. If their subscription is set to start on a future date, users need to wait until that date to receive and start using credits.
During the subscription cycle, 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 as preferred by going to Spacebring > Locations Settings > choose Rooms or Desks pages.
Users cannot use credits from their subsequent subscription cycle during the current cycle. They need to wait for the subscription renewal to receive new credits.
Permanent credits
Members and companies buy permanent credits with credit packages.
Users receive permanent credits immediately and can use them indefinitely as long as they remain members and are not removed from the location.
Administrators can manually give or charge both expiring and permanent credits.
Use Cases
There are multiple use cases for credit systems in your business. For example:
Use credits as a perk in plans. Give a specific number of expiring credits in plans as a virtual currency that members can use to book rooms, purchase shop products, and purchase event tickets, while external users pay with money.
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 your users 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.
Notes
The credits spent on certain services can be auto-refunded according to the refund and rescheduling policies.
Only members can get credits and use them as a payment method. Nonmembers and external users cannot use credits.
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 i. 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.