Card Payments Troubleshooting and FAQ

This article addresses common issues and FAQs related to card payments in Arbor, including accepted card types, payment visibility on the Parent Portal, account creation, price updates, refunds, and transaction fees. It also guides setting up various payment types within the system. Check the Payments FAQ section in our Help Centre here. 

What cards are accepted for card payments?

We accept Visa and MasterCard cards. American Express cards are not accepted.

Can we manage Gift Aid in Arbor?

No, Arbor does not have an in-built feature for managing Gift Aid. However, you can use donations or voluntary payments in Arbor instead.

What is the minimum amount accepted for card payments?

We set a minimum top-up amount to allow Arbor to offer schools a competitive transaction charge rate of 1.275% on all transactions.

The minimum amount for card payments we accept is:

• £1.00 for Clubs and Trips
• £1.00 for School Shop
• £2.00 for Meals and all other Customer Account Types

Can we issue card refunds for amounts less than £1.00?

It is possible to refund any amount under £1.00 for Clubs and Trips, but for all other Customer Account Types including Wraparound Care, School Shop, and Meals, the minimum refund amount by card is £1.00.

Alternatives for refunds under £1.00 include cash or cheque refunds where you would then pay the customer back via a means outside of Arbor, absorbing the cost, or implementing a no-refund policy for small amounts.

Can we delete or disable customer account types?

No, it is not possible for school staff to delete customer account types once they have been set up. We can only delete customer account types that have not received payments, so if you need an unused customer account type to be removed, please contact Arbor Support or your Support Partner if you are not supported directly by Arbor and provide the code 1025.

If we cannot delete the account due to there being payments attached to it, you can either rename it to state that it is no longer in use, or prevent it from displaying on the Parent Portal.

Do guardians receive a confirmation email for payments made?

An email is sent to the parent or guardian who made the top up to confirm when a payment has been made into a top-up type account: Payment accounts and topping up the meal account on the Parent Portal or Arbor App

Please note that they will not receive confirmation for booking/payment of these items:

• Trips
• Clubs
• Wraparound Care
• School Shop
• Rotating Meal Menus

However, they can see bookings in these areas on the Parent Portal and App, and see payment history within the Payments > Invoices section.

Can we offer discounts for payments?

Your school may offer reduced prices for paid items, for example, if the student has a sibling at the school.

• Meals - It is not possible to set discounts for custom groups of students. You can only specify different prices for Free School Meals (FSM) students and different year groups.
• Other Customer Account Types - When adding invoices, you need to just specify the amount to be deducted from the account, after any discounts are deducted.
• Trips - You can set up custom groups, one for each price point. When adding trip prices, you can then specify the price for each group.
• Clubs - You can see how to manage this here: Can I offer a reduced or discounted club prices?
• Wraparound Care - You will need to add the siblings to a custom group, then set an additional price for the Wraparound Care Club for this custom group by following step 4 here.

How do I write off or settle debt for leavers?

Guardians can only make payments for students until the end of the academic year that they were last enrolled in. Due to this, if you need to zero a debt balance for students who have left your school prior to the current academic year, then you will need to log the payment manually.

The best way to do this would be to create a credit note. For more information on adding an deleting credit notes, see our guidance here.

Can I change a user account type from guardian to staff for payments?

No, it is not possible to change any account type from guardian to staff or vice versa. If a staff member is also a guardian, they would need both a staff and guardian account in your Arbor site in order to access the school MIS for staff payments (e.g. staff meals) and the Parent Portal for any payments relating to their child. 

Can we take electronic payments in the school office?

No, it is not possible for school staff to take card payments form guardians. Staff can log cash or cheque payments, and they can manually sign students up to Clubs and Trips, but card payments must be actioned by guardians.

Can we issue refunds in bulk?

No, as a safety feature to prevent large sums of money from being redunded accidentally, it is not possible to process refunds in bulk for Clubs, Trips, or any other Customer Account Types in bulk.

Why is a payment not appearing on the Parent Portal?

Invoices will not show for purchases made on weekends or holidays. You would need to manually download and provide the invoice to the guardian if this is the case. If a payment is missing on a standard school day, please contact Arbor Support and reference code 1033 if you are supported by Arbor, or your Support Partner.

Why is there an extra £1.00 charge on the card bank statement?

When performing card payments, Stripe sends over a request to the issuing bank for either £0.00 or £1.00 authorisation to verify that the card issued and the bank will allow the payment to be authorised. Regardless or whether or not the authorisation is declined, Stripe reverses their authorisation request immediately.

However, even if the bank declines the authorisation, some people may still see an authorisation for £1.00 on their card statement.

This is not a charge, and it will disappear from the statement any time between a few minutes and a few weeks.

Can we refund leavers?

Yes, it is possible to refund leavers if any card payments were recorded. However, if payments have been made using any other payment method, then you would not be able to process these refunds through Arbor and would instead have to refund them externally. 

Can guardians pay using barcodes, such as PayPoint or PayZone?

No, it is not possible for guardians to make payments via barcodes. Payments can only be made via cash, card, cheque, or bank transfer.

A newly-created customer account type is not appearing as an available option

This often occurs when the tick box to create accounts for staff and/or students has not been ticked. To resolve this, follow these steps:

1. Go to School > Payments > Setup > Customer Account Types.
2. Click on the customer account type that is not appearing and click Edit.
3. Ensure that the Create Student Accounts and/ or the Create Staff Accounts box has been ticked.
4. Click Save Changes.

I have amended the prices on a trip but they have not updated

When you amend the prices on a trip, the price will not update until the invoices are refreshed by an Arbor Admin. If you require this, please contact the Arbor Support Team if you are supported by Arbor, or your Support Partner if you are not supported by Arbor.

A guardian has made a payment into the wrong customer account type or to the wrong student

You would need to create a cash refund for the value of the incorrect payment in the account it was made into, and then add a Credit Note for the value of the payment in the account where the payment should have been made to. Our guidance here provides a step-by-step guide for moving funds between accounts using this method.

My card payments are not verified

Card payment verification is a common issue that schools experience, and as such we have included the troubleshooting for this in our Card Payments Setup article.

How do I process a card refund when the payer's card has changed?

You would not be able to process a card refund to the payer if they are no longer using the card that they paid with. You would instead need to record a cash payment in Arbor with a narrative or note explaining that it is for a refund that is going to another card, and then process a payment to the payer outside of Arbor e.g. via BACS.

Can I send reminders out reminding users to top up their accounts?

Yes, this can be done by following these steps:

1. Go to School > Payments > Accounts > Balances.
2. Choose an account type such as Meals or Wraparound Care Club to see a list of all users and their balances.
3. If anyone has a negative balance, can tick the box next to their name, click Bulk Action and then select the options to follow up via email, SMS, or in-app messages.

I have created a customer account type but it is not appearing on the Parent Portal

When you create a customer account type, you need to make sure that the tick box to create accounts for students and/or staff have been ticked. To check this, follow these steps:

1. Go to School > Payments > Setup > Customer Account Types.
2. Click the account type and click Edit.
3. If these have not been ticked, tick the boxes you need and then click Save Changes.

Can we create and send out Payslips through Arbor?

No, it is not possible to create payslips through the Arbor MIS.

Can we report on past account balances?

No, it is not possible to report on past account balances as Arbor does not retain a raw value of an account balance on a certain date, only the current account balance. See our article on reviewing account balances here.

What is the transaction fee for card payments?

Arbor processes payments through stripe, and the transaction fee for payments is 1.275% + VAT, with no base fee per transaction. This fee is deducted from the money paid into your school's bank account.

It is not possible to switch off the transaction fee.

If I refund a payment, will the transaction fee be reimbursed?

Although refunds are free of charge, when performing the refund please remember that your school has already paid the fee of 1.275% + VAT for a corresponding card transaction. You will not be reimbursed for this fee.

Can we make school shop payments with cash, cheque, or bank transfer?

No, payments can only be made via card.

Parents can pay via the Parent Portal or Arbor App, or your school staff can make the card payment on behalf of the parent.

Are we able to set up monthly or timed payment instalments?

No, it is not possible to set up payment plans for payments to be taken on a monthly or timed basis.

• For Trips, you can set up the ability for it to be paid in instalments, but you cannot choose deadlines for when each instalment must be paid by.
• For Clubs, you can set up different periods to group payments together, such as to pay for a day or whole term at a time. Parents must pay the full amount at the point of purchase; they cannot part pay.
• For Breakfast Clubs, Meals, and other Top-Up account types, they need to have money paid in as needed. You cannot set deadlines for when these payments should be made.
• For School Shop items, parents must pay the full amount at the point of purchase; they cannot part pay.

Why can't I click the button to pay?

If you cannot click the Pay now button (if the button is greyed out) when making a payment or top-up, you will need to check your firewall settings.

This happens when Arbor's payment partner URL (https://js.stripe.com) is blocked on your network, so please whitelist this.

Can we limit or prevent debt for payment accounts?

You can choose whether guardians should be able to register for Wraparound care if this would bring their balance to or below £0.00. You can see how to do this in step 5 of this article.

For meals and other top-up type account balances:

• It isn't possible to prevent account balances from going below £0.00.
• It isn't possible to limit the amount of debt parents can accrue against the account to a certain number.

Is there a limit to the amount of Customer Account Types I can set up in our Arbor site?

No, there is no limit to the amount of Customer Account Types that can be set up in Arbor. 

I am unsure whether to set something up as a trip, club, school shop, meal, or another payment account

The table below details what area in Arbor you should set up a specific topic such as charity donations and school uniform items:

Topic	Set this up as a...	Further resources
Breakfast club	Wraparound care club	See how to do this here.
After school club	Wraparound care club	See how to do this here
Extended hours for Nursery students	Customer account type or School Shop	See how to do this here: Customer account type School Shop
Christmas lunch	Trip if you want parents to be able to book and/or pay for the meal through the Parent Portal or Parent App Meal if you would like teachers to be able to record the students' meal choices on the day	See how to do this here
Swimming	Club	See how to do this here
Tuck shop	School Shop	See how to do this here
Milk payments	Customer account type or School Shop	See how to do this here: Customer account type School Shop
Snacks	School Shop	See how to do this here
Residential e.g. Year 6 Kingswood	Trip	See how to do this here
Staff meals	Do not set up something new, use Meals	See how to do this here
Event tickets, such as for school plays	School Shop	See how to do this here
Pantomime	School Shop	See how to do this here
Nativity/Christmas play	School Shop	See how to do this here
Charity donations	Customer account type or School Shop	See how to do this here
Shop e.g. Stationary, Equipment, revision guides or packs	School Shop	See how to do this here
Uniform, Book Bags or PE Bags	School Shop	See how to do this here
Leaver's hoodies	School Shop	See how to do this here
Comic Relief	School Shop	See how to do this here
PTA (Parent Teacher Association)	Customer account type or School Shop	See how to do this here