You can manage accounts for any area of Arbor your school has set up to receive payments for. Here you can also make payments and top up accounts. For more information on making payments, see our articles on registering for a club and registering for a trip.
A note on transfers and refunds
It is not possible to request refunds or transfer funds in the Parent Portal. If you wish to move your balance after topping up, please contact your school's admin team and refer them to this guidance: Can we transfer payments between accounts?
Balances on the Parent Portal homepage
See the total outstanding funds across every child's account in a single figure in the payments panel on the home page.
If there are no outstanding funds for any of your children, the outstanding balance is £0, even if all accounts are in credit. This panel will not show a positive balance.
The Active Payments screen
Clicking on the balance
Click on the balance on the homepage to review how this is spread across accounts and payment items on the Active Payments screen (Payments > Active Payments).
Use the dropdown in the top right corner to focus the list on a specific child.
The list on this page shows:
- Any trips with an outstanding amount (e.g., if instalments have been set up for the trip and only 1 of the 3 instalments has been paid, leaving an outstanding balance for that trip).
- Any clubs with an amount outstanding (if club sessions are booked but not yet paid for).
- Any top-up or prepayment accounts (such as Meals or Wraparound care) with a negative balance.
- Any top-up or prepayment accounts (such as Meals or Wraparound care) with a positive balance.
The Payments Quick Action button
Select Payments from your Quick Actions to go to the Active Payments screen (Payments > Active Payments) for a specific child. Use the dropdown to switch between views.
Meals on the Active Payments screen
When looking at the meals account, clicking on a meal will load a slide-over with details of the lunches taken that day.
You can select a specific Term using the Term drop-down menu at the top-right of the page. And use the View dropdown to hone in on a single school week.
Topping up an account
To add funds to a top-up account (like meals or wraparound care), follow these steps.
- Go to the Active Payments page (Quick Actions > Payments)
- Make sure to check that you have selected the right child. Adjust the Student dropdown if not.
- Click on the account you want to top up (e.g. Meals).
- Click the green Top up account button in the top-right corner
- Complete the following details on the slide-over:
- Select the Bill payer
- Set a Payment amount (minimum £2)
- Leave an optional Narrative note to label the payment
- Click Pay now to move on to the checkout page or click Add to Basket to pay later.
Top Tip: Can't click the button? Follow this article: I can't click the button to pay?
The Stripe checkout page
Once you click Pay, you are automatically taken to a secure checkout page from Stripe.
If you have not used this page before, or you have not opted to use OneLink to save your payment details (see What is Onelink?), you will see the amount you are topping up and which student and account this applies to on the left and a panel to add your payment details on the right.
You have the option to use Apple Pay or Onelink to complete your payment by following the instructions on the pop-up.
Alternatively, you can enter your card details in the Payment method section and your email address in the Contact information section.
If you would like your details to be saved for next time, tick the Save my information for faster checkout box and enter your phone number.
Once you're ready to proceed, click Pay.
Paying with Onelink
If you have previously chosen to save your details with Onelink, you see a simplified version of the checkout screen with a single Pay button. Click this button to pay with Onelink or click Pay without Onelink to go to the standard payment screen where you can enter acrd details or choose Apple Pay.
You may be asked to provide a security code sent to your mobile number or email address when paying with Onelink. Yopu might also be asked to provide a billing address. Please follow the instuctions on screen to complete your payment.
Additional verification steps
After you lcick Pay, you may have to then authenticate your identity for the payment to go through. This is a requirement of the recently introduced Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) regulations.
If authentication is needed for the payment, you will be prompted to authenticate the payment using the method of authentication your bank supports. This could be:
- an SMS code,
- your mobile banking app
- another method
For example, here's what it may look like if you're using Monzo. (Please note, we are not affiliated with Monzo, this is purely an example)
Once we've been able to confirm your identity, the payment will be completed and your card will be charged. You'll see confirmation that the transaction has been successful.
The account balance will be updated to reflect the top-up right away.
The confirmation page
Once your payment is complete your taken to a confirmation page in Arbor. You are also sent an email confirmation to the default email address listed on your guardiann account (the email address you sign into the Parent Portal with).
Using the other payments pages
Use the menu on the left-hand side of the Active Payments page (Quick Actions > Payments) to see lists of Invoices, Top ups and Credit Notes.
Use the drop-down menus at the top-right of these pages to filter the lists.
- You can choose which child to focus on with the Student
- You can focus on a specific Account (like meals)
- You can select a specific Term
The Invoices page
The Invoices option on the left hand side loads a table with all invoices for the current term.
You will be able to see details of the invoices and the status of each invoice - whether they have been Cancelled or Paid.
The Top-Ups page
The Top-ups page on the parent portal will load the current terms' top-ups made for that particular student.
The page will show the type of top-up made, which can vary from Card (made by you or another Primary Guardian) to Cash or Cheque (logged by the school).
The Credit Notes page
The Credit Notes page on the parent portal will load a table with all the credit notes for the current term.
Comments
Article is closed for comments.