Enable online payments
How to let families pay tuition online. Request setup in the app, then complete the Stripe verification step that actually unlocks payments.
NestliCare collects tuition from families through Stripe, and you keep the money (NestliCare is free; Stripe takes its processing fee). Setting this up isn't self-serve: our team provisions your payment account for you, so there's no long onboarding form to fight through.
Where it lives
Go to Billing & Payments → Finances. The Online Payments card shows your current status.
Before your account is set up, the card reads Waiting for NestliCare to enable payments, and explains that our team will provision your Stripe payment account and notify you when onboarding is ready right here on this page.
How to get it turned on
- Go to Billing & Payments → Finances and click Request payments setup. The request goes straight to our team from inside your account, so there is nothing to email.
- Our team provisions your payment account.
- The Finances page then shows a verification step, run by Stripe. Complete it and you are live.
If you would rather write to us, [email protected] works too, but the button is faster and we can see exactly which organization is asking.
The verification step, and why it can stall
Provisioning is our part. Verification is Stripe's, and it is where setup most often stops.
Stripe has to confirm who is legally responsible for the account before it will move money. It asks for the business details, a bank account, and information about the person named as the account representative. That last part regularly includes:
- The representative's Social Security number (in the US).
- A photo ID for the representative, such as a driver's license or passport.
Stripe asks for the photo ID when the Social Security number alone does not give it a confident identity match. That is routine and does not mean anything is wrong with your business.
Nothing is charged and no family can pay until Stripe finishes this. Your organization can look completely set up on every other screen while this one item is outstanding.
The Finances page names whatever Stripe is still waiting on, so you never have to guess. If it lists an item, that item is on you. If it says Stripe is reviewing, it is on Stripe and there is nothing to do but wait.
When your first payout arrives
This is the question we get asked most, so here it is plainly.
Your first payout lands 7 to 14 days after your first parent payment. After that, payouts run automatically, roughly every two business days.
The delay is Stripe's, not ours. Stripe applies a hold to the first payout of every new business on its platform as a standard security step. It cannot be waived or sped up, by us or by you. The money is not lost or stuck; it is queued.
You get an email when your first parent payment comes in, telling you the same thing, so the wait is never a surprise.
Until payments are on
You can still do everything except take online payment:
- Create billing plans and invoices.
- Track what's owed on the Invoices page.
- Record payments you took in person (cash or check).
Families just won't see a Pay now button until online payments are enabled.
Get notified when a parent pays
Once payments are on, you don't have to keep checking the app. Every time a parent pays an invoice online (card or bank, including auto-pay), you get a push notification and a bell entry with the family, the amount, and the invoice number. Tap it to open that family's invoices.
It is on by default for owners, and for center admins who have been given Finances access; a center admin only hears about their own center's invoices. To turn it off, open your notification preferences from your profile and switch off Payments received.
Payments you record by hand (cash or check) don't notify anyone; you already know about those.
Who pays the processing fee
Once you're set up, you decide whether the small processing fee is added to the family's invoice or absorbed by your daycare. If you'd like it configured a particular way, mention it when you ask us to enable payments.
Troubleshooting
The card still says "waiting" after I asked. Provisioning takes a little time on our side. We email you when onboarding is ready; if it's been a while, reply to your original message to support.
My account exists but families still cannot pay. You are on the verification step, not waiting on us. Open Billing & Payments → Finances: the page lists exactly what Stripe still needs. It is most often the representative's Social Security number or a photo ID.
Stripe rejected my ID. Retake it with the physical document, laid flat in bright light, all four corners in frame, no glare. If it keeps failing, sign in at dashboard.stripe.com with the email on the account and contact Stripe support from there. They can see the precise reason for the rejection and we cannot.
I already have a Stripe account. Great, tell us when you reach out. We can connect your existing account so your payouts and bank details carry over.
My country is not offered at signup. Online payments depend on Stripe supporting payouts to businesses in your country, and we only offer signup where we can actually pay you. If your country is missing, that is why. You can still ask us; we add countries as support arrives.
Where is my money? If this is your first payout, see the section above: Stripe holds it 7 to 14 days after your first payment. If it is not your first, open Billing & Payments → Finances and check the payout list and your bank details.
I run several centers and want them paid into different bank accounts. That is possible, but it is not self-serve, and it is only worth doing when the centers are genuinely separate legal entities with separate banking. Message us and we will talk it through. If your centers are one legal entity, keep one account and use the center filters on Invoices and Reports instead.