Payments & Platform Fee Terms

These Payments & Platform Fee Terms (“Payment Terms”) explain how payments collected through memberbeam work and how our Platform Fees apply. They form part of our Terms of Service. Capitalized terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms.

1. Summary

Your Organization connects its own Stripe account, and optionally a GoCardless account, to collect payments.
Your Organization is the merchant of record. Money goes from your payers to your Stripe or GoCardless account, not through memberbeam.
memberbeam charges a Platform Fee on fee-bearing payments, at a rate set by your Plan and capped at US$25 per transaction.
Donations and manually recorded offline payments carry no Platform Fee.
Payment processing fees are charged separately by Stripe or GoCardless.
Your Platform Fee rate is covered by our 36-month price lock.

2. How payments flow

2.1 Connecting a payment account

To accept online payments, you connect a Stripe account to memberbeam through Stripe Connect. You can create a new Stripe account during setup or connect an existing one. When you do, you agree to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement and the Stripe Services Agreement.

Stripe will ask for information to verify your Organization and the people who control it. Stripe decides whether to approve your account, which payment methods are available to you, and whether to place holds, reserves, or limits on your account.

2.2 The payment journey

When a Member or other payer pays you through memberbeam, for example by paying dues on your member portal, buying a ticket, or tapping a card on an organizer device using Tap to Pay:

The payer enters their payment details in a secure form provided by Stripe (or GoCardless, for direct debit). memberbeam does not see or store full card or bank account numbers.
The payment is created on your connected Stripe account, in your Organization’s name.
Stripe deducts its processing fees and, where applicable, the memberbeam Platform Fee, which is collected as a Stripe application fee.
The remaining balance is held in your Stripe account and paid out to your bank account on your Stripe payout schedule.

2.3 Merchant of record

For every payment you collect through memberbeam, your Organization is the merchant of record and the seller or recipient of the funds. This means:

the payer’s statement shows your Organization’s name, as configured in Stripe;
your contract for the membership, ticket, product, or donation is between your Organization and the payer;
you are responsible for fulfilling what you sell, for your refund and cancellation policies, and for customer service to your payers; and
memberbeam is not a party to the transaction, is not a payment processor, money transmitter, or escrow agent, and never holds your funds.

3. Platform Fees

3.1 Fee rates

memberbeam charges a Platform Fee on each fee-bearing payment. The rate depends on your Plan at the time of the payment:

Plan	Platform Fee rate	Maximum Platform Fee per transaction
Free	3%	US$25
Community	2%	US$25
Growth	1%	US$25
Pro	0.5%	US$25

The cap applies on every Plan. For transactions in currencies other than US dollars, the cap is the equivalent of US$25 in the transaction currency, converted at the exchange rate we apply on the date of the transaction. We publish the cap amount for each supported currency in the Service.

Platform Fees are in addition to your Subscription Fee and any Usage Fees. Where applicable, taxes on Platform Fees are charged as described in the Terms.

3.2 How the fee is calculated

The Platform Fee is calculated as a percentage of the amount of the fee-bearing payment, before any processing fees are deducted, and is rounded to the nearest minor currency unit (for example, the nearest cent).
The fee is then limited to the per-transaction cap.
A “transaction” means a single successful payment charged to a payer. Each installment of a payment plan, and each recurring renewal, is a separate transaction.
If a single checkout includes both fee-bearing items and donations, the Platform Fee applies only to the fee-bearing portion.
If you choose to pass fees on to payers (see Section 5), the Platform Fee is calculated on the amount before those fees are added.

Example. A member on the Growth Plan pays US$120 in annual dues. The Platform Fee is 1% of US$120, which is US$1.20. Stripe’s processing fees are charged separately. On a US$4,000 sponsorship package processed on the same Plan, 1% would be US$40, so the cap applies and the Platform Fee is US$25.

3.3 What is fee-bearing

Platform Fees apply to payments processed through memberbeam, including:

membership dues, joining fees, and renewals;
event tickets and registration fees;
payments for products, merchandise, sponsorships, and add-ons;
invoice payments and other payment requests sent through memberbeam;
in-person card payments taken through memberbeam using Tap to Pay; and
direct debit payments collected through GoCardless.

3.4 What is not fee-bearing

No Platform Fee is charged on:

Donations. Payments that are designated as donations in memberbeam, whether standalone or included in a checkout alongside other items. Donation features must be used only for genuine voluntary gifts; see Section 3.5.
Offline payments. Cash, checks, bank transfers, and other payments that you receive outside memberbeam and record manually.
Free registrations. Zero-value orders, such as free event tickets or free membership levels.
Your memberbeam subscription. Subscription Fees and Usage Fees paid to memberbeam.

3.5 Correct classification

You must classify payments accurately. Labeling dues, tickets, or other payments for goods or services as donations, or recording online payments as offline payments, to avoid Platform Fees is a breach of the Terms and the Acceptable Use Policy. If we find that payments were misclassified, we may invoice the Platform Fees that should have applied.

3.6 Collection

Platform Fees are collected automatically at the time of each payment, as a Stripe application fee deducted from the payment, or as a GoCardless app fee for direct debit payments. If a Platform Fee cannot be collected this way, for example because of a payment provider limitation, we may invoice it or charge it to the payment method on file for your subscription.

4. Refunds, disputes, and chargebacks

4.1 Refunds to payers

You decide your own refund policy and are responsible for issuing refunds. You can issue full or partial refunds from memberbeam or from your Stripe or GoCardless dashboard. Refunds are paid from your payment account balance. If your balance is not sufficient, your payment provider may debit your bank account or take other steps under its terms.

4.2 Platform Fees on refunded payments

Platform Fees are generally non-refundable. However, if you refund a fee-bearing payment, in full or in part, within 30 days of the original payment date, we will refund the corresponding proportion of the Platform Fee. For example, if you refund half of a payment within 30 days, we refund half of its Platform Fee. Where the fee was capped, we refund the same proportion of the capped fee.

If you issue a refund more than 30 days after the original payment, the Platform Fee is not refunded.

Platform Fee refunds are made automatically through Stripe when the refund is issued through memberbeam. If you issue a refund directly in your Stripe or GoCardless dashboard, contact support@memberbeam.com within 60 days of the refund so we can apply the adjustment.

Payment processing fees are set by Stripe and GoCardless, and whether they are returned on a refund is governed by their terms.

4.3 Disputes and chargebacks

If a payer disputes a payment with their bank or card issuer, the dispute is between your Organization, the payer, and your payment provider. You are responsible for responding to disputes, providing evidence, and paying any disputed amounts, dispute fees, and fines charged by your payment provider.

memberbeam can provide records from the Service, such as registration details, check-in records, signed waivers, and email receipts, to help you respond. Platform Fees are not refunded on payments that are disputed or charged back, unless you refund the payment within 30 days of the original payment as described in Section 4.2.

4.4 Recovering amounts

If a payment provider requires memberbeam, as the platform, to cover a negative balance, refund, dispute, or fine on your account, you agree to reimburse memberbeam for that amount, and we may recover it from future Platform Fee collections, from your payment method on file, or by invoice.

5. Passing fees to payers

The Service lets you choose to pass the Platform Fee, processing fees, or both to the payer, for example by adding a “processing fee” line at checkout or by giving payers the option to cover fees.

If you use this option, you are responsible for:

making sure it is lawful for your Organization, the type of payment, and the payer’s location. Some jurisdictions and card networks limit or prohibit surcharges, particularly on card payments, or require specific disclosures;
clearly disclosing the fee amount to payers before they pay; and
describing the fee accurately, for example on receipts and in tax receipts for donations.

The amount added does not change how we calculate the Platform Fee, which is based on the amount before fees are added, as described in Section 3.2.

6. Payouts

Payouts to your bank account are made by Stripe or GoCardless, on the schedule and subject to the terms of your account with them. memberbeam does not control payout timing, holds, reserves, or the currencies available to you, and is not responsible for delays or holds imposed by your payment provider.

memberbeam displays payment and payout information from your payment provider for convenience. Your payment provider’s records are authoritative.

7. GoCardless direct debit

If you connect a GoCardless account to collect direct debit payments:

you agree to GoCardless’s terms and the rules of the relevant direct debit schemes, such as Bacs in the UK, SEPA in the EU, BECS in Australia, and ACH in the US;
you are responsible for obtaining valid mandates from payers and for providing advance notice of payments as required by scheme rules;
direct debit payments can be reversed by payers under scheme rules, including indemnity claims made after the payment, and you are responsible for any reversed amounts; and
Platform Fees apply to direct debit payments as described in Section 3.

8. Taxes

You are responsible for determining, collecting, reporting, and paying any taxes on payments you receive, such as sales tax, VAT, or GST on dues, tickets, or products, and for any information reporting obligations that apply to you.

The Service may include tools to help you, such as tax settings, tax receipts for donations, and accounting sync with QuickBooks Online or Xero. These are tools only, and memberbeam does not provide tax advice. You are responsible for confirming that tax settings, receipts, and records meet the requirements that apply to your Organization.

Your payment provider may issue tax forms to you, such as Form 1099-K in the US, under its own obligations.

Platform Fees are exclusive of taxes. Where we are required to charge tax on Platform Fees, we will do so and show it on your invoices or statements.

9. Fee statements and records

You can view the Platform Fees charged on each payment in memberbeam and in your Stripe dashboard. We provide monthly statements summarizing Platform Fees charged and refunded. If you believe a Platform Fee was charged in error, contact support@memberbeam.com within 60 days of the payment.

10. Changes to Platform Fees

Your Platform Fee rate is covered by the price lock in Section 5.4 of the Terms:

while your subscription remains active on the same Plan, your Platform Fee rate will not increase for at least 36 months from the date your subscription to that Plan began; and
after that period, we will give you at least 90 days’ written notice before any increase takes effect, and you may cancel before then if you do not agree.

If you change Plans, the Platform Fee rate for your new Plan applies to payments processed after the change, and a new price lock period begins.

Reductions in Platform Fee rates, and increases in the per-transaction cap, may take effect at any time. Payment processing fees are set by Stripe and GoCardless and are not covered by the price lock.

11. Account issues

If your Stripe or GoCardless account is restricted, suspended, or closed by the provider, you may be unable to accept payments through memberbeam until the issue is resolved. memberbeam cannot override a payment provider’s decisions, but we will help where we can.

If we suspend or terminate your Account under the Terms, we may disconnect your payment account from memberbeam. Your payment account itself remains yours, and any funds in it remain subject to your agreement with your payment provider.

12. Contact

For questions about payments or Platform Fees, contact support@memberbeam.com.