Deposits and card payments for Canadian salons, Interac included
Ask for a deposit when a client books, charge a fee when she does not turn up, and take the balance at the counter — all in Canadian dollars, paid into a Stripe account in your own name. Slotora adds nothing to Stripe's fee, and it is honest about the two places Canadian payments behave differently: Interac and e-transfer.
Set up deposits in your 14-day trialThe ways money reaches you
Each one lands in your Stripe balance or in your own till; none of it passes through Slotora.
A deposit at booking
A percentage, a fixed amount or the whole price, set for the salon or treatment by treatment. The client pays by credit card or a debit card with a Visa or Mastercard logo, or with Apple Pay or Google Pay.
No-show and late-cancellation fees
When a deposit is paid, Stripe keeps the card and the client is told so before paying. If she misses the appointment or cancels inside your window, your fee is taken from it about an hour later, so a no-show marked by mistake can be undone first. Prefer to decide each time? Turn the automatic charge off.
The balance on the day
Open the booking and press Take payment. Show a QR code and she pays on her own phone, or use a Stripe card reader at the desk, which takes Interac debit as well as Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
Cash, your own terminal, a transfer
Money taken outside Stripe is recorded on the booking too — cash, a payment on the card machine you already have, or a bank transfer — so the day-end count is complete.
Interac, e-transfer and bank debit: what works and what does not
Most Canadian debit cards run on Interac, even when they carry a second logo. On a Stripe card reader at your desk, Slotora asks for Interac alongside the credit networks on every Canadian payment, so a debit card simply works. Interac contactless stops at C$250, and above C$100 the client inserts the card and enters her PIN; the reader asks for it. Interac does not work while a reader is offline.
Online is different. The deposit page offers card payment, Apple Pay and Google Pay; it has no Interac option. A client whose debit card carries only the Interac logo will need a credit card, or a debit card with a Visa or Mastercard logo, to pay a deposit online.
Refunds are where Interac surprises people. Stripe allows an Interac payment to be refunded only in person, with the same card presented to a reader — not online and not from the Stripe dashboard. So when you press Refund on an Interac payment, Slotora refuses and tells you why, in a plain sentence, instead of failing silently. Slotora cannot run that in-person reader refund for you yet; in practice the client is given cash back or credit for her next visit.
Two more things Slotora deliberately does not do. Guest checkouts never offer Canadian pre-authorized bank debit, because it confirms days later and the slot would be given away in the meantime. And an Interac e-transfer goes from the client's bank to yours without Slotora seeing it: if a client sends one, you record it on the booking as a bank transfer once it has arrived. Slotora does not match it, and it does not confirm or pay a deposit by itself.
Before you count on it
The limits, in the order owners usually meet them.
- Stripe's fees are not ours to lower
- Card payments are charged at Stripe's standard Canadian rates, paid by you to Stripe. On the day we checked: 2.9% + C$0.30 for a card online, 2.7% + C$0.05 for a card on a reader, C$0.15 for an Interac debit payment, and C$0.15 more per authorisation with Tap to Pay. Slotora adds 0%.
- Tap to Pay is not on by default
- Turning your phone into the card reader is switched on for Canadian salons one at a time, after it has been tested with Canadian cards. Ask us if you want it. Even then, an Interac tap above the PIN limit cannot be finished on a phone.
- No in-app Interac refund
- As above: an Interac payment cannot be returned from Slotora's Refund button. Plan for cash or credit when an Interac client needs her money back.
- You need a Stripe account in Canada
- Payments run on a Stripe account opened in your business's name, in Canadian dollars. Without one, clients can still book; they just pay you in the salon.
Turning payments on
It is optional, and nothing else in Slotora depends on it.
01
Connect Stripe
From the payments settings, open or connect a Stripe account in your business's name. Stripe asks for your identity and the bank account payouts go to.
02
Choose the deposit and the fees
Set the deposit for the whole salon or for the treatments that need one, then the no-show fee and the cancellation window clients agree to when they book.
03
Decide how the counter works
A QR code needs no hardware. If most clients pay by debit, a Stripe reader on the desk is what takes Interac.
Questions about payments in Canada
Does Slotora take a percentage of my card payments?
No. Stripe charges its own fee to your Stripe account; Slotora takes nothing from any payment, deposit or fee.
Can clients pay a deposit by Interac e-transfer?
Not through Slotora. The online deposit is a card payment. If a client sends you an e-transfer, record it on her booking as a bank transfer once it arrives.
Why can't I refund an Interac payment from the booking?
Because Stripe only refunds Interac with the original card presented to a reader. Slotora tells you that when you try; give the money back in cash or as credit for a future visit.
Are the amounts in Canadian dollars?
Yes. Deposits, fees and counter payments are charged in CAD, the currency of your Stripe account.
Is the no-show fee taken automatically?
By default, about an hour after you mark the no-show, so a mistaken click can be undone. You can switch the automatic charge off and press the button yourself instead.
Sources
Stripe's own pages, which set the Canadian rates and the Interac rules quoted here.
- Stripe — Pricing for Canada — https://stripe.com/en-ca/pricing · Read on
- Stripe — Terminal regional considerations: Canada (Interac payments and refunds) — https://docs.stripe.com/terminal/payments/regional?integration-country=CA · Read on
Protect next week's diary
Connect Stripe, set a deposit on the treatments people forget, and see the first one arrive in Canadian dollars.