Hi Rhidima,
One huge issue we've encountered with payments in Cvent is that there is no way to do bulk refunds, such as selecting a group of attendees and having the system reimburse them. So when one of our event went virtual unexpectedly, going from a paid event to a free event, we had no other choice than to cancel the original event, and reimport all of our attendees into a new event. The only solution Cvent had offered to stay in the same event build would have been to ask each of our attendees to go back into their registration and modify it themselves from a paid admission item to a free one. This really wasn't practical for us to ask 500+ of our attendees to do this, especially since they are often registered by an admin.
Cheers,
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Béline FALZON
Conference Program Specialist II
California Teachers Association
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-16-2022 12:42
From: Ridhima Krishan
Subject: Quick hacks to effortlessly manage online transactions for your events
Hey Community Champions! Let's kickstart this week's Tip of the Week discussion!
Some might say managing online payments can be a hassle. But, at Cvent, we have a solution for your event management needs including an online payment process. So, let's jump on to understanding some great ways of making the online payment process super smooth for both the planners and the audience!
- Start by managing your payment methods!
- If you are collecting any fees, the Payment Widget must appear on the Payment page of registration. Ensure all of your payment methods are set up properly for your event by referencing these steps.
- How to refund a transaction?
- Issue online refunds fast by sending the money back on the same road it arrived. Reversing previous transactions is more secure than refunding to a new, and often unknown, credit card. Since the refund will link to the original payment record, it keeps your books tidier as well. If you refunded the registrant another way already, simply record it.
- It's also possible to submit refund to a different credit card!
- This will depend on your merchant account. Cvent Payment Services, Stripe, Moneris eSelect Plus, and all HOP gateways do not have this option. Instead, you'll need to settle the refund outside of Cvent and record it as an offline refund.
- For other merchant accounts, begin by contacting your provider to have this setting enabled. Then, to submit a refund to a new card in Cvent, submit a case to our eCommerce team and include written authorization for them to temporarily turn it on. For security purposes, this setting can only be enabled for a maximum of 48 hours. Follow these steps to submit the refund, select New Card, and enter the new credit card details.
- Set up partial payments to offer more convenience to the attendees!
- Enabling partial payments gives your invitees the choice of paying the amount due in two or more instalments. During registration, this option only appears when registrants are paying online by credit card. They can settle the remaining balance later by logging into the event website with their confirmation numbers. When using partial payments, refunds will not be automated. This feature cannot be used with Registration Approval.
- How to refund an item that wasn't automatically refunded?
- It's quite possible to get in a situation where you unregistered someone only to hear they never got their money back. What happened? You could have forgotten to set up a refund policy or adjust the order. No matter the reason, you can refund an item after cancellation by following these steps.
- Don't forget to record offline payments!
- If you'll be receiving offline compensation (be it in the form of cash, checks, or anything else), you will need to record these payments in Cvent to keep your accounts accurate. But for payments made online, Cvent will automatically track these payments for you.
Questions for you:
- What challenges did you face before you started using Cvent's online payment features?
- How has this feature helped you improve your event management process?
Looking to stay up-to-date with the latest product innovations? Watch our Quarterly Product Update webinar to hear about the recent enhancements to the Cvent product suite and more! Register Today!
Share your expert thoughts below with your fellow peers in the community!
#CventTip
#ManagingVirtualEvents
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Ridhima Krishan
Sr. Associate, Customer Marketing
Cvent
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