Payments are given a Pending status while a One-click Payment transaction is being processed by the parent's bank.  During this period, the parent has committed to making the payment, but the funds have not yet been received into ParentPay or assigned to the school or caterer.

You can see the status of all transactions in the Payment item report found in Payment Items > Reports.

Once a bank has completed processing the request they will send ParentPay a notification indicating the status.  We will then update Pending status to either Paid or Failed.

What should I do with Pending payments?

We advise that items and services should be withheld until the payment has been successfully marked as Paid to avoid having to chase debt. 

Parents should be encouraged to plan ahead for meal balance top-ups to avoid going into debt. Once the initial setup is complete they can make use of the Auto Top-Up (ATU) feature to avoid this problem in the future.

While One-click payments typically take 1-3 days to process, the first transaction which involves setting up a Direct Debit mandate typically takes 3-6 working days. For this reason parents using this service must be mindful of spending more money than they have committed to spending. 

What should I do with Failed payments?

If a payment has been marked as Failed in the payment item report, the parent will have been notified by email and as a notification the next time they log in. They will be instructed that they will need to make the payment again. 
If they have had multiple payment failures via One Click Payments, that option will be disabled and they will need to use an alternate method supported by the school, such as a credit or debit card, or PayPoint.

You may also choose to highlight this with the parent using your preferred communication channel, indicating the consequence of the missing payment (Trip placement not being held, meal balance in arrears, etc.)

NOTE: If a parent wishes to know why the payment has failed they will need to contact their bank.