Moving Your BJJ Gym's Members Off PaySmart

PaySmart is a direct debit billing service that collects fees for gyms, fitness clubs, schools, child care and personal trainers. For a lot of Australian academies it has been the quiet back office for years: members sign a PaySmart agreement at the desk, PaySmart collects every week or fortnight, and the gym gets paid.

That arrangement is exactly what makes leaving feel hard. Your members don't just pay through PaySmart. Many of them deal with PaySmart directly. This guide covers what's different about moving off PaySmart, and how to do it without a gap in revenue or a double charge.

If you're also changing gym software, read switching BJJ gym software without losing belt history alongside this. It covers the data side. This one is about the money.

How PaySmart differs from other providers

With most direct debit set-ups, the gym is the member's only contact. PaySmart works differently. Members who want to change their bank details or cancel are pointed to PaySmart's own customer service team, which then sends a cancellation request on to the business.

That has three consequences for a switch:

• Members are used to calling PaySmart, not you. When you announce a change, some will ring PaySmart to ask what's going on. Tell your members first, and tell PaySmart your plan before your members do.
• Each member's agreement has to be ended. Moving a member to a new system doesn't end their PaySmart agreement. Until it's cancelled, PaySmart keeps collecting.
• Agreement terms carry over. If members signed minimum terms or contracts through PaySmart, those terms don't disappear because you changed provider. Decide up front whether you honour, waive or transfer them.

What happens to a member's direct debit

A member's direct debit is an authority they gave to the biller named on their Direct Debit Request, and with PaySmart that's PaySmart. It doesn't move with you.

Stripe does let a business create BECS payment methods from bank details it already holds, without a fresh authority, if members get at least 30 days' notice before the first Stripe debit and a copy of Stripe's direct debit service agreement. That only helps if PaySmart releases the bank details to you. Ask them in writing, early. Most gyms end up asking members to sign again, so plan for that and treat a transfer as a bonus.

Week one: before members hear anything

1. Read your PaySmart agreement. Find the notice period, any fees for ending it, and what happens to member agreements still running when you leave.
2. Get a full export. Every member, their payment schedule, their next debit date, and any amount owed. Ask for the payment history as well and keep it for your records.
3. List every member in arrears. PaySmart may be chasing some of them for you today. Agree with PaySmart who collects what's outstanding after you leave, in writing, before you start.
4. List every member on a minimum term. Decide what happens to their remaining term on the new system, and write it down so the front desk gives one answer.
5. Agree the cancellation process with PaySmart. Ask how they want to receive cancellations for members who move: one by one as members sign, or a single list on your cutover date.

Timing: one billing system per period

PaySmart members usually pay weekly or fortnightly, often on different days. That makes the cutover the part to plan most carefully.

The two failures are a gap, where PaySmart stops before the new debits start, and an overlap, where both collect for the same week. An overlap is worse: members see two debits, ring PaySmart, ring you, and the refunds take days.

What works for weekly and fortnightly billing:

• Give each member a short free period on the new plan that runs until their paid PaySmart period ends. In Combat Control, a plan can carry free days before its first charge, so a "Switching from PaySmart" plan with one or two weeks free covers the overlap.
• Cancel each member's PaySmart agreement as they sign, through the process you agreed with PaySmart, so their last PaySmart debit is the one already paid for.
• Change the billing rhythm now if you're going to. A switch is the one moment members accept it. If weekly debits cost you in dishonours, move to fortnightly or monthly. Say so plainly, and show the new price next to the weekly one so members can see it's the same membership.

Getting members to sign again

Members who've paid through PaySmart for years have never had to think about it. The ask has to be short, specific and easy.

• Use your join link. One link, one form, card or bank account.
• Do it at the desk. A tablet at reception during the first week beats any email.
• Ring the stragglers. After five days, a short call fixes most of them.
• Set a date and hold it. Members finish things that have a deadline.

What to tell members

Hi {first name},

We're changing how memberships are paid at {gym}. Your membership, price and classes don't change.

Please set up your payment on our new system with this link before {date}: {link}. It takes about two minutes, and you can pay by bank account or card.

Once you've signed up, we'll cancel your PaySmart agreement for you, and your last PaySmart payment will be on {date}. You won't be charged twice. You don't need to call PaySmart.

Any questions, reply here or ask us at the desk.

The line "you don't need to call PaySmart" saves you and PaySmart a lot of confused phone calls.

Moving to Combat Control

Combat Control runs member payments through Stripe, with card and BECS direct debit on the same form. Money settles to your own Stripe account, and we never hold it.

1. Connect Stripe from your gym settings.
2. Import your members from a CSV: name, email, phone and current belt. Check stripes and promotion dates with your coaches while you do.
3. Set up your plans, billed fortnightly, monthly or yearly (weekly members move to one of those), including a switching plan with free days to cover each member's paid PaySmart period.
4. Send your join link with the message above. Members choose bank account or card and sign your waiver on the same form.
5. Cancel each member's PaySmart agreement as they sign, and the rest on your cutover date.

Families sign once: one bill with a plan for each person and your sibling discount, so a parent with two kids doesn't fill in three forms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do members have to cancel PaySmart themselves?

They can, but they shouldn't have to. Agree a process with PaySmart for the gym to send cancellations for members who've moved, and tell members they don't need to call.

Do members need a new direct debit?

Usually, yes. Their authority is with PaySmart. Stripe can take over bank details you already hold with 30 days' notice to members, but that depends on PaySmart releasing them.

What happens to members on a minimum term?

Their agreement terms don't vanish when you change provider. Decide whether you honour the rest of the term on the new system, waive it, or keep collecting it through PaySmart until it ends, and give the desk one answer.

What about members PaySmart is chasing for arrears?

Agree in writing who collects what's outstanding after you leave. Don't let those amounts fall between two systems.

How long does the switch take?

About three weeks for most academies: a week to prepare and agree the process with PaySmart, a week of signing at the desk, and a week of chasing and cutover.