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Payment holds

Step-by-step guide on how to create and manage holds

Nick avatar
Written by Nick
Updated over a week ago

What is a payment hold?

A payment hold reserves funds for up to 7 days on a client's payment card. It does not charge the card or withdraw money from an account. It sets the amount aside so that it cannot be spent until the hold is either released or converted into a charge. A payment hold is sometimes referred to as an auth, pre-auth or authorisation only transaction.

What holds can be used for

A hold is used to verify that a payment card is valid and has available funds for a given amount. It also reserves the funds, ready to be converted into a charge. Holds are often used for:

  • Appointment bookings: a hold can be a handy tool to reduce no-shows, and provides a mechanism to easily process cancellation charges.

  • Pre-orders: holds can be used to take equipment orders, and only process charges once an order is shipped or given to a customer

  • Facility reservations: just like a hotel authorises cards for incidental charges.

Important points to consider

  • Payment holds are subject to Tyro Health Online Payment fees.

  • The payment hold amount can be reduced when converted into a charge (the remainder is just released), but it cannot be increased.

  • If the payment hold amount is less than the actual charge amount, then the hold will need to be cancelled and a seperate payment processed.

  • Cardholders will not be debited by a payment hold and no interest will be charged on the hold amount. However, cardholders won't be able to spend the funds reserved - applies to both credit card limits and debit cards linked to bank accounts.

  • Payment holds will expire 7 days from creation. If the hold is not converted into a charge beforehand, the funds are released and no longer reserved.

Create a payment hold

1. Navigate to 'Holds & Plans'

Log in to Tyro Health Online. If you have not yet signed up for your free Tyro Health Online provider account, you can do so here. Then, select the 'Holds & Plans' tab - here you'll see any previously created holds or plans, with various filters and search options. Note, you must set up for Tyro Health Online Payments before creating a payment hold.

2. Add a new payment

  • After navigating to 'Holds & Plans', select '+ Add a new payment', then

  • Enter the amount to reserve.

Note, the 'Hold' option will be selected by default - you can change to an instalment plan by selecting 'instalment plan' from the toggle,

3. Enter details and choose processing method

  • There's an option to add an 'invoice reference' number which can be useful if you're using a PMS not yet integrated to Tyro Health Online.

  • Select from the available payment methods, such as SMS / payment link to capture the card details - used to create and process the payment hold.

  • Choose from an existing patient record or enter the information for a new patient.

  • Select the location and provider (optional) this payment will be allocated to.

  • Confirm authorisation, then select 'create payment hold'.

Review and convert a hold to a charge

After you create a payment hold, you'll see a page with all the details and status - you can get back to this page at any time by navigating to the 'Holds & Plans' tab and choosing the hold you want to review. Once a hold has been selected, you can choose from any of the actions in the top right of the screen:

  1. Create invoice
    When a hold is created, it will not be associated with an invoice. Invoices don't have to be created for a hold, but this option is available and will enable you to raise and pay for an invoice using the payment hold funds. Note, invoice options depend on what funders have been enabled in Tyro Health Online.

  2. Take payment
    Convert into a charge and actually withdraw funds from the payment card. Once selected, a summary of the charge will be shown and there'll be an option to change the final amount to be processed. Then, select 'take payment' to process the charge.

  3. Cancel
    Cancelling a hold will release the funds that have been reserved.

Note, the expiry is also displayed on the 'payment details' screen, once a hold is selected.

If you require further assistance, you can contact the Tyro Health Online support team by clicking the chat bubble located on the bottom right of your browser or by emailing support@tyrohealth.com.

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