We’re introducing a new payments experience in Tern! As part of this rollout, you may notice that new trips created have an updated payment experience.
If you see a Payments tab in your trip, you’re using the new payments experience and this is the right article for you.
If you see an Authorizations tab, your trip is on the previous version. In that case, please review our Credit Card Authorization article for guidance.
How is Tern's credit card authorization process unique?
Unless you’re brand new to the travel industry, you’ve probably dealt with credit card authorization before. Typically in other systems you will build “invoices from scratch" to itemize charges, send off an email with that invoice to your client, and get authorization on each invoice you submit.
In Tern it works a bit differently. You have already done the hard work of building out your client’s itinerary - why not use those same activities to get credit card authorization automatically?
Once we have all the information necessary for an authorization to occur, those authorizations will be queued automatically the next time you publish a trip.
Your client will see that they have pending authorizations they need to make directly from the trip itinerary. As long as they are logged in with "full access" permissions, they can access a streamlined authorization flow directly from there.
There are a ton of details to cover that make all of this possible - keep reading to learn more, or jump to the section you'd like to learn more about immediately
An important note on Trip Packages
Before jumping in, we wanted to call your attention to "Trip Packages". These allow you to get credit card authorization for activities grouped together under a single price point. We recommend pausing to read that information before proceeding here.
Getting your account ready for credit card authorization
Before diving in to credit card authorization, let's make sure your account is ready from a security & compliance standpoint.
1. Make sure you set up 2-factor authentication.
This is an important security measure that serves as an additional layer of security for payment processes on Tern. Two-factor authentication is crucial for ensuring secure payment authorizations and safeguarding your credit card transactions. Without 2FA, you may encounter issues completing the authorization process.
You should have been prompted to do this when signing up (or the last time you logged in).
If you decided to skip it, you can find this option in Settings, under the Security tab.
For security reasons, Tern disables payment authorization capabilities when 2FA is not active.
If payment authorizations suddenly stop working, check if your 2FA has been disabled and re-enable it to restore functionality.
2. Verify you have your legal business name set up.
We will use this throughout the authorization process on client-facing forms.
To review and edit, go to Settings and select Business Settings.
3. Set up your Terms & Conditions waiver.
We will use this throughout the authorization process on client-facing forms.
To review or set up, go to Settings and select Waivers & Agreements
To learn more about setting up your Terms & Conditions, check out this article.
4. NEW: Optionally prevent clients from authorizing payments more than 30 days before due date
You can find this setting in Trip Settings
If you uncheck it, payments with a due date >30 days away won't show up for client authorization. You'll see a note in the payments section that they are "ready for authorization after X date"
Getting your trip ready for credit card authorization
We don't want you running into a situation where a client makes authorizations on one itinerary, and then ends up approving a different itinerary! For this reason we only start to display authorization information after you have narrowed down to one itinerary.
Getting an activity ready for credit card authorization
Before diving in, take a moment to refresh on what you need to protect yourself in the case of chargebacks. And make sure any option blocks for the activity you'd like authorization for have been resolved.
1. First, make sure you have a clear name and dates for your activity that your client will recognize
For flights & transportation, this means a departure date
For hotels, this means a check-in date
For a cruises & other activities, this means a start date
2. Next choose how you'd like to price this activity and the total price
Set up your pricing type + amount ($0 activities won't be included for authorization).
3. Complete the following fields under Credit Card Authorization & Payment
Choose the payment schedule for this activity.
If you choose a payment schedule with multiple installments, make sure to add an amount for each installment - otherwise they won't show up for authorization.
If you don't need to collect credit card authorization for a specific payment, you can exclude it at any time using the "Exclude from credit card authorization" option within the three dot menu. Clients will not be prompted to authorize these payments.
Add Booking Supplier details. We strongly recommend including supplier Terms & Conditions and Cancellation Policies.
A note on Trip Packages
Trip packages have all the same fields outlined above - just fill them out normally, like you would for a regular activity. Make sure the supplier and price point match the charge you plan to make on your client's credit card for the entire Trip Package (including any activities you've added to that package).
4. Finally, publish the trip and share with your clients!
After completing all necessary fields, you should notice that the next expected payment is now ready for authorization - good job!
Once you're ready for your clients to authorize payments, publish the trip or send them an invoice! They'll see a button or a link prompting them to authorize any upcoming payments ready for authorization.
Making a payment from an authorization
After a client authorizes a payment, the full credit card number and CVV will be available for you to access for 30 days. The full details of what was authorized, when it was authorized, and the last 4 digits of the card will always be visible for you.
All active authorizations will be visible on the Payments tab of a trip, and within the booking and pricing details of a booking under "Past Payments and Authorizations".
Follow these steps to view the full card details and log a payment:
Click 'View Details' on the authorization to access credit card information.
After making the payment on your client's behalf, click 'Log Payment'.
Click "Save" to store the payment
You will now see a Payment within the Payment history section, if you click into this you can see the credit card authorization details.
You can also click into the three dot menu to edit the payment or delete the payment.
Tip: if you need to re-collect authorization for any reason, you can always delete the authorization. This will make that previously authorized amount "ready", and it will appear again in the client form to authorize.
Note: authorizations expire after 30 days. After the 30 day period, the authorization status will automatically update to 'expired' in payment history and that expected amount will be ready for authorization again if it hasn't already been used to log a payment.
Logging Additional Payments
You can also log payments manually that are not connected to a credit card authorization using the "Log Payment" button.
Enter the amount that has been paid (that is not connected to an active credit card authorization) and click "Save".
This will appear as a payment in the Payment history section of the activity and on the Payments tab
You will also see that the expected payments are updated with the correct remaining amounts.
Using the Payments tab
In the payments tab on the trip, you can easily review all expected payments, past payments, active authorizations and total amounts for your trip.
Important reminder: as soon as you publish your trip, any payment authorizations marked as "ready" will automatically show up to your client.
Because deposits, installments & full amounts can be authorized separately by your client, those will be automatically split into separate line items in the tables
You can click into any rows of Expected or Actual payments to see the Booking & Pricing tab of that item
From the Active Authorizations you can click into them to log a payment directly
Changing required fields after authorization
Tern will not automatically expire or delete an authorization if you change any important fields after an authorization has occurred. Instead, you will see an alert that the information has changed on the authorization to help inform you of potential chargeback risks. If the following details change, you will see a message when logging a payment from that authorization:
The activity date(s) on the General Info tab
The 'Booking Supplier' or the 'Price' on the Booking & Pricing tab
Client experience: completing the credit card authorization form
Accessing payment authorizations
As soon as there are one or more payments that are 'ready for authorization' in a published trip, any clients with Full Access permissions will see items pending from their trip. They will see an “Authorize Payments” button on their itinerary page, which they can click to proceed with the authorization process.
Authorizing payments
1. Once they click to review, they will be taken to a page to review all "ready" payments for authorization.
If an activity has a deposit AND a 'final amount' both ready for authorization, the client is only prompted for the deposit initially.
If a client has already authorized a deposit, the next time they return to the form they will be prompted to authorize the 'final amount' (unless you have excluded it from authorization).
2. Supplier Terms & Conditions and refund policy are accessible directly from this table
3. If your client is not ready to make a payment, or wants to pay a full amount, they can use the action menu
If they choose to skip, this authorization will appear again if they return to the page later
If they authorize the full amount, the activity amount will automatically update to the full price
4. Finally, your client will add (or select) their credit card, agree to the authorization terms & conditions, sign & submit.
Records & receipts
After a client authorizes payment(s):
You both will receive an email receipt immediately -
Attached to the receipt is a PDF confirmation -
You will also see these authorizations logged in Trip Activity - as well as a separate line item indicating your client agreed to your Terms & Conditions (which are linked in the form above) -
Deactivating credit card authorization
If you would like to completely hide all of the functionality related to credit card information from your account (and your clients), simply deactivate it in Trip Settings:
FAQ
Can I set up partial payments or a payment schedule for my clients? Yes!
How do you handle multiple currencies? If a trip has multiple currencies, each authorization will happen in the currency you have added to the activity.
Make sure you add the currency you will actually make the booking in, so that the amount doesn't change based on conversion rate fluctuations.
In the 'calculated total' at the bottom of the client view we will convert the amounts for their reference.
Why are my clients being asked to reauthorize payments? Clients should only be asked to reauthorize payments if the authorization has expired or you have deleted an active authorization.
What are best practices for avoiding authorization issues? Finalize payment details before initiating authorization requests, provide clear instructions to clients, and communicate any necessary updates promptly to facilitate seamless reauthorization when needed.
Why are my payment authorizations no longer visible or working? This typically happens when two-factor authentication (2FA) is turned off. For security reasons, Tern requires 2FA to be active for payment authorization functionality. Simply re-enable 2FA in your account settings to restore payment authorization capabilities.
How do I manage my two-factor authentication settings? Navigate to the Settings page and select the Security tab. From there, you can enable or disable 2FA as needed. If enabling 2FA, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup process.