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Onboarding with Leap Merchant Services: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1674340
Welcome to Leap Merchant Services, our next-generation managed payments solution! In this article we'll go over the three steps to complete your onboarding, including step-by-step instructions for the online portion you'll complete on your own. We'll also explain the final step to migrate your recurring donations and answer a few frequently asked questions along the way. Here are handy links to each section:
- Sign an addendum to add Leap Merchant Services to your contract
- Go through our quick online wizard to open your account
- Switch your processing over to Leap Merchant Services and test your terminals
- Migrate your recurring donations
- Close your Bluefin account (if applicable)
- And lastly, some Frequently Asked Questions
Ready? Let's dive in!
1. Sign a contract addendum
First things first: there's a bit of paperwork before we can add Leap Merchant Services to your PatronManager account and get you up and running.
If you're not sure where to begin, submit a support request via the Client Community and we'll help you out!
You'll need a PatronManager login for the next step, and our team will need to know which login you'll be using to open your account. Now's a great time to sort that out as well!
2. Open your account with our simple online wizard
You (by which we mean the PatronManager user you designated for this step) will first need to log in to the Client Community. If you haven't checked out the Community yet, it's a great resource - here's more information about what the Community is and how to log in.
2.1. Log in to the Client Community via PatronManager
For security reasons, you'll access the onboarding wizard by first logging in to PatronManager and then heading into the Client Community.
2.2. Click the link to set up your Leap Merchant Services account
On the Client Community home page you'll see a "Leap Merchant Services" widget on the right. Click the link in the widget to launch the setup wizard!
Don't see the widget? Make sure you're logged in as the user you designated for the account onboarding steps. Some of the information you'll need to provide is sensitive; we want to make sure only you can access it.
If you're logged in as the correct user and still don't see the widget, reach out to our team for assistance.
The onboarding wizard is designed to be self-explanatory, so feel free to follow the steps there and refer to this guide only if you get stuck. Or if you prefer, you can read along below!
Either way, be sure to come back to this guide once you've created your new account, so we can walk you through actually switching over.
2.3. Enter your mobile phone number and email address, then click Continue
You'll need to receive a verification code via SMS to this phone number, so make sure it's a mobile phone that can receive text messages.
Although Leap Merchant Services is not the same as Stripe, it is powered by Stripe. Therefore, if the email address you're using to onboard with Leap Merchant Services is associated with a separate standard Stripe account, Stripe may prompt you for your Stripe password to validate that you're the person associated with that email address in their system.
We recommend completing your Leap Merchant Services onboarding with an alternate email address, and keeping the email you've used for standard Stripe accounts separate. If that's not an option for you, read on for instructions.
If you're prompted for a password as shown in the image above, use the password associated with your separate Stripe account.
If you're not sure what that password is, or if you see a message that says "Because of inactivity, you must complete an account recovery process to confirm this login. Please log in on the dashboard to continue", you'll need to reset your password via Stripe's standard interface before you can complete your Leap Merchant Services onboarding.
Don't use the "Reset your password" link on the Stripe onboarding page for Leap Merchant Services, as that won't work.
In a separate browser tab, head to https://dashboard.stripe.com/ and follow the prompts to reset your password or recover your account. Once you've done that, restart your Leap Merchant Services onboarding via the Client Community, and supply your Stripe password when you reach the above screen.
2.4. Enter the verification code that was sent to your phone
2.5. Enter the requested business information and click Continue
Follow the on-screen guidance: on this page you'll enter your organization's EIN, business phone number, and website.
2.6. Verify that you're authorized to represent your organization
Assuming you're the right person, continue through the fields on this page, entering the information requested. When you're finished, click Continue.
If you aren't the right person to fill out the details requested, you'll need to work with your PatronManager Admin to get that person set up with a PatronManager login (if they don't have one already), then reach out to our team to designate their PatronManager user with access to complete the wizard.
They'll then log into PatronManager, click into the Client Community, and pick up where you left off, using that same onboarding widget.
Scroll down, and click Continue when you're finished (or Save for later if you need to gather info and come back to this).
2.7. Add your bank account details for payouts
Enter details for the bank account where you'd like your payouts from PatronManager transactions deposited.
Your bank account must support both credit and debit transactions.
2.8. Review and finish up
If you missed any of the information required, you'll find out here - just click Edit to complete any missing info:
When all the fields are complete, give it one last check, edit anything that's incorrect, and then click Agree & Submit.
If you're prompted to enter a "Shortened Descriptor" or "Static Prefix" at any point, use the first 10 characters of your regular statement descriptor.
2.9. Check your onboarding status in the Client Community
Once you're finished with the wizard and click the button to submit, you'll land back in the Client Community.
Give it about a minute, then refresh the page - you may need to click the link again to provide a few additional details to verify your identity or bank account.
Q: why didn't Stripe gather all the necessary information the first time through?
A: by default, Stripe's initial onboarding process collects only the minimum information needed to start processing transactions. However, additional information would later be required at short notice as you reach varying time and volume thresholds.
To ensure that your ability to process payments and receive payouts won't be affected later on, we prompt Stripe to collect all those future requirements up front, before you go live with Leap Merchant Services. Since it can take a little time for those requirements to update as you provide new information, you may need to visit the onboarding widget a couple times.
Once the widget (even after waiting a minute and refreshing the page) shows your account setup is complete, you're all set!
You might see a message that says your status is "Account verification in progress." while the information you submitted is checked and verified by Stripe.
The length of this verification period varies, but normally the status will update to "Your account setup is complete." within 1-3 business days.
2.10. Make sure the info Stripe requires is present on your website
Finally, take a few minutes to review Stripe’s requirements about the specific information that needs to be available on your organization's main website. You can find those requirements here.
If anything is missing, work with your team to make sure it's in place before you make the switch, to avoid any disruptions in processing later on.
3. Switch your payment processing over to Leap Merchant Services
It's time to go live! Schedule a time with our team when you anticipate low transaction volume (e.g. a Monday morning).
At the scheduled time, our team will flip the switch and process (then refund) a test transaction to ensure that your account is set up properly. We'll let you know once that's complete and you're up and running on your new processor.
Q: How should we decide when to switch over?
A: The transition is instant, so it can happen during online sales - a low volume time is best, but you don't have to close down sales. Your patrons would only encounter an error if they were in the middle of typing in their card details when the switch happened. Even in that unlikely situation, the user would simply see a message that the payment was unsuccessful and they would be able to try again.
In the box office, your old terminals won't work after the switch and you'll want a little time to hook up your new terminals, so it's best to choose a time of day when you're not actively selling tickets internally.
ASAP after the switch: connect and test your terminals!
As soon as you're up and running with Leap Merchant Services (and as long as possible before you plan to use them!), we strongly recommend testing out any terminals you'll be using for in-person transactions. You don't want to discover a connectivity issue or have the terminal reboot to install a software update when you have a line at the box office!
Be sure to test each terminal in the location and on the internet connection where it will be used.
We can't stress this enough. We haven't seen any problems using the terminals themselves, but we've had several clients run into problems with their firewall or network connection that required troubleshooting from their IT team before the terminals would connect, particularly when using the terminals on wifi.
For complete instructions on the terminals, see this article:
4. Migrate recurring donations
For security reasons, credit card information is never stored in PatronManager. When a credit card is stored for future payments, it's stored in a high-security encrypted format with the payment processor, and referenced from PatronManager with a unique token recognized only by that payment processor.
When you change payment processors, tokens stored with your former processor will no longer work, so your future recurring donation installments can't process. You'll need to update the stored credit card for each active recurring donation to generate a new token for future use.
4.1. Open the Bluefin Recurring Donations report
We've got a report built right in to help you find the recurring donations that need an update! Find the "Bluefin Recurring Donations" report in the Donation reports folder in the Reports tab, or search for "Bluefin" in All Reports:
4.2. Click into the recurring donation you'd like to update
You'll need to contact the patron for their credit card info - now is a good time to get them on the phone!
4.3. Update the stored payment method
4.4. Head back to the report to find the next recurring donation to update!
As you update the stored payment method on each recurring donation, it will be removed from the report.
Close out your Bluefin account
If you've migrated to Leap Merchant Services from Bluefin, the final step will be to close your Bluefin account. How long you wait to complete that step is up to you, but we typically recommend sending in your closure forms about a month after you go live with Leap Merchant Services.
Please note that we expect to fully retire Bluefin in mid-October. After that, it will no longer be possible to issue refunds to credit cards originally charged using Bluefin.
Here are some things to keep in mind before you close your Bluefin account:
- You'll continue to incur Bluefin/Elavon fees that aren't related to transactions until the account is closed (statement fees, device fees, PCI non-compliance fees if applicable).
- No refunds will be possible on Bluefin transactions after the account is closed, so if you have a particular event coming up with the potential for a high volume of refunds, you may want to wait until after it has taken place.
- You will no longer have access to Payconex after your Bluefin account is closed, so be sure you've completed any necessary reporting or reconciliation first.
When you're ready to close your Bluefin account, you'll complete these three easy steps:
1. Deactivate your Bluefin devices
Log in to P2PE Manager and set the status of your devices to "Retired".
2. Send in your Bluefin closure forms
Sign the forms our team provided during your migration, and send them in to Bluefin at [email protected] per our instructions. That's it!
3. Dispose of your Bluefin devices
Once your Bluefin account is closed, take your old Bluefin credit card readers to a local electronics recycling center for disposal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure thing! If you leave off partway through the wizard, you can get back to where you left off at any point. Just use the same widget in the Client Community - click the link and you'll be able to continue through the steps.
Leap Merchant Services is powered by Stripe, utilizing their robust and modern technology to bring you a comprehensive and holistic managed payments solution. The account onboarding wizard is also built on Stripe, so you'll see their branding throughout.
Leap Merchant Services is not compatible with stand-alone Stripe accounts. To take advantage of all the benefits of our integrated solution, you must onboard with PatronManager directly via the onboarding wizard as outlined above.
Easy! Just head back into the Client Community (you'll need to be logged in to PatronManager as the same designated user of course), and you can update your account or bank information.