Payments and Stripe Connect

The cash and bank transfer problem

Most padel coaches take payment one of two ways: cash on the day, or bank transfer afterwards. Both create the same problem.

Cash means carrying change, getting underpaid when players do not have the right amount, and having no record of what has come in. Bank transfer means sending payment requests, waiting for transfers that may take days, following up on payments that never arrive, and trying to reconcile your income from a stream of individual transactions.

Neither works at scale. Neither is professional. And neither protects you from the player who simply stops showing up — leaving you with sessions delivered and money outstanding.

Payment at point of booking

PadelEngage requires players to pay when they book, not after. The moment a booking is confirmed, payment is collected. No exceptions.

This one change removes every payment problem at once. There is nothing to chase because payment has already happened. There is no awkward end-of-session moment. There is no outstanding balance in your mental ledger. The booking is paid — full stop.

Stripe Connect — money goes directly to you

PadelEngage uses Stripe Connect to process payments. This means:

Your own Stripe account. You connect your own Stripe account to PadelEngage during setup. Player payments go directly into your Stripe account, not into a PadelEngage account that holds your money and pays it out later.

No platform revenue cut. PadelEngage charges coaches a flat monthly subscription. We do not take a percentage of your session revenue. A £60 session pays you £60 minus Stripe’s standard card processing fee (around 1.5–3% depending on the card type). Nothing else comes out.

Instant availability. Stripe payouts follow Stripe’s standard schedule — typically available in your bank account within 2–7 days, depending on your Stripe settings. You can configure payout frequency in your Stripe dashboard.

Automatic refunds. When a player cancels within your refund window, the refund is processed automatically via Stripe. You do not manage refunds manually.

What Stripe handles automatically

Stripe is the world’s leading payment infrastructure. When you connect it to PadelEngage, you get the full Stripe feature set:

• Card payments from all major card providers (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
• Apple Pay and Google Pay on mobile
• 3D Secure authentication where required
• Automatic fraud detection
• Dispute management
• Tax-compliant receipts sent to players automatically
• A full transaction history in your Stripe dashboard

The no-show problem — solved

When a player has paid upfront, the no-show calculation changes completely. They have already paid. If they do not show up, you have been paid for the session regardless. There is no financial loss.

If they cancel within your cancellation window (configured in your service settings), the system applies your policy automatically — full refund, partial refund, or no refund, depending on how you have set it up. The conversation never happens because the policy is written and enforced before the booking is even made.

For group sessions

Group session payments work the same way. Each player who books into a group session pays individually at the point of booking. By the time the session starts, every attendee has paid. The group is confirmed. You go on court.