What Are Automated Cancellation Fees?
Automated cancellation fees allow you to securely store patients' credit card details through Stripe. If a patient misses or late-cancels an appointment, you’ll be prompted to charge their card on file.
Because credit cards can expire, Zavy will automatically monitor card expiry dates and help you collect updated card details when needed.
Tip: We highly recommend using a dedicated mobile number for SMS communications. This helps patients recognise legitimate messages and reduces the risk of spam or phishing attempts.
Prerequisites
Before setting up automated cancellation fees, you must connect your Stripe account via Settings > Financial > Stripe.
How to Set It Up
1. Enable Automated Card Collection
Go to Settings > Appointments > Settings.
Enable the automation to request card details from patients ahead of their appointment.
If a patient already has valid card details on file, no additional message will be sent.
Important:
Set the card collection SMS to be triggered before your appointment confirmation SMS (if you use 2-Way SMS confirmations).
If the card request is sent after the confirmation, it can interfere with automatic appointment confirmations.
2. Update SMS and Email Templates
Customise your SMS and email templates to match your business’s branding and tone. This builds trust and improves patient response rates.
3. Set a Maximum Charge Limit and Enable Feature
To protect against staff errors or misuse, set a maximum charge limit that cannot be exceeded when charging cancellation fees.
Settings>Business>Settings
How It Works
When an appointment is booked, a card collection message is automatically sent (if feature is enabled and unless valid card details already exist).
You’ll see a green card icon next to appointments with valid card details.
If card details are invalid or missing, a red card icon will appear.
If an appointment is marked as missed:
A prompt will appear asking you to confirm if you’d like to charge the card on file.
You’ll receive a notification if the charge succeeds or fails via a receipt icon on the appointment (e.g., insufficient funds, expired card, etc.).
Blue = Pending
Red = Failed
Green = Successful
Note:
Automated cancellation charges depend on the patient's card being active and valid.
If you require guaranteed payments, we recommend using the Deposit Request system instead.