To pay a program through brightwheel, at least one student contact with parent-level permissions must be associated with a student’s account. On our most current billing platform, program admins can add additional payers that are Family or Approved Pickups associated with a student’s account.

Any payers will need to add a payment method to their account before making a payment and will only be able to view, modify, or use the payment method added to their accounts. Payers can never see another payer's card or bank account details; this is private and restricted to the respective payer by default.

Continue reading below to learn about the various payment methods that are accepted as well as some additional details about payment methods, autopay, and processing fees.

This resource overviews how to add and manage payment methods. While the steps are focused on performing these tasks from your account on the web, the experience in the app is relatively the same. For payers accessing their account in the app, a homepage similar to the below images will be visible.

All students your profile is connected to will be visible under the 'My children' tile. There is also an additional 'School payments' tile.

If you have not added a payment method, in this section, you will see a prompt advising you to Add a payment method to get your account fully set up to make payments to your program through brightwheel.

If you already have a payment method added to your account, in this section, you will see a prompt to View account to make payments!

Managing payment methods as outlined below, making payments, and viewing invoices will be the same general steps across the web and the mobile app! Continue reading to learn how to add and manage your payment methods.

FSA/HSA/Dependent Care accounts are potential options that can be added to a payer's brightwheel account to make payments to a program. It's important to note that each program can choose what type of payments they'd like to accept (ACH and Credit/Debit cards or ACH only), and these settings may limit how certain FSA/HSA/Dependent Care accounts can be utilized.

This is the most common payment method used by brightwheel payers. Any program that accepts payments through brightwheel will allow for bank transfers (checking account only). This payment method is often referred to as ACH, which stands for Automated Clearing House. If applicable, processing fees for ACH transactions are less than those for credit cards.

There are two ways to add and save a bank account payment method in brightwheel.

This is the simplest & easiest way to add a bank account. This is available for most nationwide banking institutions in the United States and utilizes a secure 3rd party partner called Plaid to instantly connect and verify the information provided.

Please note: If you experience any errors and/or your banking provider is not listed in Plaid, please follow the instructions to manually add a bank account as outlined below.

If the banking institution does not appear when using the above option, a bank account can be linked with brightwheel by entering the bank account’s routing and account numbers manually and completing a two-factor (2FA) authentication process. For this option, the bank account must be verified by confirming two micro-deposits. These are two small deposits, typically less than $1.00, that will be deposited into the checking account. These funds will remain in the account for 3-4 days, after which they will be withdrawn from the account. Within that time frame, be sure to log back into brightwheel and verify the account by confirming the exact amount of each deposit.

After receiving the two deposits within 48 hours, log back into brightwheel and enter the exact amounts deposited to verify the account. Be sure to enter them in the exact order in which they were received.

Please Note: If you cannot complete your verification in time or are having difficulty, please email help@mybrightwheel.com to request that your account be removed to start over or get additional assistance.

Each childcare provider that uses brightwheel for their billing platform gets to determine which payment methods are accepted. In addition to ACH transactions, some providers also accept credit or debit cards. If the childcare provider does not allow credit card payments when you attempt to add a payment method, you will only have the option to add a Bank Account.

If this option is enabled, any payer associated with the student's billing profile can enter a credit and/or debit card as a payment method after completing a two-factor authentication (2FA) process as an extra security measure. This measure is also commonly referred to as two-step verification, 2-step verification, or dual-factor authentication

Please Note: If you add a Debit and/or Credit Card as a payment method, these forms of payment will be subject to higher processing fees. If possible, we’d recommend setting up a Bank Account as a payment method for a lower transaction fee through ACH.

Payers can remove payment methods as long as there is at least one other payment method attached to their account. Payment methods can be removed at anytime

Please Note: If you are removing your payment method, you may be responsible for making arrangements to pay any outstanding balances to your program. We'd recommend that you reach out to your program to find out what alternative payment options may be available to you.

Autopay is a great way to save time and remove any worry about missing a tuition payment. Like other automated payments, brightwheel’s autopay feature will charge the desired payment method for the full balance due on the due date of each statement. If multiple payment methods have been added to the account and/or if there are multiple students associated with the student contacts account, each student’s autopay settings can be individually managed, allowing for different payment methods for each.

Autopay always triggers a payment for the total balance due. If autopay is enabled at a moment when a balance has already accrued, the total balance will be paid off on the next statement’s due date.

Some childcare providers choose to enable Mandatory Autopay. This means that any payers will be required to accept and enable autopay the next time they add a payment method. If a payment method had already been saved to the account when the program enabled Mandatory Autopay, brightwheel will display a prompt advising that autopay is enabled whenever the student’s billing account page is visited.

If the provider does not require autopay, payers can manage settings anytime. To change the payment method used for autopay, turn off autopay, choose the desired payment method, and turn it back on.

💡It's also important to understand that if you are paying for multiple students/siblings, autopay is turned on for each, there are invoices with the same due date, and they are being charged to the same payment method - these payments will be bundled together as a single combined payment to save on fees.

Anytime a transaction takes place online, or when a card is swiped with any vendor, a processing fee is attached to that transaction. This fee is generally dictated by the payment processor that the vendor chooses, not the vendor themselves. In many cases, the vendor pays this, and the customer is unaware that these fees are associated with their transaction. However, depending on the location and other factors, some vendors may choose to pass this fee on to the customer.

Any childcare provider that uses brightwheel as their billing platform has the choice to forward the processing fees for each transaction to the payer. These fees will be different for ACH and card transactions. If the provider chooses to forward these fees, brightwheel will notify the payer when the transaction occurs.

If autopay is enabled, these processing fees will still be applied, so be sure to understand what fees may be included before enabling autopay or completing a payment. Processing fees are not refundable, even if the payment has been refunded. Any questions regarding processing fees should be directed to the program directly.