Payment and Refund Methods

Configuring your payment and refund methods is one of the most important steps in setting up ZippyAssist. These settings determine what payment types your customers can use at your machines, and how they can receive a refund if something goes wrong. Getting this right means smoother refund requests and less back-and-forth for you and your team.

Payment Methods

Payment methods tell ZippyAssist what types of payment your machines accept. This lets us show your customers the right information when they submit a help request — and makes sure we collect the right details to process a refund.

Available Payment Types

The following payment types can be added to your account:

Cash
Credit or Debit Card
PayRange
ApplePay®
Apple Card
GooglePay®
Vendor Card (e.g. USConnect, Market Card, or any proprietary card system)
Other

Payment Method Settings

When you add or edit a payment method, you'll see the following options:

Setting	What it does
Type	The payment method type (e.g. Credit or Debit Card, ApplePay®, Cash, etc.).
Refund Type	Choose how refunds are handled for this payment method. Reversal — ZippyAssist collects the payment details your team needs to locate and reverse the charge in your own credit card processing system. ZippyAssist does not process the reversal itself. Refund — ZippyAssist collects the customer's preferred refund method (e.g. Venmo, Zelle, PayPal) so you can send funds directly to them.
Reversal Identifier	Only shown when Refund Type is set to Reversal. This determines which card or payment details ZippyAssist collects to help you locate the transaction in your processing system. Card — collects the first 6 and last 4 digits of the customer's card number. Device — collects the last 4 digits of the device account number. Check with your payments vendor if you're unsure which identifier your system uses.
Pre-Authorization for Non-Cash Payments	When toggled on, ZippyAssist displays information to the customer explaining how pre-authorization holds work. The customer is placed into a holding period that you specify. Once that period lapses, ZippyAssist automatically follows up with the customer to ask if they still need a refund — and if so, prompts them to provide their refund or reversal details at that time.
Notification Follow-Up Delay	Only shown when Pre-Authorization for Non-Cash Payments is toggled on. Enter the number of hours ZippyAssist should wait before following up with the customer. This gives the pre-authorization hold enough time to drop off before the customer is contacted. 72 hours is the most common setting.
Collect All Refund and Payment Information	When toggled on, ZippyAssist collects both the payment identifier (e.g. card details) and the customer's preferred refund method in the same request. This is useful for operators who can look up a charge in their system using the card details, but process the actual payout via a separate refund method like Venmo or Zelle.
Enabled	Marks the payment method as active or inactive. Disabled methods won't be shown to customers.

Note: For PayRange set to Reversal — customers will receive instructions on how to request a refund directly through their PayRange account. No action is needed from you as the operator once this is configured.

Vendor Card Setup

If you use a proprietary card system at your machines — like USConnect, a Market Card, or any other branded card — you can add it as a Vendor Card payment method. Here's how to set it up:

Select Vendor Card as the Type.
Enter a Name for the card (e.g. "USConnect") — this is what your customers will see.
If using a card number as the identifier, set the Number of Digits to match the maximum card number length. This ensures customers enter the right information.
Toggle Enabled on to make it active.

When setting up a Vendor Card, you can choose what type of account identifier to collect from the customer — a card number, phone number, or email address, depending on how your card system identifies accounts.

Refund Methods

Refund methods are the options you offer customers for receiving their money back when a refund is approved. These apply to Cash and "Other" payment types, as well as any payment method where the Refund Type is set to "Refund" rather than "Reversal."

Available Refund Types

You can offer any combination of the following refund types:

Venmo
PayPal
Zelle
Cash App — ZippyAssist collects the customer's Cash Tag. You'll send the funds to that Cash Tag outside of ZippyAssist.
Cash or Check — ZippyAssist collects the customer's mailing address so you can send a physical payment.
Vendor/Market Card — ZippyAssist collects the customer's card, phone, or email account identifier so you can deposit funds back to their card account. This can also be configured and labeled for any scenario where you need to collect one of those three identifiers from a customer.
Interac (for Canadian operators)

Refund Method Settings

When you add or edit a refund method, you'll see the following options:

Setting	What it does
Type	The type of refund method (e.g. Venmo, Zelle, VendorCard, etc.).
Name	For VendorCard types, enter the name of the card as it should appear to customers.
Number of Digits	Only shown when the account identifier is set to Card Number. Set the maximum card number length so ZippyAssist can validate what customers enter.
Description	An optional short description shown to customers when they select this refund method. Supports English, Español, and French. Keep it concise — there's a 75-character limit.
Transaction Fee	Displays the cost to you as the operator when a refund is sent out via this method. This is set by ZippyAssist and is not editable.
Enabled	Marks the refund method as active or inactive. Only enabled methods are shown to customers.

Automatic Disbursement

For Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle, ZippyAssist can automatically send refund payments to customers on your behalf when a refund is approved. A transaction fee will be recouped from your account for each disbursement — you'll see the current fee displayed in the setup screen for each method.

Zelle is the only method where you can choose between automatic and manual disbursement:

ZippyAssist — ZippyAssist automatically sends the Zelle payment to the customer on your behalf.
Manual — ZippyAssist collects the customer's Zelle details and you send the funds yourself outside of the system.

Note: All other refund methods (Cash App, Check, Vendor Card, etc.) require you to send funds manually outside of ZippyAssist.

Enabling and Disabling Refunds

At the top of your Refund Methods page you'll see a global refunds toggle. When refunds are enabled, the indicator shows green and customers can submit refund requests. You can deactivate refunds entirely from this screen if needed — for example, during a system transition or maintenance period.

Individual refund methods can also be enabled or disabled independently, so you can fine-tune exactly which options your customers see without turning off refunds entirely.

Need Help?

If you have questions about configuring your payment or refund methods, we're happy to help! Reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll work with you to get everything set up just right.