Introduction to payments on Spruce

Spruce offers an integration with the online payments platform Stripe, which allows you to send payment requests to patients and collect those payments all within a Spruce secure conversation. Patients must download the app on their mobile device to be able to complete the payment request. This is especially useful for our customers who practice telemedicine and use Spruce Visits and video calling. You must be on the Spruce Communicator plan to access the Stripe integration.

Once a payment request is sent to a patient, the patient pays through the Spruce mobile app. Stripe then routes funds to the bank account of your choice. As a Stripe customer, you can manage when and how often money is transferred from your Stripe account to your bank account from your Stripe dashboard.

To send payment requests, you'll need to connect your Spruce account to your Stripe account. If you don’t have a Stripe account yet, you can start one. It typically takes only a few minutes.

Link your Stripe account with Spruce

The first step to sending payment requests is to link your Stripe account to your Spruce account.

To create a new account, Stripe will ask for your bank routing number, account number, date of birth, and the last four digits of your social security number. Find more information about Stripe's requirements on Stripe's help center. 

A note on successful Stripe usage for your business

Stripe disallows use of its payments processing for certain business types. For full details, please see the Stripe website. We've provided a summary below for your convenience.

1. Processing payments via Stripe IS acceptable for professional telemedicine or telehealth services (e.g., a doctor assessing a patient's complaint and providing advice and treatment, which might include sending a prescription to an outside pharmacy).
2. Processing payments via Stripe IS NOT acceptable for pharmaceuticals that are being sold directly (or supplements, nutraceuticals, etc.).
3. You should have a professional web presence (a dedicated business website or business social media profile). Stripe uses your web presence to complete compliance investigations to ensure your business meets the requirements of item (1) above. Your business website should make an effort to clearly describe what's for sale (e.g., professional services) and what's not for sale (e.g., direct pharmaceuticals).
4. You should also make sure to provide a correct and legitimate EIN for you business when signing up for Stripe.

Send a payment request

Payment requests can be sent through any secure conversation on Spruce. Note that standard conversations, where a patient has not created a Spruce account, cannot be used to send payment requests.

If you do not see the dollar sign icon check to make sure you are in a secure conversations (blue icon) and your integration is connected in your settings.

Monitor payments received on Spruce 

When a patient receives a payment request, they'll be asked to provide their credit card information, including the card number, expiration date, and CVV. As soon as a patient completes a payment request, you’ll receive a notification in Spruce and the following will be noted in the patient's secure conversation:

Patient [X] has Completed Payment: $XX

Once patients make payments, the funds can be transferred from your Stripe account to your bank account. To monitor payments received via Spruce and to configure how often money is transferred to your bank account, go to your Stripe dashboard at https://dashboard.stripe.com. For more information, check out Stripe’s support page.

You can also access your Stripe dashboard from the Spruce app:

Payment fees

Spruce does not charge any fees to send payment requests through the Spruce app, but Stripe does charge fees to process those payments. All payments processed via Stripe will be charged fees according to Stripe’s standard fee structure: 2.9% of transaction value + $0.30 for every payment successfully processed. For fast estimates of what these fees might look look like for your practice, see the table below.

Accepted forms of payment

Accepted forms of payment include the following credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club.  

Gift cards and prepaid cards from these brands (such as a Visa gift card) are also accepted. 

In addition, HSA and FSA cards, Bitcoin, Apple Pay, and Android Pay are accepted. 

Failed payments

Please log in to your Stripe account to see details about all attempted charged. Here you can learn more about payment failures, errors, and more. Payments processed through Stripe typically fail for one of two reasons: 

1. The patient's credit card may be declined, or their bank or credit card company may not authorize payment. This may be due to the patient providing an incorrect card number or expiration date, insufficient funds in an account or line of credit, or an expired card.

2. Stripe blocks high-risk payments in attempts to combat fraud. For example, Stripe may block payments from accounts that have previously been linked to fraud.

In either case, we suggest you request an alternative method of payment from your patient if a payment fails. 

If you need assistance navigating the Stripe dashboard, please contact Stripe directly.