Taking card payments (Belize Bank)

With card payments on, customers pay by card inside Seascape: when they book online, on a payment link you send, or at the till on Belize Bank's secure payment page. Seascape never sees the card number.

It starts with an application, because card money is paid into Seascape's own Belize Bank merchant account and then paid out to you. See 'Applying for card payments'. Apply on day one: approval takes a few days.

Cards are charged in Belize dollars. If your prices are in US dollars, they are converted at 2 BZD to 1 USD, so a US$160 deposit is charged BZD 320. Customers see the BZD amount before they pay. Only shops pricing in USD or BZD can take cards. Any other currency in Settings → General stops card checkout.

What it costs: A percentage of each card payment, taken off your payout and never added to the customer's price. New shops start at 6%. Your own rate is shown on Settings → Payments. Cash, Card Machine, Pay at the desk and payments you record by hand carry no Seascape fee, and the card fee is separate from your Seascape subscription.

Hold or charge: Each activity can Charge the card at checkout or Hold the amount, charge on arrival, under Card payments for this activity.

Turning it off: Settings → Payments → Manage → Deactivate card payments, then confirm. One switch stops both: customers can't pay by card, and your team can't charge a customer's saved card, for a balance or a no-show or late-cancellation fee. While it is off, Charge… on a booking stays greyed out and says why. Payments already taken, and refunds on them, are not affected. Your approval stays, so you can turn it back on whenever you like.