Managing usage credits

This article explains how usage credits work on your Mimelis seller account: they let you keep using your pay-as-you-go services beyond the limits included in your plan, such as SMS order alerts or extra visits once your visibility for the month is used up.

What are usage credits?

Your plan includes a certain amount of services every month: a number of SMS order alerts, and a visibility for the month that covers visits to your points of sale. When it is used up, SMS stop and your point of sale is featured less until the following month.

Usage credits are there so it does not stop there. They are a prepaid reserve of money, shared by all your points of sale: when they are turned on, the service keeps running and every extra SMS or visit is deducted from your balance. For visits, within the visibility spending cap you set.

You only pay for what you use: no extra subscription, and your credits do not expire.

Usage credits are available from the Pro plan upwards. If your plan does not include them, the Usage screen tells you which plan is required and offers to move you to it.

Note: credits do not replace a service your plan does not grant. If a feature is not included in your plan, or if the matching option is not subscribed to, credits will not unlock it. They only fund what goes beyond a limit already granted.

How usage credits work

Take an order SMS as an example:

• As long as you are within the SMS included in your plan, it goes out and costs you nothing.
• Beyond that, it still goes out and its price is taken from your credits.
• If your balance is not enough and automatic top-up is on, your credits are topped up first, then the SMS goes out.
• If neither your balance nor the top-up can pay for it, the SMS is not sent and you receive an email.

The same logic applies to every pay-as-you-go service.

Visits are the exception on one point: they are counted after the fact and charged roughly every hour, point of sale by point of sale. If your balance or your limit only covers some of them, only those are paid.

Every deduction appears in your history, with the service concerned, the amount and the remaining balance. Nothing is charged without a trace.

Note: your balance and service prices are shown excluding tax. The total to pay is presented to you before every purchase.

Turning on usage credits

1. Open Usage in the menu of your seller space.
2. On the Usage credits card, flip the switch at the top right.
3. Your credit account is open. The balance, automatic top-up and spending caps then appear below the switch.

You can turn credits off at any time with the same switch. You will be asked to confirm, because your pay-as-you-go services will stop as soon as the included limits are reached.

Note: turning credits off also turns off automatic top-up. Your credits are kept and become usable again if you turn them back on.

Buying credits

1. Open Usage.
2. Click Buy credits.
3. Choose one of the amounts offered, or select Other to enter your own. A minimum amount applies; the screen tells you if you enter less.
4. Check the summary and the payment method.
5. Click Pay CHF … now.

The payment method used is the one from your subscription. You can change it straight from this dialogue, with the pencil icon, or from Billing. If no card is saved, the screen takes you to Billing to add one.

An invoice is issued for every purchase. You will find it in the movement history.

Note: you can buy credits even when usage credits are turned off. A warning then reminds you that they will cover nothing until you turn them on.

Turning on automatic top-up

Automatic top-up buys credits for you when your balance runs low, so that your services are never interrupted for lack of credits.

1. Open Usage.
2. On the Automatic top-up line, click Configure.
3. Set the threshold, that is, the balance below which the top-up is triggered.
4. Set the amount to reach after the top-up.
5. Click Turn on.

The top-up amount must be higher than the threshold, and cannot be lower than the minimum purchase amount. Each time it triggers, only the difference between your balance and the target amount is charged.

By turning it on, you authorise Mimelis to charge your payment method on a recurring basis. To stop, turn automatic top-up off.

Note: if your balance is already below the threshold when you turn it on, the charge is immediate. The exact amount is announced before you confirm.

If your card is declined, the top-up does not happen, you receive an email, and a banner appears on the Usage screen. No further attempt is made until you have sorted out your payment method.

Setting a general spending cap

The general spending cap is your safety net: the maximum amount of credits you agree to use per month, across all services.

1. Open Usage.
2. On the General spending cap line, click Adjust the cap.
3. Enter the amount, then click Set spending cap.

The limit takes effect immediately. Once reached, your pay-as-you-go services are suspended until the following month, even if you still have credits.

You can also click Set as unlimited to set no limit at all.

Note: you can set a limit lower than what you have already used this month. That is the way to suspend everything on the spot; the screen warns you before saving. To restore your services without waiting for next month, raise the limit.

Setting a visibility spending cap

The visibility spending cap sets the maximum amount you agree to pay each month for extra visits, once your visibility for the month is used up.

1. Open Usage.
2. On the Visibility spending cap line, click Adjust the cap.
3. Enter the amount, then click Set the cap.

The cap takes effect immediately and applies to your whole organisation: your points of sale share it, while each has its own visibility for the month. It is included in your general spending cap. Until a cap is set, no extra visit is paid: the cap is what authorises the spending.

Keeping track of your credits

Movement history

The history answers the question “where does this charge come from?”. You will find every purchase, every automatic top-up and every consumption there, with the date, the amount plus or minus and the resulting balance. A consumption line states what caused it; for paid visits, that is the point of sale, the number of visits and their unit price, under the label Visibility. A purchase carries a View invoice link.

The emails you receive

You do not need to keep an eye on the page: Mimelis writes to you when something changes.

• Top-up receipt, after every purchase and every automatic top-up, with the amount charged and the available balance.
• Automatic top-up failed, when your card has been declined.
• Low balance, when your credits drop below your threshold with nothing to bring them back up. This email is not sent if automatic top-up is on.
• Services suspended, when your general spending cap is reached.
• Visibility spending cap almost reached, when the amount of your paid visits reaches 80% of this cap.
• Visibility spending cap reached, when no more visits can be paid this month.

Low balance and suspension alerts are only sent once a month.

The two visibility cap emails are set for each point of sale in Notifications, under Visibility alerts.

Pay-as-you-go services

SMS order alerts

On Mimelis, your customers buy directly from you. An order is therefore waiting for you to prepare it, and you are the one who needs to be told. SMS alerts exist for that: you receive an SMS for every new order, then reminders if it has not been shipped.

Every verified number receives its own SMS, and each one is counted. Your plan includes a number of SMS per month, as well as a number of phone numbers you can register. Beyond the included SMS, every message sent is deducted from your usage credits.

You follow this count from Account settings, on the SMS this month card: it shows the SMS sent, those taken from your credits, and the remaining balance.

Note: if your included SMS are used up and your credits cannot pay for the next ones, they are not sent. You keep receiving the emails, and the order stays visible in your seller space.

Extra visits

Every plan includes a monthly visibility, in francs, which covers visits to your points of sale on Mimelis, and your sales increase it over the month. Once this visibility is used up, extra visits are paid with your usage credits, within your visibility spending cap. Without a cap, or once it is reached, your point of sale is featured less until the 1st of the following month. For details, see Understanding your visibility on Mimelis.

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn usage credits off after turning them on?

Yes, at any time, with the switch on the Usage credits card. Your pay-as-you-go services will then stop as soon as the limits included in your plan are reached. Your credits remain yours and become usable again if you turn them back on.

Do my credits expire?

No. Your credits stay available from one month to the next until you have used them.

Can I be charged without noticing?

No. A purchase is always made from the Usage screen, with the total shown before you confirm. Automatic top-up only triggers if you have turned it on, with the threshold and amount you chose, and every charge produces an email and an invoice. A visit is only paid if you have set a visibility spending cap, and never beyond it.

What happens if I get the amount wrong?

Your credits do not expire: an amount that is too high stays available for the following months. An amount that is too low is topped up by a new purchase, straight away. And if you want to cap your spending, set a general spending cap.

What happens if my card is declined during an automatic top-up?

The top-up does not happen and you receive an email. Your pay-as-you-go services are suspended until you sort it out, and no further attempt is made in the meantime. The banner shown on the Usage screen takes you to your payment method.

What happens when I reach my general spending cap?

Your pay-as-you-go services are suspended until the following month, even if you still have credits: that is the point of this limit. To restore them immediately, raise the limit from Usage, as explained above in Setting a general spending cap.

Can credits replace an option my plan does not include?

No. Credits fund what goes beyond a limit your plan already grants you. If a service is not opened by your plan, or if the matching option is not subscribed to, it stays unavailable whatever your balance.

Where do I find the invoices for my credit purchases?

In Usage, on the Movement history card. Every purchase and every automatic top-up carries a View invoice link that opens the PDF.