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 once you have reached the limits included in your plan.

What are usage credits?

Usage credits are a prepaid reserve, in francs, attached to your organisation. Some services, such as SMS order alerts, are included in your plan up to a monthly limit. Once that limit is reached, the service stops until the following month. With usage credits turned on, it keeps running and every unit consumed is deducted from your balance.

You only pay for what you use: there is 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

When a billable service is triggered on your account:

• As long as the limit included in your plan has not been reached, the action goes out and costs nothing.
• Beyond it, the price of the service is deducted from your usage credits and the action still goes out.
• If your balance is too low and automatic top-up is on, the charge happens before the action, so that it is not lost.
• If nothing can fund the action, it is abandoned and you are notified by email.

Every deduction produces an entry 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 monthly spending limit 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, you are redirected 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 reserve runs low.

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 your credits should be brought up to.
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 monthly spending limit

The spending limit sets the maximum amount of credits you agree to use per month.

1. Open Usage.
2. On the Monthly consumption limit line, click Configure.
3. Enter the amount, then click Set consumption limit.

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.

Keeping track of your credits

Movement history

The history lists your purchases, your automatic top-ups and your consumption. Each line shows the date, the signed amount and the credit balance that follows. Consumption lines also carry a detail linking the charge to what caused it, and purchases carry a View invoice link.

The emails you receive

• 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 monthly limit is reached.

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

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 are notified of every new order, then by reminders if it has not been shipped.

Every verified number receives its own SMS, and every SMS counts on its own. Your plan includes a number of SMS per month, as well as a number of phone numbers that can be notified. 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 nothing can fund the next ones, they are not sent. You continue to be notified by email, and the order stays visible in your seller space.

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.

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 monthly limit.

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 monthly limit?

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 monthly spending limit.

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.