A booking deposit is a part of the price that a customer pays when booking an appointment online. It is credited against the total at the appointment and is kept by the business if the customer fails to show up without cancelling in time. When the full price is paid up front, it is called a prepayment.
How a booking deposit works
The deposit is part of the online booking. The customer picks a service, a time and enters a name, and instead of "Book" the last step says "Pay now" with the amount. They pay by card or wallet, and the appointment goes into the calendar at the same moment. While the payment is in progress the slot is held for a few minutes so that two people cannot book the same time. If no payment arrives, the slot opens up again.
The business sets the amount, usually per service. Common models are a share of the price, depending on the sector mostly somewhere between 20 and 50 percent, or a fixed sum, say 30 euros. For long or expensive services the full price is often taken up front. The money runs through a payment provider and is paid out from there to the business's bank account.
At the appointment the deposit is credited, and the customer only pays the remainder. If they cancel in time, they get the money back or move it to a new appointment. If they cancel late or do not turn up, the business keeps the deposit. How long a free cancellation is possible is set by the cancellation deadline, and that has to be visible before the customer pays.
- Set the amount: a share of the price or a fixed sum, per service.
- Payment at booking: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, no account needed.
- Hold: the slot is blocked while the payment runs.
- Credit at the appointment: the customer pays only the remainder.
- Cancellation or no-show: refund within the deadline, after that the business keeps the money.
Why a booking deposit matters for businesses with appointments
An empty chair costs twice: the time nobody pays for, and the customer who could have come in that time. Chasing a no-show fee afterwards is tedious and rarely works. A deposit turns the order around. The money is there before the appointment starts. Whoever does not show up has already paid, with no invoice, no reminder and no argument.
Then there is the effect on the customer's mind. Someone who has paid takes the appointment seriously and is more likely to cancel than simply not turn up. The slot is then free again and can be refilled, for example from a waiting list. For businesses with long, material-heavy or hard-to-refill services, a deposit is usually the most effective lever against no-shows, more effective than any reminder on its own.
Limits and what to look for
A deposit is a hurdle, and every hurdle costs bookings, especially with new customers and small services. A quick trim does not need a deposit, a three-hour colour appointment does. So the rule applies per service, not per business. And it has to be clear before the customer pays: the amount, the cancellation deadline and what happens after a late cancellation. What your terms may legally say is something to check with someone qualified to judge it.
- Decide per service: long, expensive, hard-to-refill appointments yes, short ones no.
- Set the amount with care: a no-show should hurt, the booking should not put people off.
- Show the deadline and the rule before payment, in one sentence.
- Payment without an account or app: card and wallets, otherwise customers drop off.
- Check the fees: payment providers and software charge per payment, and the rates vary by provider.
How terminio.ai does it
With terminio.ai you decide per service whether customers pay a deposit, the full price or nothing up front. The payment page comes from Stripe: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with no account and no app, in the language of the customer's phone. During payment the appointment is held for 30 minutes. The money sits in your Stripe account and is paid out from there to your bank account. You get a push notification, and the calendar marks the appointment as paid in advance with the amount.
Online payment is included in every plan, the Free plan at 0 € too. There is no base fee and no setup fee, costs only arise when someone actually pays: 6 % + 0.25 € per payment for terminio.ai, plus Stripe's fee of 1.5 % + 0.25 € for EU cards. Refunds are done straight from the app, and the money goes back to the same card. Anyone who prefers to pay on site taps "Book without payment", if you allow it.
