Fall 2020 Payment System Update

Please see the Fall 2020 Payment System Update for details on the transition from FirstData to Authorize.net.

inLeague's Role - Transaction Broker through Stripe

The inLeague system is designed to broker transactions between leagues and participants (parents and volunteers). This means that we package up all the relevant data for a transaction and send it to a credit card processor, and then record the response. We do not charge a fee for this service; it is part of your regular subscription to our software.

inLeague does not ever store credit card or billing data beyond the absolute minimum required to facilitate transactions between your league and your merchant account. We comply with PCI data security standards with respect to the data we collect, and also the data used by our software that we do not collect but which whose transmission we facilitate. 

Given the importance of processing credit cards to every organization that collects fees, we have an interest in a smooth and successful business relationship between our constituent leagues and their merchant services provider. To that end, we have historically acted as a consensus-gatherer and representative on our leagues' behalf so that we might leverage the buying power of all of our customers. This is a service we provide as a courtesy; inLeague does not process credit cards or collect fees for processing credit cards, 

Over the years, it has become evident that our leagues may derive some benefit should inLeague assume a larger role in this process, and we are currently investigating this possibility for 2021 or later.

Stripe: Card Processing for inLeague from Summer 2020 on

Every league must have at least one Stripe account. inLeague initiates the setup process, which is then completed on-line by a league commissioner or treasurer. Leagues with multiple bank accounts that wish to segregate funds by program may set up additional Stripe accounts at no additional charge.

General questions about inLeague's integration with Stripe may be sent to inLeague support at support@inleague.io. Specific questions about Stripe's fees or individual transactions should be sent to the inLeague account representative at Stripe:

Legacy Accounts Prior to Fall 2020

Legacy FirstData and Authorize.net accounts were arranged through Paysafe. Paysafe / Authorize.net accounts will be supported through October 31, 2020. Refunds may be issued after that date but no new charges may be sent after 10/31/2020. 

May we use any merchant services provider?

For many years, it made no difference to inLeague which merchant service provider our leagues used.  Eventually, the cost – both in volunteer time and limitations of many payment gateways – outweighed the benefits.  All leagues must process payments through Stripe beginning November 1, 2020.

Refunds and Expired / Canceled Cards

Almost all refunds are "linked" to the original transaction and can only be applied to the card used for that transaction. If a card expires and is re-issued with a new expiration date, typically this will not prevent refund processing; the account number is the same and the payment gateway considers it the same card; expiration dates can be validated for payments but they are not validated for refunds. 

If a card has been canceled or re-issued due to fraud such that the card number has changed, then the original account is no longer active. Stripe has a mechanism called Automatic Card Updater that works with payment networks to automatically update cards on file in these cases so that recurring transactions and refunds will work even if the card number has changed. 

Transactions Issued Through Stripe

It is possible to use your Stripe account for any league-related purpose outside of inLeague. Any software that can integrate with Stripe, or Stripe's own Customer Portal, can work with your account to collect funds. 

inLeague Transactions: For the time being, any transaction issued through Stripe (rather than through inLeague) will not be reflected on inLeague: a registration payment that is refunded through Stripe will not be dropped or recorded in the inLeague ledger. This may change in the future as inLeague's software integration with Stripe improves. 

Is it possible to maintain multiple Stripe accounts?

Yes. inLeague has the following mechanisms to collect funds:

Unless otherwise specified, all payments will be submitted by the merchant account configured in your inLeague control panel as the system default. Team-level payments, also called tournament payments, may be configured to use separate merchant accounts in the Competition Setup function for each competition -- in other words, you can have funds submitted for teams in your travel program processed separately from funds submitted for teams in your core program.

Similarly, individual events may be configured to use any available merchant account on the 'new event' or 'edit event' pages.

To segregate donations or sponsorships into separate accounts, please contact inLeague Support.