Payment Pre-Approval

Payment Pre-Approval lets you collect card or bank details from your client as part of the signing process, without charging them immediately. Their payment details are securely tokenised and stored with Pinch Payments as a pre-approval, ready to be charged when you need to.

This is ideal when onboarding new clients — collect their payment method upfront alongside an engagement letter or service agreement, then charge them later when an invoice is raised.

Prerequisites

Your organisation must complete the Payments Registration process before payment fields become available.

Adding a payment method field

The Payment Pre-Approval uses the Payment method field, which works like any other field on an envelope (such as a signature or text field).

1. Create your envelope as normal — upload your documents and add recipients.

2. Click Prepare documents to open the document preparation view.

   

3. Drag the Payment method field from the left-hand panel onto your document. Place it near any supporting text that explains why you're collecting payment details.

   

4. With the field selected, configure the options on the right-hand side:

   • Required — Toggle on if the recipient must provide their payment details to complete the envelope. Toggle off if the field is optional.

   • Payment options — Choose which payment methods the recipient can use:

     • Card and direct debit — The recipient can choose either option.

     • Only card — The recipient can only enter card details.

     • Only direct debit — The recipient can only enter bank details (BSB and account number) for BECS direct debit.

   

5. Click Save changes, then send the envelope as usual.

Completing a payment method field

When the recipient reaches the payment method field during signing:

1. They click the field and a prompt appears asking them to choose their payment method (based on the options you configured).

2. They can select Card, AMEX, or Direct debit and enter their details.

   

3. They click Submit payment method. The field turns green once submitted successfully.

4. If the field is optional, they can skip it and continue signing without providing payment details.

Once submitted, the recipient's payment details are securely tokenised and sent to Pinch Payments. The recipient is set up as a customer with a pre-approval in your Pinch account.

Charging your client

Once the pre-approval is in place, you can charge the client from your Pinch Payments portal:

• Manually — Charge the client at any time from within Pinch.

• Automatically — If Xero is connected to Pinch, configure automatic charging on the Xero invoice due date.

Annature does not process the charge itself — the pre-approval and subsequent charges are managed through Pinch Payments.