Nettla uses a payment approach known as auth-capture, this means that an amount is first reserved on your player’s account, and then charged at a later point in time. It’s similar to how a hotel reserves money on your card and then only charges whatever was used for room service purposes.
Nettla uses this method for two purposes:
Managing split payments. We reserve the full court cost on the lead-booker to ensure that you as a club receive your full income no matter if the booking ended up being paid by 4, 3, 2, or only 1 person.
To limit transaction fees when players cancel. If a payment is still in a reserved state, there is no Stripe transaction cost for you as a club if the player cancels. Stripe transaction costs only apply when an actual charge is made on a previously reserved payment.
Nettla's approach is designed specifically to protect your club's income. When a player creates a court booking with pay your part, neither you as a club nor Nettla knows at that moment how many other players will join or whether they will all pay. Rather than leaving the club exposed to potential lost income, Nettla always reserves the full court cost on the lead booker's card from the very first moment the booking is made.
This means your club's full income is always secured at the point of booking. If all players pay their parts, the lead booker receives a refund for those amounts after the session. If players do not join or pay, the full court cost stays with the lead booker — and your club still receives its income in full. You never need to chase players for unpaid court costs.
For bookings made more than 6 days before the session, the reserved amount is captured on day 6 as required by VISA and Mastercard rules. After the session, the system calculates each player's final share and automatically refunds the lead booker any amount that was covered by joining players. This refund may take 2-3 business days to appear in the lead booker's account, depending on their card and bank. This is outside of Nettla and Stripe's control, and is a standard part of how bank refunds work.