Overview
Payment Automation allows you to automatically charge customers for their bookings, helping you reduce manual work while maintaining full control over when and how payments are collected.
Powered by MioAssistant, Payment Automation works for both one-time and recurring customers. You define the rules. MioCommerce handles the execution.
This feature is ideal for businesses that want predictable cash flow without having to manually request payment for every booking.
How Payment Automation Works
MioAssistant can automatically charge customers at different time in the booking, based on the rules you configure.
You can choose to charge customers:
Before the booking starts – to collect payment in advance
After the booking ends – once the service is completed
After you mark the booking complete – giving you time to review before charging
You can also fine-tune the timing:
Charge a few hours before or after the booking
Charge the day before
Charge several days after
This flexibility allows you to align payment collection with your operational workflow and customer expectations.
Requirements for Payment Automation
To use Payment Automation, the following must be in place:
MioPay (with Stripe) is enabled
Each customer has a Primary Credit or Debit Card on file
MioAssistant will use the primary card to collect any outstanding balance
These requirements ensure automated payments are processed smoothly and reliably.
Manual vs Automatic Payments
MioCommerce supports both manual and automatic payment collection.
Manual charging
You can always charge customers manually by:
Opening a booking
Clicking Charge Customer
Choosing how much to charge and how to process the payment
This is useful for exceptions or one-off cases.
Automated charging
If you want to save time, you can enable Payment Automation, allowing MioAssistant to charge customers automatically based on your rules.
Both options can be used side by side — you stay in control.
How to Enable Payment Automation
To turn on Payment Automation:
From the main left-hand menu, go to Settings
Select Automations
Click Payments
Click Set up
Define your automation rules, including:
When customers should be charged
How many hours or days before or after the booking the charge should occur
Click Save
Once saved, Payment Automation is active and MioAssistant will begin charging customers automatically based on your rules.
How Automated Payments Are Identified
To make automated payments easy to recognize:
Payments processed by MioAssistant are marked with a purple automation icon
This icon helps you quickly distinguish automated payments from manual payments
This ensures transparency and easy auditing.
Where to Review Payment Automation Activity
Automations Activity
To review all automation activity:
Go to the left-hand menu
Scroll to the bottom
Click Automations Activity
Here you can view:
Payments processed automatically
Failed or pending automation attempts
A full history of automation-related actions
Payments View
In the Payments view:
Automated payments display a purple automation badge
Opening a payment shows the same badge, confirming it was processed by Payment Automation
Best Practices
To get the most value from Payment Automation:
Review your payment timing rules to ensure they align with how services are delivered
Clearly communicate payment timing to customers to avoid confusion
Regularly check Automations Activity to monitor successful and failed charges
Commonly Asked Questions
Can I charge some customers before a booking and others after?
Yes. Payment Automation allows you to customize timing per customer or per booking type.What happens if an automated payment fails?
MioAssistant records all automation activity so you can review the failure and follow up with the customer.Can I change a customer’s primary card?
Yes. Updating the primary card ensures future automated payments are processed correctly.
With MioAssistant managing payments in the background, you can focus on running and growing your business — while staying fully in control.