What is Cherry?
Cherry is a leading patient financing solution used by medical practices to offer payment plans to their patients.
Why use Cherry?
Cherry financing allows your patient to break one-time treatment costs into smaller, more manageable monthly amounts. Our simple application means it takes less than a minute for your patient to apply for financing and preview their monthly installment options, with no impact on their credit score.
Your patient can use their approved Cherry funds to check out immediately, while you get paid for the entire treatment upfront by Cherry.
How is Cherry different?
Cherry offers leading financing terms for you and your patients, a top notch user experience, low merchant fees, installment plans up to 60 months, and free marketing for your practice. Here is a detailed side-by-side comparison.
How much does Cherry cost?
It’s free to sign up with Cherry! There is no setup fee or monthly fee. The only cost is a merchant fee that varies based on which plan you’re on, with the lowest being 1.90%. Please speak with a Cherry representative here if you’re a new practice interested in learning more.
How does Cherry work?
The following requirements are needed to properly process a transaction with Cherry:
Your Requirements
- A working computer or mobile device that is able to connect to the Internet
Patient Requirements
- Patient who is at least 18 years of age
- Patient who has a valid bank issued debit or credit card
If all of these requirements are met, Cherry is able to seamlessly process the application and transaction in under a minute. The process is outlined as follows:
- Direct the patient to your unique application link on your website, social media, QR code, or by texting it to them from your Practice Portal.
- Once the patient applies, an approval decision is made within seconds. If a patient is approved, you’ll see their full approval amount in an email or by logging into your Practice Portal.
- Once the patient is ready to checkout for their service, send them the checkout link for the total amount of the service.
- Patients then choose the payment plan that best fits their needs.
- Patients must provide a bank-issued credit or debit card to process the required down payment.
- After a card is verified, patients can accept the payment plan contract and process payment.
- Once the checkout is completed, you will be paid up-front within 2-3 business days.
How are patients approved?
A soft credit check (this will not hurt a borrower’s credit score) is conducted on each application to determine approval amounts as well as verify a patient’s identity. Some patients will be given an opportunity to provide further information to be approved. The goal of this additional information is to allow us to approve as many patients as possible.
What are my responsibilities as a practice?
To deliver uncompromised services to your patients in a timely manner. A timely manner is broadly defined as that same day unless another arrangement has been clearly agreed upon by the patient. If services have not been rendered successfully, we will require you to refund the purchase. For all issues with specific transactions, Cherry will direct patients to handle these matters directly with the practice.
What are the reasons for patients being denied?
In order to protect patients’ information, we will never share individual denial reasons with practices. Reasons for denial can include too low of a credit score, no credit record, recent bankruptcies etc. If the patient has questions on why they were denied, please have them call us at (888) 839-7171.
How do patients make down payments?
Down Payment: Patients can use a bank-issued Debit Card or a Credit Card* to make their initial payment at time of checkout.
Future Payments: Patients can make monthly payments on their Cherry account via ACH electronic transfer from their checking account, Debit Card or Credit Card*.
*Note: Making payments via Credit Card or Pre-Paid Debit Card will result in a 2.99% processing fee for the patient. There is no processing fee for making payments via ACH or bank-issued Debit Card.
Do you conduct a credit check on patients?
We run a soft credit check on patients which allows us to see their current credit score but will not hurt their credit.
Are patients' payments reported to credit bureaus?
Yes, Cherry may report the status of patients’ accounts to Equifax, one of the major credit bureaus.
How do I invoice payments?
We advise you to invoice transactions as you typically would. Instead of accepting cash, credit or other payment, simply use Cherry to fulfill the payment of the service(s). Transaction amounts should be inclusive of any applicable sales tax associated with each transaction.
Am I responsible if patients don’t make payments?
You, as the practice, are not responsible for the repayment of your patients’ contracts. We take on the credit risk of every contract initiated through Cherry.
How are refunds handled?
Refunds can be initiated within the transactions tab of the Practice Portal by selecting on the dropdown of a completed transaction. Full refunds and partial refunds are available to choose from. There are no additional fees for processing refunds, and merchant fees will be prorated on partial refunds. A breakdown will be provided before submitting the refund.
Transactions that are older than 60 days will require additional assistance from The Cherry Refunds Team. Requests can be emailed to [email protected] with the patients name, contract ID and the desired refund amount. Refunds after 60 days cannot exceed the patients remaining principal balance. If the refund exceeds the patients remaining balance, it is up to the practice to facilitate the refund directly with the patient.
Full Refunds: A full refund cancels the patient’s contract. Cherry reimburses the practice’s processing fees, and the patient received a credit for any remaining balance owed as well as a refund for any payments made to Cherry. This can take approximately 7-10 business days.
Partial Refunds: A partial refund issues a partial credit to the patient, not to exceed the full remaining balance. Cherry will prorate and reimburse the practice’s processing fees. Partial refunds can be performed multiple times and only up to the full remaining balance. This can take approximately 4-5 business days.
How do I get paid?
At setup, we will collect your bank account number and routing number so that we can electronically deposit funds into your account. After a transaction is successfully completed, we will transfer the full amount of the purchase (less a practice fee) into your account via an ACH transfer.
When do I get paid?
Depending on your bank and when the transaction is completed, proceeds from the sale should arrive into your account no later than 3 business days after the transaction (if not sooner).
How can I market Cherry?
Cherry can be marketed as an alternative payment method for individuals who would like treatment now but want the flexibility of paying in installments. After you sign up with Cherry, you will also be able to use our free marketing assets, including social media templates, email templates, physical in-office materials, and more.
How should I approach patients about Cherry?
Cherry can be used for patients that want a product/service but don’t want to pay the full amount upfront today. This gives you, the business owner, the power to increase your sales. Cherry’s easily understood product makes it easy for patients to account for their purchases within their monthly budget.
Contact Us
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (888) 839-7171
Support Hours
Monday – Friday: 9AM – 9PM ET
Saturday: 9AM – 6PM ET
Sunday: Closed