Overview

Enable online payments/Use_Online_Payments is located in Financial Settings > General Settings > e-Payments > Basic Settings. It is the master switch that turns the entire online payments feature on or off for the institution.

What This Setting Does

When turned on, this setting allows end users, such as _Students_ and parents, to make payments online directly through the portal or mobile app, instead of having to pay in person or through offline methods. When turned off, none of the online payment options are available to end users anywhere in the system.

Where It Is Used

This setting acts as the master switch for the Online Payment screen that is reached from several places in the _Student_/_Parent_ portal.

• Main Menu > Financial – the main financial page shows an Online Payment button only when this setting is turned on; the button opens the Online Payment screen used to pay tuition and other fees.
• Main Menu > Dashboard – the dashboard also offers a Pay Online shortcut that opens the same Online Payment screen, plus the same screen is reused when paying from an admission application, a re-registration, or a quick payment link.

Business Logic / Behavior

• This is a simple on/off toggle (checkbox) with no additional configuration on its own.
• When disabled, end users lose access to online payment execution, even if other e-Payments settings are separately configured.
• This setting is a prerequisite for essentially all other settings in the e-Payments group, since they configure details of a feature that must first be switched on here.

Example(s)

An Academy wants parents to be able to settle tuition fees from home rather than visiting the finance office. The administrator turns on Enable online payments, after which parents at Riverbend Academy see a Pay Online option in their portal’s financial section and can, for example, pay a $650 Fall semester tuition installment by credit card in a few clicks. Before the setting was turned on, that same $650 installment could only be paid in person or by bank transfer at the finance office.

When to Use

When to Enable

Enable this setting when the institution wants to offer any form of online payment to _Students_ or parents, whether through the regular portal, the mobile app, or a quick payment link. This is the first step before configuring any other e-Payments setting.

When to Disable

Disable this setting if the institution does not want to accept payments electronically at all, for example if all payments are handled exclusively through a bank or in person at the finance office.

Notes

• Prerequisites: none. This is the top-level setting that other e-Payments settings depend on.
• Related settings: Allow end user to select the payer/OP_Allow_End_User_To_Select_The_Payer (Financial Settings > General Settings > e-Payments > Basic Settings); Set the pre-selected payer/OP_Set_PreSelected_Payer (Financial Settings > General Settings > e-Payments > Basic Settings); Enable quick online payments [Open form]/Enable_Quick_Online_Payments_Open_Form (Financial Settings > General Settings > e-Payments > Quick Online Payments [Open Form]).

K-12 vs Higher Education: This setting behaves the same regardless of whether Higher Education Mode (Enable Configuration for Higher Education/Xrisi_parametropoihshs_kolegiou) is enabled or disabled.