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How can parents pay tiney for their childcare?
How can parents pay tiney for their childcare?

Which payment methods are currently supported?

Anna Smithson avatar
Written by Anna Smithson
Updated over a week ago

There are many government backed schemes parents can use to help pay for their childcare, and tiney are able to support the following payment methods.

Debit or Credit card

The most common method - parents pay the full cost of care themselves. We use a payment platform called Stripe to generate invoices and securely process card payments.

Child Tax Credits or Universal Credit

The government will cover 70% of the cost of child care (up to a cap) with Child Tax Credits - however this scheme is being phased out and only accessible to people who have already been claiming this.

It is being replaced by Universal Credit, where the government will cover the cost of up to 85% of care.

Eligibility criteria apply for both schemes, and they cannot be used in conjunction with Tax-Free Childcare - check on www.gov.uk for more information.

In both cases, the cost of care must be paid by the parent upfront (usually by card), and then they can later claim the cost back.

For more details, see our article: How to pay with Universal Credit

Tax-Free Childcare

Working or self-employed parents earning over £139/week and less than £100k/year can pay through Tax-Free Childcare, where the government will top up £2 for every £8 paid by parents, up to £2000 per child per year.

Parents will need to set up a childcare account to pay into, and then this payment will be topped up by the government.

Parents can then pay from this account directly to tiney. You can find tiney in the Tax-Free Childcare portal by searching for tiney, our Ofsted number CA000038, or our postcode E16 2DQ.

For more details, see our article: How to pay with Tax-Free Childcare

Childcare Vouchers

Some employers work with childcare voucher schemes, which allow parents to pay for childcare with their pre-tax earnings. Tiney currently accept payments from the following voucher schemes, but we may be able to accommodate other vouchers as needed on request:

  • Edenred

  • Computershare

  • Faircare

  • Sodexo

  • Kiddivouchers

  • Fideliti

  • Care-4

  • Reward Gateway

From October 2018, Childcare Vouchers are no longer available to new applicants - only parents on existing schemes may pay with this. Tax-Free Childcare is a good alternative for parents who cannot use vouchers.

For more details, see our article: How to pay with Childcare Vouchers

Student Finance

Parents in full time higher education and receiving a Student Finance loan may be eligible for the Childcare Grant, which covers 85% of the cost of childcare per week up to a cap.

For placements using this scheme, tiney will request the funds from Student Finance, which then needs to be approved by parents each week.

The remaining 15% or cost up to the weekly cap will be charged to the parent by credit or debit card.

For more details, see our article: How to pay with Student Finance

15 Hours Free Childcare for 2 year olds

Some children are eligible for 15 hours free childcare, if their families are receiving some forms of support.

The funding for these placements is provided by Local Authorities - providers must be registered with their Authorities to offer this, however the process of registration varies from one Local Authority to another, so not all providers are able to offer this. For more details, see our article on Funded Hours.

15 or 30 Hours Free Childcare for 3 & 4 year olds

All families are eligible for 15 hours free childcare per week for 3 & 4 year olds.

Working families (earning over £139/week and up to £100k/year) may be eligible for 30 hours free childcare per week for 3 & 4 year olds.

These placements are also funded by Local Authorities, with whom providers must be registered in order to offer these placements. For more details, see our article on Funded Hours.

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