If you're in an LA which works directly with childcare providers rather than with tiney, you'll need to give them bank details to make payment to. You have a dedicated account for these payments through tiney, and can find the details in your app.
Why do I need to use these account details?
Having your payments made via tiney's platform is important for a few reasons.
Firstly, the terms. It's a condition of registration with tiney that payments for childcare should be made via our platform (though we are aware that some LAs may wish to make payment to you directly - please see the last section in this article for more information).
From our Childminder Terms:
6.1: As part of our agreement with you, you will undertake all reasonable effort to make sure all payments and charges paid by Parents or local authorities in relation to your services as a Childminder are made into the Tiney Wallet.
Secondly, it means that tiney's service charge gets applied when the money is sent through to your wallet. If payments are made to you directly, tiney's fee still applies, but would need to be paid separately. If payments go via tiney, the process is simplified.
Having all your payments go through your wallet also means that the records for your childcare payment are in one place, which is really useful when it comes to your taxes. tiney also offer a permanent fee reduction as a loyalty reward once your fee-paying income hits a certain threshold, and many types of funding count towards that.
Where can I find my tiney funding account details?
These details are unique to you, and can be found in your tiney app: head to Business Settings and then to the Local Authority Funding section.
Please note that these account details are for your Local Authority funding payments only, and must not be shared with parents.
I've already given my Local Authority my personal bank details- how do I update them?
You'll need to contact your Local Authority directly, and they'll be able to guide you through their process. We can provide any extra information they may need.
How will tiney know which children my payments are for?
If you submit your own funding claims, tiney won't have visibility over each child's total claim, or the breakdown of payments. Incoming payments from Local Authorities need to be processed manually by our team, so please make sure we've got the info we need:
Your LA's payment rules: each LA sets their own schedule and breakdown of payments across the term.
The total claims for the children accessing funding at your setting, including the number of hours, the hourly rate, and any supplementary payments expected.
Any remittance advice: this is essentially a description of each payment, usually showing a breakdown per funding band, which will help us allocate the paid amount among your funded mindees. Most LAs will send remittance advice alongside each payment. If yours doesn't, there may be a breakdown or report available in your portal.
My Local Authority won’t allow me to use these account details - what do I do?
If your Local Authority rejects your request to use the details provided by tiney, please get in touch with us.
We've also put together some suggested wording below that you can send them, which should help answer common queries.
Template to send to LA
Template to send to LA
Dear LA Funding Team,
Please accept this email as confirmation that I would like to update my nominated funding payment account to XX-XX-XX / XXXXXXXX.
The above account is a business account held legally in my name with Modulr FS Limited, an FCA-registered e-money provider. This account is managed by tiney, acting as my authorised billing and payments administrator. The purpose of using this account, which is legally ring-fenced in my name, is to enable tiney to keep track of payments on my behalf, which in turn helps me manage my income, complete my tax returns, and ensure that I’m paid correctly and in full by for the childcare services I provide.
I am comfortable that tiney will always transfer any funds to me in full that are received into this account. I am also comfortable with and fully aware of the hourly rates that are paid by the local authority for the funded hours I provide.
Separately I have a contracted arrangement with tiney that, in return for the services they offer me (which includes payment and billing administration, alongside a broad range of other support services), I pay them a % of my overall income in tiney service fees. For convenience, these fees are paid automatically on receipt of funds, however I am aware that I can opt to pay these separately via invoice if I require.