Credits, Segments and Auto Recharge

Texts cost money to send, so Perceny charges them against credits. Email does not consume credits. Push notifications do not either.

The rule, from the page itself: "Credits pay for texts by the segment: 1 credit = N segments. A segment is up to 160 characters of a text message (70 if it includes emoji or special characters), so longer messages use more than one."

Why one message costs twoCopy a link to this section

A "text message" is a carrier fiction. What actually travels is a segment:

• Plain characters: 160 per segment.
• One emoji, one curly quote, one accented letter anywhere in the body: the whole message switches encoding and every segment drops to 70 characters.

So Hi Jane, see you Friday at 2pm! is one segment. The same message with a 💇 is two — and if it goes on your appointment reminder, it is two on every reminder you ever send.

This is why the template editor shows a cost line under the body. See Message templates and variables.

Where the balance livesCopy a link to this section

Messaging → Credits shows "N credits available", the purchase history, and a warning when "Your credits are running low."

Credits come in pools. A business has its own pool, and a member can have a personal one — which is why the inbox and the blast composer both offer Charge Credits To: Business Credits or My Credits. The blast composer spells out the consequence: "The blast is charged to these credits."

Who is allowed to spend the business pool is a permission, not an assumption:

• Use Business Credits in the Inbox — "Charge inbox replies to the business' messaging credits instead of the member's own."
• Use Business Credits for Blasts — the same for blasts.

Without them, a stylist's replies come out of their own credits. Try to spend a pool you do not own and Perceny refuses: "You are not allowed to spend those credits."

Buying creditsCopy a link to this section

Buy Credits offers packs — each shown as "N credits" / "Covers N text segments" — and confirms before charging: "Purchase N credits (S text segments) for $X? The saved card will be charged."

The card is whoever pays for that pool: "Billed to the business's card on file" or "Billed to {name}'s card on file." Only cards saved for that payer appear in the picker. If there is no card yet, add one first — "There is no saved payment method to charge for credits."

Buying credits needs an active subscription with a saved card: "The business needs an active subscription with a saved card to buy credits."

Auto RechargeCopy a link to this section

The important part, and the reason to read this page before a busy Saturday: "Top the balance back up automatically when it runs low, so nothing stops for want of credits."

Set three things per pool:

1. When balance goes below — the trigger.
2. Bring my balance back up to — the target. "Only the difference is charged." It must be at least $5.00 above the trigger.
3. Using this payment method — a card saved for whoever pays for that pool.

Each pool has its own settings and its own card: "Each pool of credits has its own auto recharge settings and card."

When it runs you get a toast — "Added $X credits to your balance." When it does not, you get told why:

• "Could not charge your card. {reason}"
• "Auto recharge was turned off after repeated failed payments: {reason} Check the card and turn it back on." Repeated failures disable it; it does not silently keep retrying forever.
• "Auto recharge could not cover this charge. Raise the recharge amount or buy credits manually." — your top-up target is smaller than a single blast.

What happens when credits run outCopy a link to this section

You get "Insufficient credits." and the text does not send. The consequence is not only marketing: appointment reminders are texts. A shop that runs dry on a Friday afternoon stops reminding Saturday's clients, and Saturday's no-show rate tells the story.

Turn on auto recharge. It is the single highest-leverage setting on this page.

Estimating a blast before you send itCopy a link to this section

The blast composer does the arithmetic for you:

• "N credits/recipient (S segments)" per channel, with email marked "No credits".
• "Estimated total: T credits" for the whole audience.
• A confirmation: "Send this blast on {channels}? This will use about T credits."

Trimming one sentence out of a 900-recipient blast is a real saving. Check the estimate before confirming, every time. See Run a marketing blast.

Skipping the chargeCopy a link to this section

Send without charging credits exists for the cases where Perceny is covering the cost. If you do not see it, it does not apply to you — do not plan around it.

Reading the historyCopy a link to this section

The credit ledger records every purchase, every automatic top-up and every charge, so a month that consumed twice the usual credits can be explained rather than guessed at. Pair it with a look at your templates: a one-word edit that pushed a reminder to two segments is the usual culprit.