AutoPay & Card Payment Authority Terms

1. Scope

These terms apply where Alder allows a customer to save a card, make a card payment or enable AutoPay. They operate with the applicable invoice, Service Agreement, Terms & Conditions and Payment Assistance Policy. They do not authorise Alder to charge amounts that are not validly payable under the underlying service agreement.

2. Saving a card

When you add a card, the payment processor creates a secure payment-method token or identifier. Alder may receive limited card information such as card type, last four digits and expiry information for display and account administration. Alder does not intentionally store the full card number or card security code in My Alder.

You confirm that you are authorised to use the card and to give Alder the payment authority associated with it.

3. Enabling AutoPay

AutoPay is enabled only after an authorised account holder or permitted billing administrator gives the required consent. By enabling AutoPay, you authorise Alder to instruct the payment processor to charge the default saved payment method for amounts validly due under the account, subject to the invoice and these terms.

If AutoPay is disabled, adding or retaining a saved card does not by itself authorise recurring automatic charges. A business-specific contract may contain a separately agreed mandatory payment method, in which case that specific agreement also applies.

4. Amounts and timing

Alder will issue or make available an invoice showing the amount due and due date. My Alder currently presents recurring account payment timing around the 15th of the month where that is the applicable billing cycle. The invoice remains the authoritative amount and due-date record.

AutoPay may charge the invoice balance on or around the stated due date, allowing for payment-processor timing, weekends, public holidays and processing delays. We will not intentionally split or repeat a payment to collect more than the valid outstanding amount.

5. Card surcharges

If Alder applies a card-processing surcharge, the surcharge must be permitted by law, reflect the applicable cost of acceptance, and be disclosed before the transaction is confirmed. My Alder displays the base invoice amount, surcharge amount and total card charge before a manual card payment is confirmed where a surcharge applies.

No surcharge is charged where the relevant payment method or law does not permit it. A surcharge is not used as a penalty for financial hardship or a substitute for a late-payment term.

6. Failed payments and retries

A payment can fail because of insufficient funds, an expired/replaced card, bank fraud controls, processor availability or another issuer decision. A failed attempt does not automatically mean the underlying invoice is disputed or cancelled.

Where permitted, Alder may notify you and attempt the payment again, ask you to update the payment method, or request payment by another method. We will not use repeated automated retries in a manner that is unreasonable or inconsistent with a financial-hardship arrangement.

7. Default payment method

If more than one card is saved, an authorised account user may nominate the default card. AutoPay charges are directed to the default payment method unless another method is expressly selected for a particular payment or the processor’s rules require otherwise.

Removing a default card may require another payment method to be selected before AutoPay can continue.

8. Changing or withdrawing the authority

You may disable AutoPay or remove an eligible saved card through My Alder where the feature is available, or by contacting Alder. Withdrawal of AutoPay affects future automatic payment instructions and does not cancel invoices or amounts already validly due.

If a payment instruction has already been submitted to the processor when authority is withdrawn, it may not be possible to stop that transaction. Contact Alder promptly if this occurs and you believe the payment should not proceed.

9. Refunds, reversals and disputed transactions

If Alder confirms a payment was incorrect, duplicated or otherwise refundable, we will process an appropriate refund or credit. Bank and card-scheme processing can mean the funds take additional time to appear after Alder submits the refund.

If you dispute a card transaction, contact Alder so we can investigate. You may also have rights through your card issuer. A chargeback does not remove an underlying service debt if the invoice was validly payable, but Alder will not treat a genuinely disputed payment issue as resolved merely because a chargeback process exists.

10. Payment assistance takes priority over routine collection

If you are having difficulty paying, tell us. AutoPay can be disabled, rescheduled or dealt with as part of an agreed hardship arrangement where appropriate. We will not insist that AutoPay remain active if doing so conflicts with assistance required under the Payment Assistance Policy.

DFSV and complaint protections also take precedence where routine payment collection would conflict with a mandatory safeguard.

11. Security and privacy

Card payment processing is performed by the nominated payment processor. Alder uses payment tokens/identifiers and limited metadata to administer the account. We do not ask customers to email or send full card numbers, security codes or banking credentials through ordinary support channels.

Payment information is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy and the processor’s security arrangements.

12. Account authority and cardholder responsibility

Only a person with appropriate account/billing authority should add or remove a payment method, enable AutoPay or make an account-level payment decision. If the cardholder is different from the account holder, the person enabling the payment method must have the cardholder’s authority to use the card for the account.

Alder may require additional verification for a high-risk payment-method change or suspected account takeover.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these payment terms for changes to payment processors, law or billing operation. A change does not retrospectively authorise a charge that was not validly payable. Material changes affecting an existing recurring payment authority will be notified where law or fairness requires it.