CareCredit alternatives for med spas

Why med spas look for a CareCredit alternative

CareCredit is a health and wellness credit card with a Pay Later installment loan beside it, and a practice enrolls to accept both.

Its provider FAQ says the processing rate is based on factors including which special financing option a purchase is processed with, and that there are no annual or monthly fees.

The rates themselves are not on the site, and neither is a minimum term, a cancellation term or a setup fee.

What it does publish is the provider side of the deal: payment within two business days and no recourse to the provider if the patient delays or defaults.

Patient terms are published too: no interest if paid in full within 6, 12, 18 or 24 months on purchases of $200 or more, and terms of 24 to 60 months at a reduced APR with fixed monthly payments.

Its provider page says it is accepted at 290K+ locations nationwide, with a med spa testimonial from Destination Aesthetics Medical Spa.

So the two things a practice cannot check in advance are the merchant rate and the contract, and the six alternatives below, all from our patient financing category, are compared here on published facts only.

Cherry: payment plans with a published merchant fee

Cherry offers pay-in-4 and monthly installment plans, names med spas among its main markets, and publishes a dedicated medical aesthetics page.

Its merchant fee is published: from 1.7% per financed transaction, deducted before payout, varying by plan type and pricing settings, with no setup fee or monthly fee.

The provider is paid within 2-3 business days, and its help center says Cherry handles repayment with the patient and takes the credit risk.

Plans run from $35 to $65,000 with terms between 1 and 60 months, everyone approved gets a zero-interest pay-in-4 offer, and long-term monthly plans are qualifying 0% APR or as low as 5.99%.

Its aesthetic extras are an Allē integration and 6 months of 0% APR for qualifying patients on eligible Allergan Aesthetics treatments at no cost to the practice, and its published proof is a case study of Bodify CoolSculpting doing over $1 million with Cherry.

Refunds carry no extra fee, with merchant fees prorated on partial refunds, though the site does not state a provider minimum term or how the agreement ends.

LendingUSA: installment loans with free enrollment

LendingUSA provides point-of-sale installment loans that enrolled merchants offer to customers, with cosmetic surgery among its named industries and a stated partnership with the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.

Enrollment is free, funds typically arrive 3-5 business days after loan documents are signed, approvals are valid for 30 days, and the minimum loan amount is $1000.

It publishes no merchant fee rate, no pricing model and no minimum term, and its only published cancellation term is about the loan, not the merchant agreement: a signed loan can be cancelled or charged back by email or phone.

Onboarding is published as one-on-one training with a dedicated account manager.

PatientFi: monthly plans built for aesthetic practices

PatientFi sells monthly payment plans for elective healthcare, with plastic surgery, med spa and dermatology first in its own market list.

Its pricing model is a merchant processing rate per financed procedure, with rates available on request, and it publishes no starting price, no setup fee and no contract terms.

The published plan facts are amounts from $200 to $50,000, funds typically arriving 1-3 business days after the practice requests them, and no penalties or fees to the practice if a patient misses a payment.

Its aesthetic specifics are an ASPIRE Galderma Rewards integration and approvals exclusive to the practice, and its published case study says CC Plastic Surgery surged revenue 20% with PatientFi.

Beautifi: a Canadian lender with no partner fee

Beautifi is a Canadian financing company for cosmetic and other elective procedures, and it also finances clinic equipment and professional training.

Its price runs the other way: partnering costs the clinic nothing, and the site says Beautifi earns through the financing itself, with optional add-ons such as advertising discussed up front.

Loans run from $1,000 to $50,000, 0% financing options are available, and the clinic is paid directly, typically between one day and six weeks before the procedure.

Onboarding is a business development manager training the team, with most clinics ready within days, and the site says applying does not affect the patient's credit score.

Alphaeon Credit: a credit line program with a 24/7 hotline

Alphaeon Credit is a patient credit program for elective practices, published as available across all 50 states and Washington D.C., and its med spa financing page says it was founded in 2014 and has partnered with over 12,500 providers nationwide.

Setup is published as taking minutes at no cost, but its merchant fee rates arrive only after a form request.

Credit lines run up to $25,000, the practice chooses the plan once the patient is approved, and its provider hotline is staffed 24/7.

It publishes no term or cancellation details and names no clients.

FinanceMutual: branded checkout, no published fees

FinanceMutual sells a branded patient checkout delivered in person, by SMS, QR code or link, with a dedicated med spa and aesthetic clinics page.

It publishes no fees, no minimum term, no cancellation terms and no named clients.

Its services include an automatic recovery sequence for missed payments, and it says the checkout sits behind existing booking and CRM systems and goes live in an afternoon with no retraining.

What each one costs

Two of the seven publish a starting price: Cherry at a merchant fee from 1.7% per financed transaction and Beautifi at $0 to partner.

Four of the seven state a setup fee, and all four say there is none: Cherry, LendingUSA, Beautifi and Alphaeon Credit.

CareCredit says it charges no annual or monthly provider fees but does not state its processing rates, PatientFi gives rates on request, Alphaeon Credit sends rates after a form, and LendingUSA and FinanceMutual publish no pricing model.

Across the whole 17-vendor category, only 4 publish a price at all, and the only monthly starting price in the category belongs to BoomCloud, the membership software that is left off this page.

Who carries the credit risk

CareCredit says there is no recourse to the provider if the patient delays or defaults.

Cherry says it handles repayment with the patient and takes the credit risk.

PatientFi says there are no penalties or fees to the practice if a patient misses a payment.

LendingUSA, Beautifi, Alphaeon Credit and FinanceMutual do not state how credit risk is allocated.

Two of those four publish payout timing, which is not the same thing: LendingUSA says funds typically arrive 3-5 business days after loan documents are signed, and Beautifi says it pays the clinic directly, typically between one day and six weeks before the procedure.

For those four, who carries the risk is a question for the sales call.

What none of the seven publishes

None of the seven states a minimum term, and across the 17-vendor category the only position on minimum terms published belongs to BoomCloud, membership software rather than a lender, which says there is no long-term contract.

None of the seven advertises a free trial.

Five of the seven name clients, leaving Alphaeon Credit and FinanceMutual without a named one.

Questions to ask before you enroll

• What is the merchant fee or processing rate for each financing option, in writing?
• Who carries the credit risk if a patient delays or defaults, and is there any recourse to the practice?
• What is the contract length, the renewal terms and the notice period to end the agreement?
• What happens to your fees when a plan is refunded or cancelled?
• What does the practice pay before the first patient is approved, such as setup, equipment or monthly minimums?