How Fresha empowers local beauty and wellness businesses with global payment solutions

Beauty and wellness platforms like Fresha have changed the game for salon owners and stylists alike. They create time for stylists to focus on their clients, attract new customers, and run their business with software that facilitates easy booking, inventory management, reporting, calendar management, and now global payments solutions. 

Before Fresha rolled out integrated payments with Adyen’s financial technology platform, they lived in a very fragmented world in terms of systems. Payments were done on one system, ledger management on another. 

The ease and reliability of accepting payments, payouts, and ledger management as part of Fresha’s all-in-one software has added immense value to salon owners. They no longer have to spend countless hours running the numbers and checking payments.

Ursula Moore, Director and Owner of Bond Hair Salon in London, wanted to create a salon that was relaxing for stylists and clients. 

Using Fresha as their business software and payments provider has taken away operational work for the salon and the stylists, allowing them to focus on their clients.

“I don't have to focus on wondering whether a client's going to come or not because they've already confirmed, they've paid the deposit. And at the end of the day, I don't have to spend all this time checking the numbers. It's always accurate.” Ursula Moore, Director and Owner of Bond Hair Salon

Often, small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are limited to offering only those payment methods supported by their payment service provider. By using Fresha’s integrated payments, they can accept local and global payment methods easily.

Accepting global payment methods means end-customers can pay wherever they are, with whatever method they prefer. Payments from global card schemes like American Express are natively accepted anywhere with Fresha, both online and in-person. 

Letting clients pay how they prefer adds an extra layer of service to loyal Cardmembers. 76% of UK American Express® Cardmember reported that, among all the credit cards they own, American Express is their most frequently used credit card.¹

61% of American Express® Cardmembers report they would use this payment method to make purchases outside of the US when traveling internationally.²

Fresha offers unified online and in-person payments solutions to allow end-customers to enjoy their treatment without worrying about how to pay. No matter where they are, end-customers can use their preferred payment method to book, leading to better experiences and less drop-off for the salon.

Thanks to Adyen's range of in-person payment solutions, Fresha’s users get automatic access to affordable and innovative solutions like Tap to Pay or other mobile terminals that fit the needs of the beauty and wellness industry. 

“Small businesses tend to be cost-averse. Tap to Pay allows them very conveniently and very easily to activate their mobile device to take payments.” Pawel Iwanow, CPO and co-founding team member at Fresha

Accepting American Express adds appeal to Card-loyal national and international customers. For Fresha, offering this favored payment method enhances a personalized experience and strengthens the relationship between salon and client. On top of the stylist listening to the client’s wishes and offering a refreshing treatment, they can also pay with the card they prefer.

“Often when a customer goes to pay, they say, what can I use? Can I use Amex? And I'm always like, yeah, of course.” Ursula Moore, Director and Owner of Bond Hair Salon

Adding American Express to the payment methods can do more than increase loyalty. It can also increase  customer spend. On average, American Express® Cardmembers in the UK spend 3.8 more annually, compared to average UK credit and charge card users.³

“At Fresha, we prefer to give the choice of what payment methods to use to our partners and their clients. Some clients prefer to use their Amex Card because of loyalty points.” Pawel Iwanow, CPO and co-founding team member at Fresha.

For SMBs, fraud is more than a percentage eating away at margin. It's a direct threat to their financial wellbeing. That’s why fraud prevention isn’t just nice to have, but necessary.

By offering native payments powered on our global financial technology platform, Fresha ensures small businesses have access to the latest fraud prevention tools.

For American Express, SafeKey® Fraud protection is one of those tools. The card scheme offers an additional layer of card authentication that provides end-customers with a secure and trustworthy payment experience.

Access to these fraud prevention tools can really make the difference for SMBs. Companies that authenticate transactions through SafeKey® have experienced an average decrease of 17% in fraud rate and an average increase of 3% in authorization rates.⁴

Our single financial technology platform is key in unifying Fresha’s payments and financial services offering. After moving to our single platform, Fresha was able to unify their integrated payments offering and create an all-in-one software solution that supports salon owners like Ursula in running their business.

Offering integrated payments is only the beginning for Fresha. Embedded payments are paving the way for the platform to start expanding their product suite to embedded financial services. 

With the combined power of Adyen and American Express, every platform can offer powerful and secure payments to SMBs. Thanks to the global reach of the card network and our global financial technology platform, salons across borders can accept payments from Cardmembers in over 100 currencies, and settle in 18 currencies.

Join Fresha by embedding payments into your platform or marketplace and let your users run their business, sell, and get paid in one place.

1. American Express® commissioned internet panel survey conducted in March 2022 based on food and beverage purchases made in the 3 months prior to the survey. Definition of American Express® Card Members: Respondents who reported that they have an American Express® Card and that they used that card to make food and beverage purchases in the prior 3 months. Definition of Non-Card Members: Respondents who reported that they do not have any type of American Express® Card and used Visa®, MasterCard®, debit cards, cash, or payment services to make food and beverage purchases in the prior 3 months.

2.  American Express commissioned an online survey conducted by Morning Consult in September 2023 relating to non-business purchases. Definition of American Express® Card Members: Respondents in the U.S. who reported that they have an American Express credit card and that they use that Card to make non-business purchases at least once every 6 months. Definition of Non-Card Members: Respondents who reported that they do not have any type of American Express Card and that they use Visa, MasterCard, or Discover credit card products to make non-business purchases at least once every 6 months. Disclaimer: The trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

3.  American Express internal data for United Kingdom Cardmembers spending across Europe compared to Globaldata Payment Card Analytics for transactions with domestic cards at terminals in the country and outside the country, including at physical terminals and initiated remotely

4.  Based on the comparative analysis of fraud rates for authorized transactions 12 months pre vs. 12 months post enablement of SafeKey for 42 Global Merchants between 2015-2021.