How does the usage-based SMS account balance work?
With EasyRoutes Premium, we offer usage-based SMS notifications in select countries. This is done through creating usage charges that loads up a EasyRoutes Usage Balance. SMS messages sent by route stop events will count against your usage balance based on the recipients' location.
Click either link below for further details specific to the EasyRoutes product you're using:
EasyRoutes for Shopify
Approving an App Spending Limit
When signing up for a Premium plan, if you opt-in to SMS notifications, your plan will show an "App Spending Limit" section. This sets a maximum possible value that a shop can be charged based on SMS usage:
You are only issued a usage charge whenever a usage balance is actually added. This is done via the Manage Usage Balance modal. The usage maximum is required in order to add any credit to your balance.
Adding to EasyRoutes Usage Balance
The Manage Usage Balance modal is used to add usage charges and update the balance used to charge for SMS messages. You can access this modal when you attempt to enable any SMS notification event settings on the Email & SMS Notifications tab or using the "Manage balance" link on the General tab.
Selecting "Add $15 to my balance" will apply a charge of $15 USD and update your usage balance. You can change this amount to modify your frequency of top ups required and the balance that you want to maintain. You will see usage charges on your bill. SMS messages sent by route stop events will count against your usage balance based on the recipients' location.
See How much does SMS usage cost? for a list of available recipient countries and prices per message segment.
Enabling the "Automatically top up my balance when it runs out" checkbox will automatically apply $15 USD charges when the usage balance reaches $0. This amount can be changed to reduce the frequency of top ups. These charges appear as “EasyRoutes Usage Fee” in your Shopify invoice.
You can view your SMS usage and usage balance remaining on the Settings -> Help tab.
We will also attempt to remind you if your balance is running low on a route page if you are manually adding credits to your balance.
Appendix: Opt-in for Existing Premium Users
Existing Premium users will see an option on the Email & SMS Notifications tab in Settings to "Turn on SMS Notifications":
Selecting this button will launch a plan approval page to be able to accept usage-based charges.
EasyRoutes for Web
To start, your account will need to be verified by the EasyRoutes team before SMS functionality can be enabled. From your EasyRoutes Settings > Notifications tab, scroll down to the SMS notifications section - click the Contact button and complete the form that appears to begin the verification process:
Once SMS notifications have been enabled for your account, a summary of all SMS-related information will be listed in your EasyRoutes Settings > Help tab, within the Current plan section:
Click the Manage balance link to begin the process of adding funds to your SMS balance - a warning may display requiring a default payment method:
Click the Go to billing portal button and ensure a listed payment method has been made default:
Return to your EasyRoutes Settings > Help tab, and click the Manage balance link to authorize a $15 SMS top-up charge to this default payment method. You can select to automatically add another $15 in SMS usage whenever the existing balance has been spent using the checkbox at the bottom of the modal:
