Payment Options

The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive overview of the payment options available with Mydra. This is intended as a central source of information that covers the key features, processes and benefits for each of the financing options - and in particular will be used to train both our AI assistants, as well as sharing information with our teams and 3rd party stakeholders.

Pay Up Front
1. How it works
  - Once you have chosen a course you want to take, you select ‘Pay up front’ and you will be directed to Stripe, our safe and secure online payments partner
  - Enter your credit or debit card details - we will normally collect your payment within the next 24/48 hours, once we have finalised details with your course provider
  - We will email you with all the details you need to begin your course (and if its self paced, to access the learning and content).
  - For cohort based courses (ie those with start dates / live teaching / potentially limited numbers), there may not always be capacity for the dates you have requested. If that happened, we will contact you with options, eg offer alternative dates, or recommend a similar alternative - we won’t collect any payment until we have done this
2. Eligibility criteria
  - No restrictions, this option is available to all users
3. Repayment terms
  - Immediate, through a one-off payment and no further payments will be due
4. Advantages and disadvantages
  - Pay up front is particularly suitable for lower cost programmes

Pay in Instalment
1. How it works
  - Instead of paying the full cost of your training up front, you can split into 3, 6 or 12 equal instalments at 0% interest
  - At checkout, you select pay in instalments (context: not all courses have instalments available yet - in which case you’ll need to checkout with one of our alternative options, ie pay up front, pay with learning budget from your employer, or pay from your gross salary with Retribucion Flexible)
  - You will be asked a few simple questions like your name, address and salary
  - You will also be asked to validate your identity—this requires you to take a picture of an identity document like a driving licence or passport. To ensure this process is secure, fast, and reliable, we partner with Onfido, a leading provider of KYC and AML identity verification services. Onfido is renowned for its compliance with stringent international standards, including GDPR, guaranteeing that your personal data is handled with the highest standards of security and privacy. Importantly, we do not store any of this information, ensuring your data privacy and security throughout the verification process.
  - You will be asked to upload an image or pdf of a recent payslip, so we can confirm your employment and that the instalments are affordable
  - We are normally able to give you a decision instantly, but occasionally we may need to make some additional checks - this will take a maximum of 48 hours, and we will always keep you informed throughout the process
  - If you are paying by instalments only (ie not combining with Retribucion Flexible), we will normally ask you to set up a direct debit so we can collect the monthly payment direct from your account, so you don’t need to worry about instructing the payments / missing the payment dates
  - Once we confirm that instalments are approved, we then confirm your enrollment and pay the provider of your training course directly
  - Your first payment will be collected within 30 days of you being approved / us paying the education provider, but we will confirm the exact date
2. Eligibility criteria
  - To qualify for payment by instalments, your employer needs to have fully verified their Mydra account.
  - For an employer to be fully verified on Mydra (and instalment payments to be enabled), your HR manager needs to access the dashboard via the link we have provided, and complete some registration details about your company - this process should only take a few minutes and requires no financial commitment on their part
  - You can check whether instalments are available for your employer by clicking here
  - If you are employed, you need to have worked at your company for a minimum of 6 months
  - If you are a freelancer or on a fixed term contract, you need to have been at your company normally for a minimum of 1 years
  - If you are a foreign national, you normally need to have been a resident for at least 12 months
  - The Minimum age is 18 at the time of application, with the maximum being 65
3. Repayment terms
  - The cost of your course can be split into 3, 6 or 12 instalments
  - The first instalment is due within 30 days of your enrolment (note, this might be sooner than the start of your course, particularly if your course is cohort based (ie has live classes)
  - If you leave your employer, the instalments will continue to be charged directly from your bank account and will remain due according to the payment schedule agreed - so if you think you will be leaving your employer while you are still paying the instalments, keep in mind that these payments will continue uninterrupted as you transition to your new job
4. Advantages
  - You can spread the cost of your tuition into more manageable instalments
  - 0% interest means that you won’t pay any extra to take the instalment option - simply the upfront cost of the tuition fee, split into manageable instalments
  - Applying is quick and easy, and normally only takes a couple of minutes
  - We handle all of the enrolments and admin with the education provider, so neither you nor your employer has to worry about it
5. Disadvantages
  - You will need to be comfortable with budgeting for the deductions each month

Retribucion Flexible
1. How it works
  - Retribucion Flexible is a way for employees of companies in Spain to allocate part of their gross salary to specific benefits such as meal vouchers, transportation, childcare, healthcare, or training courses
  - Employees can allocate up to 30% of their gross annual salary to spend on these items under the Retribución Flexible scheme, including training and professional development, allowing for significant tax savings.
  - The amount allocated for a specific item is deducted from the employee's gross salary before taxes are deducted. The cost of your eligible benefit (such as training) will be deducted from your gross salary, reducing the amounts of income on which you pay tax, and consequently your tax bill. This results in a net salary increase for you that is reflected on your monthly payslips.
  - You can simulate this yourself using your own salary on our simulator - this shows you how much you could have available for your training budget, based on your salary and amount you have already spent on other benefits - we then confirm this with your employer’s Retribucion Flexible provider
  - At checkout, if you select Retribucion Flexible (either combined with ‘pay up front’ or ‘pay in instalments’, we will simultaneously
    - Validate with your employer or employer’s Retribucion Flexible provider (sometimes also known as flexible benefits or employee benefits’ provider) that you have sufficient allocation available for the cost of your course vs the 30% of your salary that is allowable each year for allocation to Retribucion Flexible Benefits
    - Validate with your employer that the course is aligned with your job role and is approved (this is a requirement of the scheme from the Spanish government)
    - Confirm your enrollment with the education provider
  - With Mydra, not only are we fully integrated with the Retribucion Flexible partners, but we also have the fantastic option of combining this tax benefit with the ability to split the deductions from your payroll into 3, 6 or 12 interest free instalments
2. ‍Retribucion Flexible in one payment / one payroll deduction‍
  - If you can choose to have the deduction for your course cost taken from one month of your pay (a good option for low price courses) - we will coordinate this with your employer / Retribucion Flexible provider, and in turn we will manage the payment to the education provider
  - You will receive from us confirmation that the checkout via Retribucion Flexible has been successful, and letting you know when to expect the deduction from your gross salary
  - Separately, you will receive an email from the education provider confirming your confirming your enrollment to the course
3. ‍Retribucion Flexible combined with instalments‍
  - A great option we can offer through Mydra is the ability to combine the benefits of Retribucion Flexible with our payment in instalments, all at 0% interest
  - This provides the best of both worlds - lowering the amount of tax you pay - and therefore substantially lowering the effective cost of the course - and allowing you to spread the cost of the course over 3, 6 or 12 payroll deductions with zero interest.
  - Firstly, we will confirm that you are eligible to split the retribucion flexible payments into instalments with
    - A few simple questions like your name, address and salary
    - A request to validate your identity with a picture of an identity document like a driving licence or passport (To ensure this process is secure, fast, and reliable, we partner with Onfido, a leading provider of KYC and AML identity verification services. Onfido is renowned for its compliance with stringent international standards, including GDPR, guaranteeing that your personal data is handled with the highest standards of security and privacy. Importantly, we do not store any of this information, ensuring your data privacy and security throughout the verification process)
    - A request to upload an image or pdf of a recent payslip, so we can confirm your employment and that the instalments are affordable
    - We will normally be able to tell you straight away if you are eligible for instalments.
  - Secondly, after we have confirmed we can offer instalments, we will then validate with the Retribucion Flexible provider that you have sufficient allocation from your 30% annual gross salary, confirm with your employer that you are eligible to do the programme as part of the Retribucion Flexible scheme, and confirm your place with the education provider)
  - Thirdly, we will then notify the Retribucion Flexible partner of your payment plan and the monthly deductions that will be made from your gross salary and for how many months. To be clear under this option, because the deductions are applied to your gross salary, the repayments will be collected automatically via your employer and you do not have to make any direct payments to us. It’s not only tax-efficient but hassle-free!
  - Nevertheless, we will also set up a direct debit when you sign up for your course that will just be activated in case you leave your employer, so you can complete however many payments are due (FYI, the repayment of the instalments remains your responsibility to complete, even if you leave your job)
  - Example of combining Retribucion Flexible with instalments‍
    - Course Cost: €5,200 for a training course.‍
    - Salary: you earn €30k per year, meaning €9k is available overall for Retribución Flexible in the calendar year, and therefore €5200 of this €9k can be allocated to training ‍
    - nstalment Plan Options: You can choose to pay in 3, 6, or 12 instalments to make the payment more manageable.‍
    - Example with 12 Instalments:
      - Upfront Payment: Mydra pays the full course cost of €5,200 upfront on your behalf.‍
      - Salary: Monthly Deductions: Your employer / Retribución Flexible provider deducts €433 per month from your gross salary for 12 months (ie €5200)‍
      - Tax Savings: By deducting from your gross salary, you achieve a tax saving of €130 per month, totaling €1,560 over the year.‍
      - Net Cost: The 'real' cost of your training, after tax savings, is €3,640, providing a saving of 30% vs the original cost of €5200
4. Eligibility criteria
  - To be eligible for Retribucion Flexible with pay up front
    - The course must be broadly relevant for your job, and approved by your employer (we manage this process)
    - You must have sufficient allowance available remaining from your annual gross salary allocation to be able to cover the cost of the training (30% X Gross Salary = Retribucion Flexible allowance)
  - To be eligible for Retribucion Flexible combined with instalments, the same criteria as above apply, but in addition:
    1. If you are employed, you need to have worked at your company for a minimum of 6 months
    2. If you are on a fixed term contract, you need to have been at your company for a minimum of 12 months
    3. If you are a foreign national, you normally need to have been a resident for at least 12 months of your country of residence
    4. The Minimum age is 18 at the time of application, with the maximum being that the number of instalments cannot exceed the normal retirement age of your country of residence
5. Repayment terms
  - Either pay from your gross salary in one deduction (pay up front), or split into 3, 6 or 12 instalments
  - The first instalment is due within 30 days of your enrolment (note, this might be sooner than the start of your course, particularly if your course is cohort based (ie has live classes)
  - If you leave your employer, the management of your instalment payments may change, depending on your new employment situation. The instalments will continue to be due without interruption, and will be handled as follows:
    - If you have not started a new job (or your new employer doesn’t have a flexible benefits provider) payments will be debited from your bank account via the mandate we set up at the beginning of the instalment plan
    - If your new employer uses the same benefits provider, payments may continue to be processed through them without interruption.
    - If your new employer works with a different benefits provider, the payments may be transferred to the new provider to continue the deductions from your salary. In all cases, if the instalments are no longer deducted from your gross salary through a benefits provider, they will be due from your net income. Please plan accordingly to ensure that these payments are managed smoothly as you transition between employers.
6. Advantages
  - Paying with Retribucion Flexible lowers the amount of tax you pay - and therefore substantially lowers the effective cost of the course
  - Before Mydra, this saving would have been limited by your employer’s willingness to ‘front’ the cost of the course to the education provider while they claimed the amount back from your gross salary over a few months
  - With Mydra, you can now also combine the tax savings of Retribucion Flexible with the ability to spread this over 3, 6 or 12 instalments - greatly reducing the friction for you the employee
  - Hassle free - enrolling through our platform is quick and easy, we take care of all the confirmations with your employer, Retribucion Flexible provider and education provider - and of course, we manage the payments
7. Disadvantages
  - None! You gain access to top-tier training and professional development opportunities, enjoy a reduction in your tax bill, and can spread payments over manageable instalments. This really is a win-win!

Learning Budgets
1. How it works
  - Your employer might have a budget allocated to your annual training - if they do, you can use it to pay towards some / all of your course on the Mydra platform
  - When selecting ‘pay up front’ or ‘pay in instalments’, all you have to do is select ‘combine with learning budget’
  - You will be asked how much training budget you have available and would like to allocate to the programme in which you want to enrol
  - If there is a balance remaining, then you can either choose to pay the remainder up front in one instalment, or if you prefer and are eligible, you can pay the balance via instalments. Example‍
    - Course selected: costs €2,500‍
    - Learning Budget Available: €1,000‍
    - Balance remaining: €1,500
      - Pay up front: €1,500‍
      - Pay in 3 or 6 instalments: €500 or €250
  - You can also choose to pay any balance remaining via Retribucion Flexible / instalments. When you enter the learning budget you believe you have available, we will then validate this with your employer
  - When confirmed, we then pay the full cost of your course to the education provider - either 100% covered by the learning budget, or combined with an upfront payment / or balance paid by us, and repaid by you via instalments
2. Eligibility criteria
  - You need to have a learning budget allocated to you by your employer. If you aren’t sure, check with your HR department or manager.
  - Even if you don’t think you have one, it can be worth asking in case this isn’t widely publicised - or your employer may offer on a case by case basis
3. Repayment terms
  - Payment for the learning budget portion will be made to the education provider as soon as your employer confirms the budget available for you, and the money is transferred to Mydra
4. Advantages
  - Take advantage of your company’s learning budgets - they are there to be used!
  - By using Mydra, we take the pain out of the process by helping you map your learning path and identify the right courses for your learning needs - we then seamlessly integrate with your employer and education provider to facilitate the payment of learning budgets, something that is often overlooked by employees because it is too difficult or bureaucratic to manage
  - We also allow you to combine your learning budget with instalments and Retribucion flexible, meaning, allowing maximum flexibility
5. Disadvantages
  - None - the learning budget is yours, and free to use!
6. How can I ask my company for a leaning budget
  1. Consult with Human Resources: Ask your HR department if they offer a training budget. Be sure to inquire about availability and the requirements for using it.
  2. Review Your Employee Handbook: Sometimes, information about the training budget is included in the employee handbook or internal company policy documents.
  3. Talk to Your Manager: Your manager may have information about the training budget and how to apply for it. They can also support your request and explain why the training is relevant to your professional development.
  4. Submit a Formal Request: If your company offers a training budget but it isn’t widely advertised, submit a formal request or proposal, explaining how the course you wish to take aligns with your job responsibilities and the value it will bring to your role.
  5. Justify Your Request: Explain how the course will contribute to your professional growth and how it will improve your job performance. The more specific and detailed your request is, the more likely you are to receive a positive response.
  6. Follow-Up: After making the request, follow up with HR or your manager to ensure your request is processed and confirmed.
Income Share Agreement (ISA)‍
1. What is an ISA?
  An Income Share Agreement (ISA) is a flexible way to fund your education, and it’s not a loan. With an ISA, StudentFinance covers your tuition fees upfront, and in return, you agree to repay a percentage of your income after you finish your studies, according to a pre-agreed payment schedule.
2. Key Features:
  1. Planned Payment Schedule:
    - After your studies, you’ll start making monthly payments based on a planned schedule that we agree with you up front
    - Normally, the start of repayments will begin the month after you finish your studies, and payments will be based on the fixed percentage of the agreed minimum income threshold in the contract
    - From time to time, we will then ask you to confirm your income level and make adjustments to your future payments as necessary
    - The total amount payable is capped, and fully transparent up front - so you’ll be able to track when your agreement is fully repaid
  2. Pause Your Payments When Necessary:
    - While we have agreed a pre-planned payment schedule with you, a unique advantage of an income share agreement is that you have the flexibility to request a pause in your payments at any time that your income is below the pre-agreed threshold
    - This offers great peace of mind to know that you only repay when you can afford it
  3. How It Works:
    - Payments are due every month after your studies, based on the agreed schedule
    - However, if your income is below the threshold, you can request a pause in payments by submitting proof of income before the next payment is due.
    - Payments will resume when your income is back above the threshold - though you will need to continue providing us with proof that your income is below the threshold, just to make sure the ISA scheme is fair and transparent for all users
  4. When Payments End:
    - The ISA will end when any one of the following occurs:
      1. You have made an agreed number of full payments at the minimum income threshold (eg monthly threshold is €2k, income share % is 10%, so 1 full repayment = €200)
      2. You’ve reached a maximum payment amount (the payment cap).
      3. The ISA term ends (eg 7 years from the signature date)
  5. Example of First Payments:
    - For the first three months, your payments are calculated as a percentage of the minimum income threshold.
    - For example, if the threshold is €1,333 and your income share is 12%, you will pay €159.96 per month for those first three payments. After that, payments will be adjusted based on your actual income.
  6. Flexibility When You Need It:
    - While your ISA sets a clear payment schedule up front, the main advantage is that you have the ability to pause payments if your income is below the minimum threshold
    - This provides flexibility and peace of mind, ensuring that your payments are always manageable based on your financial situation.
Also look at the FAQs