Deposits & Card-on-File: The Other Way to Stop No-Shows

Salons and spas have the highest no-show rate of any appointment-based business — around 30%, per industry benchmarks. Deposits and card-on-file don't just remind a client about their appointment, they give the client a reason not to skip it. Both are included in Pronto from the Starter plan up, connected straight to the salon's own Stripe account.

No-shows aren't a small leak — they're the biggest one

Salons and spas lose more appointments to no-shows than any other kind of appointment-based business, roughly 30% of bookings by some industry measures — worse than medical practices, worse than fitness studios. On a $90 color appointment, that's not just one lost slot; it's the technician's blocked hour and the walk-in client turned away because the chair was reserved.

Requiring a deposit or a card on file roughly cuts that rate in half across the research, and salons that specifically require a deposit from first-time clients report no-show rates as low as 2-5%. The pattern holds across nearly every source that studies this: clients show up when something is actually on the line.

Reminders and deposits solve different problems

Automated reminders work by making sure a client doesn't forget. A deposit works by making sure they don't want to forget — there's money already committed. Neither replaces the other; a reminder catches the client who genuinely lost track of the date, a deposit catches the client who was never that serious about showing up in the first place.

Two ways to protect a booking

Pronto gives you two mechanisms, and you can use either or both depending on the service. Collect a deposit at the time of booking — the client pays a set amount up front through Stripe Checkout, applied toward the final bill. Or save a card on file with no charge at booking, and charge a no-show fee only if the client actually doesn't show.

Either way, if a client cancels within your refund window, the deposit goes back automatically — this isn't a penalty for changing plans, it's protection against being ignored.

It's your Stripe account, not ours

Deposits and card-on-file connect to the salon's own Stripe account — you create a restricted key in your Stripe dashboard and paste it into Pronto's settings. The money goes straight to your account; Pronto never holds it, never takes a cut, and never sees the card number. Card details go directly to Stripe's own secure checkout, never through Pronto's servers.

Charging a no-show fee is your call, not an algorithm's

When a client doesn't show, nothing gets charged automatically. You see a "Charge no-show fee" button on the appointment, and you decide — maybe it's a genuine emergency and you let it go, maybe it's the third time this month and you don't. The system gives you the tool; it doesn't make the judgment call for you.

Available from Starter

Deposits and card-on-file are included from the Starter plan up, the same tier as gift cards. They're not on the Free plan — everything else about booking and reminders works the same regardless.