# Buying credits and billing

Explains how to buy credits, how the amount you buy sets the package, billing information, the receipt email, purchase history and what to do if a payment is not completed.

Studies in SCL run on prepaid credits. You buy credits by card; each purchase is a separate payment, with no subscription or monthly bill. To see how credits are spent on studies, go to the [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits) page.

## Before you buy

- **Who can buy:** If you have a personal account, you buy credits yourself. If you are a member of an organisation, credits are managed at organisation level. In that case, the **Credits & Usage** page shows the note "Credits are managed at the organization level. Please contact the system administrator to add credits." instead of the **Buy Credits** button. The SCL team adds credits to the organisation's balance; for more credits, contact your organisation admin or the SCL team.
- **Your balance:** The **Remaining credits:** line on the credits card at the bottom of the sidebar shows your balance. When your balance drops to 500 credits or below, this line turns into a red **Add credits!** warning.
- **Billing information:** If you want a business invoice, have your company's legal name, 10-digit tax identification number and tax office to hand.

> [!WARNING]
> Do not buy credits while you are a member of an organisation. The **Buy Credits** button on a study screen can still take you to the checkout page, but credits bought this way are added to your personal account, not to the organisation's balance. You cannot use these credits for as long as your organisation membership continues.

## Packages and pricing

Credits are sold in four packages: **Pay as You Go**, **Starter Package**, **Advantage Package** and **Custom Enterprise**. You do not choose the package; it is set automatically by the amount you buy. As the amount grows, you move to a package with a lower unit price. The unit price of that package applies to all the credits you buy.

- You must buy **at least 150 credits**. If you enter a smaller amount, the warning "You can purchase a minimum of 150 credits." appears.
- Amounts at the **Custom Enterprise** level are not sold online. When you set the amount to this level, the warning "Please contact our enterprise sales team for this amount." appears and the payment button is disabled. For these amounts, send a request on the **Support** page with **Billing** selected as the **Category**.
- **VAT** at 20% is added on top of the credit amount. For example, if the credit amount is TRY 10,000, VAT is TRY 2,000 and the total to pay is TRY 12,000.
- Credits you buy do not expire.

Before you pay, the summary on the right of the checkout page shows the full amount including VAT:

| Summary line | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Package name (e.g. **Starter Package**) | The package set by your amount |
| **Credit amount** | Number of credits × the package's unit price, excluding VAT |
| **VAT (20%)** | 20% of the credit amount |
| **Total due today** | The credit amount plus VAT |

> [!TIP]
> If you are just below a package threshold, buying a few more credits can cost less in total thanks to the lower unit price. Try amounts on both sides of the threshold and compare the **Total due today** line.

## Buying credits

1. From the user menu in the top right, open **Settings** › **Credits & Usage**. The **View usage** link in the sidebar and **Plan & Usage** in the user menu open the same page.
2. Click **Buy Credits**. The checkout page of the same name opens with 10,000 credits selected.
3. In the **Credit amount** card, set the number of **Credits to purchase**. The slider moves in steps of 1,000 credits; for any other amount, type the number in the box below the slider.
4. Check the package name and the **Total due today** amount in the summary on the right.
5. In the **Billing information** card, choose **Individual** or **Business** as the **Billing type**.
6. Fill in the billing fields (see the table below). If you have entered your details before, the fields are already filled in.
7. Tick the checkbox above the payment button. It confirms that you have read the **Privacy Notice** and have been informed that your personal data is processed for payment and billing. The payment button stays disabled until you tick it.
8. Click **Continue to payment**. The button briefly shows **Processing...**, your billing information is saved, and the "Güvenli ödeme sayfasına yönlendiriliyorsunuz, lütfen bekleyin…" (Redirecting you to the secure payment page, please wait…) screen opens.
9. On the bank's secure 3D payment page, enter your card details and complete your bank's 3D Secure verification (usually a one-time code sent by SMS).
10. Once the payment is approved, you return to the **Credits & Usage** page. A green "… kredi başarıyla satın alındı!" (… credits purchased successfully!) message shows the amount you bought, and your balance goes up straight away.

If a field is missing or invalid, the page takes you to that field and shows a warning such as "This field is required." below it.

### Billing information fields

| Field | Individual | Business |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **First name**, **Last name**, **Email** | Required | Required |
| **City**, **Country**, **Billing address** | Required | Required |
| **Phone (optional)**, **Postal code (optional)** | Optional | Optional |
| **Company / legal name** | Not shown | Required |
| **Tax identification number** | Not shown | Required, exactly 10 digits |
| **Tax office** | Not shown | Required |

The **Country** field is pre-filled with "Turkey". Individual billing does not ask for a Turkish national ID number; your first and last name are used as the billing recipient.

The **Email** field holds your account's email address, and the receipt is sent to this address. If you change the address here, your login email changes too and you need to verify the new address. The verification steps are on the [Account and organisation](/en/docs/account/account-and-organisation) page.

### Buying from an insufficient credits warning

1. Click **Buy Credits** on the **Research Preview** screen or in the **Insufficient Credits** dialog. A price calculator page opens.
2. Choose the amount. The unit price, subtotal, VAT and total are shown. If your billing information is incomplete, the page shows a warning; you can also complete it on the checkout page.
3. Click **Kredi Al** (Buy Credits). The checkout page opens with the amount you chose.
4. Continue from step 4 above.

## Card details

You enter your card details on the bank's secure payment page, not in SCL. The note below the payment button says so too: "Your card details will be collected on QNB’s secure 3D payment page in the next step." SCL has no option to save a card or to pay with a saved card. The **Billing Settings** page has no card section either.

## Updating your billing information

The details you enter on the checkout page are saved, and the form is filled in for you the next time you buy. To change them without making a purchase:

1. From the user menu, open **Settings** › **Billing Settings**.
2. In the **Account Information** card, update your billing type, name, email and, for business billing, your tax details.
3. In the **Billing & Delivery Address** card, update the city, country, postal code and the **Address** field. For business billing, the company name is also in this card.
4. Click **Save**. The message "Billing information updated successfully" appears.

Changes apply to future purchases. Receipts already sent do not change.

## Receipt email and official invoice

After every successful purchase, a receipt is sent to your account's email address. The subject starts with "Your credit purchase is complete" and ends with the order number. The email is in the interface language you made the purchase in (Turkish or English) and contains:

- **Order number**, **Payment date**, **Plan** and **Credits purchased**
- **Credit amount**, **VAT (20%)** and **Total paid**
- **Payment method** and **Transaction reference**
- The billing type, the billing recipient, the billing address and, for business purchases, the tax identification number and tax office
- A **View purchase history** button that takes you to your purchase history

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The receipt email is not an official invoice. The note in the email reads: "This email is a payment confirmation and billing summary; it is not an e-Invoice or e-Archive Invoice issued under Turkish Revenue Administration standards." For questions about your official invoice, send a request on the **Support** page with **Billing** selected as the **Category**.

The app has no page for downloading invoices or receipts, so keep the receipt email for your records. Refunds cannot be started from the app either. To request a refund, choose the **Billing** category on the **Support** page too.

## Purchase history

On the **Credits & Usage** page, open the **Purchase History** section. Your last 5 purchases are listed. Each row shows the number of credits bought, the package name, the date, the amount in TRY and the status. If you have never made a purchase, "No purchase history available yet." appears instead. Organisation members do not see this section.

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Successful** | The payment was received, the credits were added and the receipt was sent. |
| **Failed** | The bank did not approve the payment, or the payment could not be verified. No credits were added. |
| **Pending** | The payment was sent to the bank and the result has not come back yet. |
| **Expired** | The payment was not completed. No credits were added. |
| **Refunded** or **Partially_refunded** | The SCL team refunded the payment. These statuses appear on screen exactly as written here: **Refunded** means the full amount was refunded, **Partially_refunded** means part of it was. If your balance has enough credits, the purchased credits are taken back; if it does not, no credits are taken back. In a partial refund, the credits taken back are proportional to the amount refunded. If you are a member of an organisation at the time of the refund, the credits are taken back from the organisation's balance, even if they were added to your personal account. |

## If the payment is not completed

If the bank does not approve the payment, you return to the checkout page and the **Payment could not be completed** dialog opens: "Your payment was not approved. Your credit amount has been kept, so you can review your details and try again." The reason for the failure appears below this text. No credits are added to your balance. Close the dialog with **OK** and try again.

Common reasons:

| Message | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| "Kart limitiniz yetersiz. Lütfen farklı bir kart deneyin." (Your card limit is insufficient. Please try a different card.) | Try another card or lower the amount. |
| "Güvenlik kodu (CVV) hatalı. Lütfen kontrol edin." (Incorrect security code (CVV). Please check it.) | Check the card's security code and try again. |
| "Kartınızın son kullanma tarihi geçmiş. Lütfen farklı bir kart deneyin." (Your card has expired. Please try a different card.) | Use a card that has not expired. |
| "3D güvenlik doğrulaması tamamlanamadı. Lütfen tekrar deneyin." (3D Secure verification could not be completed. Please try again.) | Try again and enter the full code on the bank's verification screen. |
| "İşlem onaylanmadı. Lütfen bankanızla iletişime geçin." (Transaction not approved. Please contact your bank.) | Ask your bank why the transaction was declined. |

### If the return from the bank does not complete

If your browser closes after you complete the payment on the bank's page, or you are not returned to SCL, the purchase shows as **Pending**. About two hours later, SCL asks the bank for the result of the pending purchase. If the payment was received, the credits are added, the status changes to **Successful** and the receipt is sent. If the payment was not received, the status changes to **Expired**.

If the amount has been taken from your card, do not repeat the same purchase during this time. Each attempt is a separate payment; if you try again, you may end up paying twice. If the status still has not changed after this time, send a request on the **Support** page with the **Billing** category selected.

## Related pages

- [Credits](/en/docs/account/credits): how credits are spent on studies and how to read your balance
- [Account and organisation](/en/docs/account/account-and-organisation): organisation credits, membership and email verification
- [Support and troubleshooting](/en/docs/account/support-and-troubleshooting): sending a support request and common warnings
- [Glossary](/en/docs/account/glossary): credit and billing terms