How to grow your payments app with panel beaters and car body shops
By SendPay Business · · 2 min read
Panel beaters and car body shops fix dents, scratches and crash damage, replace panels and respray cars. Bigger jobs usually need a deposit for parts and paint, and the rest is paid when the car is collected. Some repairs are paid partly by insurance, with the driver paying an excess or the difference. A payments app that takes deposits by link, collects the balance on collection and handles excess payments clearly can win these shops, and every driver who pays sees your app.
Talk to body shops
Ask local panel beaters and car body shops:
- Do you take a deposit before ordering parts and paint?
- How do customers pay the balance when they collect the car?
- How do you handle insurance jobs and excess payments?
- Do customers ask to pay by phone instead of cash?
Take deposits by link
A deposit link sent with the quote means parts and paint can be ordered straight away, with no waiting for the customer to come in with cash.
Get paid on collection
Letting customers pay the balance by phone when they pick up the car closes the job on the spot and avoids unpaid bills.
Grow through garages and drivers
Body shops work alongside mechanics, tyre fitters and car washes. When a body shop gets paid through your app, the businesses and drivers around it see it working.
Build it
Create your own financial platform.
Pick a template, name it, brand it, preview every page before you pay. Your brand, your users, your fees.
Build my platform →Questions people ask
What about mechanics and garages?
The mechanics and garages guide covers big bills, parts deposits and customers who want to pay later.
Mechanics and garages →What about car washes?
The car washes guide covers many quick payments from customers in a hurry, at a site or from a mobile valeter.
Car washes →Can I call it a bank?
In most countries "bank" is a protected word you can only use with a banking licence. Call it an account, a wallet, an app or a platform. The accounts and payments behind a SendPay Business platform are powered by licensed partners.
Is there a step-by-step plan I can follow?
Yes. The free launch checklist takes you from picking your people and naming your app to setting fees, going live and winning your first ten customers.
Digital bank app launch checklist →How do I start?
Pick a template, name it and preview every page before you pay. Your platform can be live on your own domain within 24 hours of confirmation.
Build my platform →Read next
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank, and does not take deposits; regulated services on the platforms are provided by licensed partners. PayPal, Patreon and Substack are named as reference points only and are not affiliated with SendPay Business.