Payment solutions for Swiss associations – 5 practical guides

In Switzerland, there are over 100,000 clubs and associations – and almost every one of them faces the question sooner or later: How do I collect membership fees, donations, tickets, and event revenue digitally? Whether cashless at a club festival, membership fees via payment link, donations through an online form, merchandise and tickets in the club shop, or a central platform for the entire association – our five guides show you step-by-step for every payment occasion how to set up the right solution, what it costs, and which Swiss providers are suitable.

This overview page summarises all five guides and helps you find the right entry point – whether you are planning a club festival, want to modernise annual fee collection, or, as an umbrella organisation, want to bring 50 sections onto one platform.

Guide 1: Going cashless at club festivals

QR code · Tap to Pay · Card terminal · Catering

At the club festival, bratwurst meets cash shortages: visitors have no cash, volunteers juggle change, and at 11 p.m. the treasurer is still rolling coins. This guide compares three methods for cashless payments at stalls – printed QR code (EUR 0 hardware), Tap to Pay on the volunteer’s smartphone, and mobile card terminal – and shows you how to get ready to go in 30 minutes.

Who it is for: Sports clubs (amateur tournaments, home game catering), music societies (annual concert with bar), Scouts (neighbourhood festival stall), shooting clubs (village festival), any club with 1–4 events per year.

Core topics: Comparison of three methods (8 criteria), cost calculation for 80–200 transactions, setup instructions per method, settlement for club accounting, three practical examples (football tournament, concert, Scout flea market).

→ To the guide: Cashless collection at club festivals

Guide 2: Collecting membership fees digitally

Payment link · Recurring · QR-bill · Club software

Annual fee collection is every club treasurer’s biggest time-waster: Excel spreadsheets, sending QR-bills, following up for weeks, writing reminders. A payment link (Paylink) by email solves the problem: the member clicks, selects TWINT or credit card, and pays in seconds. The treasurer sees the payment immediately. This guide compares four methods – from payment slips to club management software – and calculates when switching becomes worthwhile.

Who it is for: Any club with 30+ members collecting annual or seasonal fees. Particularly valuable for gymnastics clubs, music societies, choirs, and martial arts clubs with monthly fees.

Core topics: Comparison of four methods (Excel vs. Paylink vs. webshop vs. club software), cost calculation for 200 members at EUR 120, recurring payments (Recurring), practical example “Gymnastics club: from 6 weeks to 12 days”, step-by-step instructions.

→ To the guide: Collecting membership fees digitally

Guide 3: Collecting donations as a Swiss association

Donation form · QR code donation · Recurring Donations · Tax basics

For non-profit associations, booster clubs, animal welfare charities, and social projects, donations are the primary source of income. This guide shows how to set up an online donation form with logo and suggested amounts, offer QR code donations on site at stalls or on flyers, and automate patron contributions as recurring donations. In addition, it explains the tax basics: When is an association allowed to issue donation receipts, and what is required for cantonal tax exemption?

Who it is for: Non-profit associations, booster clubs, animal shelters, parent associations, charities, social projects – all organisations where donations are a central source of revenue.

Core topics: Four donation channels (form, QR, Paylink, Recurring), provider comparison (RaiseNow vs. PSP vs. club software), TWINT-only QR vs multi-payment-method QR, patron levels, tax exemption and donation receipts, cost calculation based on EUR 15,000 donation volume.

→ To the guide: Collecting donations as a Swiss association

Guide 4: Club shop – selling merch, tickets, and courses online

Mini webshop · Fan shop · Ticket sales · Course registration with payment

Ordering jerseys via WhatsApp, paying for concert tickets by bank transfer, reserving course spots on a handshake – that works until orders get lost and payments go missing. A mini webshop showcases the offer, takes the order, and collects the payment in a single step. Without coding skills, without your own website, set up in under an hour.

Who it is for: Sports clubs (jerseys, caps, water bottles), cultural associations (concert tickets, theatre), course providers (10-session yoga passes, single cookery class bookings), any club wishing to sell 3–20 products online.

Core topics: Three use cases (fan shop, ticket shop, course registration), comparison table (custom webshop vs mini webshop vs social media), combining on-site + online (pre-order + event pick-up), cost calculation at 50 orders/month, step-by-step setup.

→ To the guide: Create a club shop

Guide 5: Payment solution for associations – one platform for all sections

Platform · Split Payment · Sub-Merchants · Association reporting

Umbrella organisations with 20–500 sections face a structural challenge: every section has its own payment solution (or none at all), the association has zero overview, and must manually collect its association levy. The solution: a central payment platform where every section receives its own account with its own branding and payouts. Via Split Payment, the association levy is automatically deducted on every transaction. No content in the Swiss market covers this topic – this guide is the first.

Who it is for: Cantonal sports associations, professional associations with training programmes, music associations with regional branches, umbrella organisations with section structures.

Core topics: Three architectural models (decentralised vs platform vs white-label), Split Payment explained, sub-Comerciante onboarding, two reporting tiers, three scenarios (sports association, professional association, music association), regulatory aspects (AMLA, FINMA, SRO), cost comparison at 40 sections and EUR 500,000 volume.

→ To the guide: Payment solution for associations

Which guide fits your club?

All five guides at a glance – sorted by payment occasion, Payrexx product, and typical club type.

All prices excl. VAT. Fees apply to Swiss consumer cards and TWINT. As of 2026, indicative values.

Accounting and reconciliation for clubs

No matter which payment solution your club chooses – at the end of the event or collection cycle, the accounts must balance. Modern Payment Service Providers provide you with an online Dashboard with daily closing, CSV export, and breakdown by payment method. This significantly simplifies the work of the club treasurer and the audit by the auditors.

Posting in the Swiss SME Chart of Accounts: You post PSP transaction fees as bank charges (account 6840) – without VAT deduction, as payment services are exempt from VAT pursuant to Art. 21 Para. 2 No. 19 MWSTG. A clearing account (e.g. 1090) cleanly reflects the time lag between the member's payment and payout to the club bank account.

For most Swiss clubs and associations: As long as annual turnover remains below EUR 100,000 and the association is not registered in the Commercial Register as commercial, no VAT applies. Revenue from fees, donations, events, and shop sales is recorded in the club accounts as income – regardless of whether it was collected in cash or cashless.

All club payments from a single source

With Payrexx, you combine QR code payments, Paylinks, and mini webshops through a single Comerciante account – with consolidated settlement and payouts to your Swiss club IBAN. Non-profit organisations receive a 50 % discount on paid subscription plans.