Everything you'll want to know

Good questions deserve straight answers. Everything partners ask about Split with Maytes. Product, integration, commercial impact, and compliance.

About the product

How does Split with Maytes work?

One person in the group, the organiser, completes a purchase at the merchant's checkout, and provides the name and numbers of the friends they want to split with. At that moment, their card is charged for their share, and Maytes sends their friends a PayLink for their share. Merchants receive the full payment, regardless of what happens with the group. Each friend pays their share via Maytes. If someone doesn't pay within 48 hours, their share is charged to the organiser's held card.

Merchants are paid the full amount, regardless of when, or if, the mates pay their shares back.

Is this buy-now-pay-later?

No, and the distinction is worth understanding. Split with Maytes solves a completely different problem. It's not about one person's pocket, it's about a group of people who all intend to pay, but where one person has to front the entire cost and wait for their friends to pay them back. That friction is what kills group bookings at checkout. Split with Maytes moves that cost across the group at the moment of booking. Every person pays their own share directly, so no one has to be out of pocket.

The two products solve different problems and can sit side by side in the same checkout.

What does the merchant actually receive? A split payment or the full amount?
The full amount, paid to the merchant's account regardless of if/when everyone pays. Once the sale has been completed on the merchant site, the merchant treats it as a confirmed sale, the same process as any completed purchase. Maytes settles with the merchant in full and recover the funds from the organiser and friends. The group's repayment to the organiser happens entirely on Maytes infrastructure, in the background, and has no bearing on what the merchant receives or when.
Does the organiser carry all the risk?
The organiser's card is held for the full amount less their paid share, like a hotel pre-authorisation. If a friend doesn't pay within 48 hours, their share is charged to the organiser's held card. The booking stays with the organiser to reassign. The organiser knows and accepts this upfront when selecting Split with Maytes. Their exposure is defined upfront. 48 hours, with a clear resolution. They are never left chasing indefinitely.
What if a friend doesn't pay within 48 hours?

The merchant is never involved and never affected. Here's why. Full payment was secured at the moment of the completed purchase on the merchant's checkout via Maytes.

The 48-hour window replaces open-ended uncertainty with a defined resolution for the organiser. Not for the merchant. The merchant's side was closed at booking.

Do my customers need to download an app or create an account?
No app is required to use Maytes, and organiser's accounts are created automatically when they use the Maytes payments portal for the first time. Friends receive a secure PayLink via WhatsApp or SMS. They tap the link, see the event, their share, and who organised it, and pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, or card. No friction. Only the organiser interacts with the merchant's checkout directly.
Should we build this ourselves or work with Maytes?

It's a fair question. And the honest answer is that most platforms who have asked it have come back to the same conclusion.

The build looks deceptively simple: hold a card, split the total, send some links. In practice, the complexity is in the details. How do you manage a pre-authorisation that reduces in real time as friends pay? What happens when a friend's PayLink expires? How do you handle the 48-hour resolution mechanic cleanly across your reconciliation layer? How do you build a friend-side payment experience that converts on mobile without requiring an account?

Maytes has already solved these problems, with a dedicated engineering team that continues to iterate. The question isn't really build vs. buy. Group payment is core to the merchant's roadmap, and the goal is to have it live and working in no time.

What is the competitive landscape?
Split-at-checkout is an emerging category. A small number of products are beginning to address parts of the problem in specific markets. Maytes is differentiated on three dimensions: the merchant guarantee. Full payment at the moment of booking, not deferred. The friend-side experience requires no app or account. And the breadth of sectors it serves across retail, ticketing, travel, and experiences. We're happy to discuss the competitive landscape in detail during the scoping call.
Which verticals does this work for?
Split with Maytes is built for any business where groups book together. Ticketing, travel, tours and experiences, accommodation, events, gifts and hospitality. If your checkout sees group purchases, it's relevant.
Is it available internationally?
Maytes is currently only available in Australia. To discuss availability and timeline for your market, contact Richard Smith — Chief Commercial Officer — at [email protected].

About the integration

How does it integrate with our existing checkout?
Split with Maytes sits alongside your other payment options such as Credit Card, Afterpay, PayPal, etc. It doesn't replace your checkout.
How long does it take to go live?
Implementation timelines vary depending on your technical environment and priorities. Maytes' engineering team manages the process end-to-end and works directly with your technical team to ensure a smooth, non-disruptive rollout. Instant activation via e-commerce platforms such as Shopify is coming soon.
Does this work on mobile checkout?
Yes. The Split with Maytes flow is built fully responsive and mobile-first. PayLinks land in WhatsApp by default, with SMS as fallback. The friend-side payment experience is optimised for one-tap payment. Apple Pay and Google Pay first.
Can the integration be customised for our checkout?
Yes. The core flow is consistent, but the integration is built by Maytes' in-house team and can be adapted to fit your checkout design, branding requirements, and technical infrastructure. This is one of the advantages of working directly with the team that built the product.
Who do we need internally to make this happen?
Two internal champions make the integration run smoothly. A Head of Payments or Product owns the technical side. A Head of Marketing or Commercial Director owns the co-marketing and launch. Maytes works directly with both teams throughout. We can walk through the full structure in a 30 minute scoping call.

About commercial impact

When do I get paid?
As soon as the organiser completes checkout on your site, Maytes will cover the full amount, and settlement will occur within 48 hours. Not when the rest of the group has paid. The group's repayment to the organiser happens in the background on Maytes infrastructure and has no effect on your settlement timing. Maytes will then recover the amount from the friends and/or the hold on the organiser's payment method.
What happens if the organiser's card declines during pre-authorisation?
The booking isn't confirmed. The checkout simply reverts to standard payment options. You are never exposed to a partial or failed payment scenario.
What happens if someone in the group doesn't pay?
Maytes sends automatic reminders to anyone who hasn't settled their share. You don't have to follow up, and neither does the organiser. If a share remains unpaid after 48 hours, it's charged to the organiser's held card. Your booking is already confirmed and paid. Your revenue is never at risk.
Is there a minimum booking value or group size?
No minimum group size. Split with Maytes works for groups of two through to large parties. There's no minimum booking value either.
What is the actual conversion uplift?
The clearest signals come from groups that would previously have delayed or abandoned checkout, particularly at higher price points. The three metrics that matter most are: percentage of eligible checkouts selecting Split with Maytes, incremental basket size versus control, and new customer capture rate per transaction.
How does this affect average order value (AOV)?
32% of group buyers said they would organise larger groups if split-at-checkout existed. When no single person has to absorb the full cost upfront, groups book bigger. More tickets, bigger gifts, larger properties, upgraded packages. For a merchant with per-head or per-seat pricing, that's direct AOV uplift with no change to acquisition cost.
How does the CRM capture work?
Every friend who pays their share via PayLink provides their name, mobile number, and completes a payment transaction. Those details are passed to your CRM as a new customer contact with a first-purchase history already attached. You don't need a separate acquisition campaign to reach these people. They arrived through a group booking, which was completed on your platform.

About risk and compliance

Is it secure? How is payment data handled?
Payments are processed via Stripe, PCI DSS Level 1 certified, the highest standard available. It facilitates the split and manages the collection flow, with Stripe handling all payment processing and data security underneath. We're happy to share compliance documentation with your legal and finance teams as part of the scoping process.
Is Maytes regulated?
Maytes complies with applicable laws and regulations, such as the ACL, as do our third party service providers. Compliance documentation is available for legal and finance teams on request during the partner scoping process.
What about data privacy? What data does Maytes collect from the organiser and their friends?
Organisers and friends provide their name, mobile number, and payment details when paying via PayLink. This data is handled in accordance with Maytes' privacy policy and applicable data protection legislation. Merchant data sharing arrangements are governed by the integration agreement and can be reviewed with your legal team during the scoping process.

Still have questions?

Get in touch at [email protected].