{"id":1008,"date":"2026-09-23T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/?p=1008"},"modified":"2026-09-23T09:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:00:18","slug":"credit-vs-wallet-billing-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/credit-vs-wallet-billing-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Credit or Wallet: Choosing the Right Billing Model for Each Account"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every account on your platform is either a <strong>Credit<\/strong> account (balance held as SMS units) or a <strong>Wallet<\/strong> account (balance held as money). The choice decides which products the account can use, whether reseller pricing and margin work, and whether MCC\/MNC routing bills correctly. Getting it wrong means rebuilding the account later, because balances don&#8217;t convert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quick comparison<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th><\/th><th>Credit<\/th><th>Wallet<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Balance stored as<\/td><td>SMS credits \/ units<\/td><td>Money (INR, USD, EUR, \u2026)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Products allowed<\/td><td>SMS only<\/td><td>SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, Voice and other enabled products<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Balance field<\/td><td>SMS Balance<\/td><td>Wallet Amount Balance<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Usage field<\/td><td>SMS Sent<\/td><td>Wallet Consumed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MCC\/MNC routing<\/td><td>Not intended<\/td><td>Required<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Reseller Pricing \/ Margin<\/td><td>Not available<\/td><td>Available<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Typical account<\/td><td>India domestic SMS reseller, single route<\/td><td>Multi-product or international customer<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Decision guide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>International, or using MCC\/MNC routing?<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Wallet<\/strong>. MCC\/MNC pricing is decimal rates per country and operator, which needs a currency balance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Needs more than SMS (WhatsApp, RCS, Voice)?<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Wallet<\/strong>. Credit accounts can only have SMS under Allowed Products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reseller needing custom pricing or margin?<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Wallet<\/strong>. Reseller Pricing Adjustments and Reseller Margin work only for Wallet resellers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SMS only, domestic, one assigned route?<\/strong> \u2192 <strong>Credit<\/strong> is simpler: transfer credits, check SMS balance, done.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Credit Type is not Payment Type<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are two separate settings on <strong>Global Attributes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Setting<\/th><th>Options<\/th><th>Meaning<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>User Credit Type<\/strong><\/td><td>Credit \/ Wallet<\/td><td>How the balance is stored and deducted<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Payment Type<\/strong><\/td><td>Pre-paid \/ Post-paid<\/td><td>When the customer pays<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All four combinations are valid: Credit + Pre-paid, Credit + Post-paid, Wallet + Pre-paid, Wallet + Post-paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to set it<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Users \u2192 Edit User \u2192 Global Attributes \u2192 User Credit Type<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rules that catch people out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Credit type <strong>cannot be changed on this screen for Admin and Reseller accounts<\/strong>; it&#8217;s fixed for them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Child users <strong>inherit<\/strong> the credit type from their parent\/reseller at creation, including through the Reseller API.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Switching a customer between types requires ticking <strong>&#8220;Nil existing balance before switching&#8221;<\/strong>. Balances are not converted; they must be zero first.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Switching Credit \u2194 Wallet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Zero the existing balance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tick <strong>Nil existing balance before switching<\/strong> and save.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Credit \u2192 Wallet:<\/strong> set currency, limits and reorder point on the Wallet tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wallet \u2192 Credit:<\/strong> set billing type and post-paid limits on SMS Attributes, and remove non-SMS products (Credit allows SMS only).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Setting up an international customer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Step<\/th><th>Setting<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>1<\/td><td>Credit Type = <strong>Wallet<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2<\/td><td>Payment Type = Pre-paid or Post-paid<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>3<\/td><td>Wallet currency = the customer&#8217;s currency<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>4<\/td><td>Enable <strong>MCC MNC Routing<\/strong> on SMS Attributes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>5<\/td><td>Map countries\/operators to routes and rates under <strong>Users \u2192 MCC MNC Routing<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>6<\/td><td>Enable Reseller Pricing \/ Margin if this is a reseller (Wallet only)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>7<\/td><td>Fund the <strong>wallet balance<\/strong>, not SMS credits<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On <strong>Manage Users<\/strong>, the route column shows an <strong>MCC\/MNC Map<\/strong> (globe icon) when MCC\/MNC routing is on, and a route name for single-route accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Common mistakes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Mistake<\/th><th>Result<\/th><th>Fix<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Credit account with MCC\/MNC routing<\/td><td>Billing, pricing and margin may fail<\/td><td>Switch to Wallet<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Credit account that needs WhatsApp\/RCS<\/td><td>Other products can&#8217;t be enabled<\/td><td>Switch to Wallet<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Wallet for a simple SMS-only reseller<\/td><td>Works, but adds needless complexity<\/td><td>Use Credit<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Switching type without clearing balance<\/td><td>Save rejected<\/td><td>Nil the balance first<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Transferring &#8220;credits&#8221; to a Wallet user<\/td><td>Wrong balance bucket<\/td><td>Transfer wallet currency<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Child on a different type from the parent chain<\/td><td>Transfer and billing problems<\/td><td>Align the parent chain first<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Post-paid user with no limits set<\/td><td>Unexpected blocking, or unlimited usage<\/td><td>Set credit and grace limits<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explaining it to your customer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Credit:<\/strong> &#8220;Your account works like an SMS credit pack. Each message uses credits from that balance.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wallet:<\/strong> &#8220;Your account works like a prepaid wallet in your currency. SMS, WhatsApp and other services deduct money from the same wallet at their own rates.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related articles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/post-paid-credit-limit-grace-limit\/\">Post-paid Accounts: How Credit Limit and Grace Limit Work<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/vendor-pricing-mcc-mnc-cost-rates\/\">How to Set Up Vendor Pricing and MCC\/MNC Cost Rates<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/display-wallet-amount-in-decimals\/\">Display wallet amount in decimals<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/introducing-calculation-units-display-for-wallet-users\/\">Introducing calculation units display for wallet users<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/how-to-add-or-remove-credits-wallet-balance-for-downline-users-in-reseller-panel\/\">How to add or remove credits\/wallet balance for downline users in reseller panel<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/what-is-mcc-mnc\/\">What is MCC MNC?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When to assign Credit and when to assign Wallet, what each one unlocks, and why international MCC\/MNC accounts must be on Wallet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[363,362,191,366,365,364],"class_list":["post-1008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-billing-pricing-wallet","tag-billing-model","tag-credit-type","tag-mcc-mnc-routing","tag-prepaid-postpaid","tag-reseller-margin","tag-wallet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smppcenter.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}