FAQ for Partners

Overview

JSMD is expected to change the operational voucher model in Q4 2024 to meet regulatory requirements and to be able to offer the full experience portfolio again.
This means that the operational details of the cooperation with our partners will also have to be adjusted:
Up to now, redeemed JSMD Vouchers have been accepted by our partners and settled with JSMD after the experience.
In the future, JSMD will purchase a Partnervoucher from the relevant partner for redeemed JSMD Vouchers and then forward it to the customer. This is done in a fully automated process that JSMD provides for the partners. The customer receives their experience with this Partnervoucher, and the partner then only settles these own Partnervouchers with JSMD.
In the future, JSMD will no longer pay out the settled payout amount directly to the partners. Instead, JSMD will pay the amount to a payment service provider upon redemption/purchase, who will make the full amount available to the partner after settlement
Due to this new so-called «Voucher4Voucher» voucher model («V4V Model»), it is unfortunately also necessary to formally sign a new cooperation agreement in which services, prices etc. remain unchanged.
Our partners benefit threefold from this V4V Model:
- No more price risk: JSMD pays the purchase price agreed at the time of redemption/purchase, not the price that applied when the JSMD Voucher was purchased.
- No payment risk: The payment service provider guarantees payment of the purchase price once the experience has taken place.
- Latest payout after 12 months: JSMD guarantees an early payout of the valid purchase price for purchased Partnervouchers with an appointment after 12 months at the latest. The legal validity of the Partnervouchers of 3 years remains unaffected by this
Signing the new «V4V» cooperation agreement and opening a clearing account with the payment service provider free of charge for our partners is mandatory for all partners without exception following the launch of the new V4V voucher model.

Contract Change

Why is the collaboration with you being put on a new footing?

In recent years, the regulation of payment methods/services has steadily increased, including through the Payment Services Supervision Act (Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz – ZAG). Transactions with certain vouchers may also fall under these regulations.
In spring 2023, we looked closely at the requirements of the ZAG and made some adjustments to our voucher model, which unfortunately mean considerable restrictions for us, our customers and for you as our experience partners
We are therefore now fundamentally revising our voucher model to permanently clarify regulatory issues on the one hand and to be able to operate fully again on the other.
These changes will enable us to offer a comprehensive product portfolio on the market again in future. This includes products over EUR 250 as well as the flexible redemption of vouchers. The basis for this is the new «V4V» framework- agreement.

How will our joint collaboration change?

Instead of acting purely as an intermediary, where we broker a contract between you and the customer and pay out the customer’s money to you after the experience has been completed, minus a commission, we will split this process into two separate legal transactions in future:

We sell our customers a value voucher from JSMD («JSMD Voucher»), which can only be redeemed at Jochen Schweizer or mydays.
When the customer redeems the JSMD Voucher at Jochen Schweizer or mydays, we will directly purchase a Partner-Experience-Voucher for your experience from you under the contractually agreed conditions, pay the agreed purchase price to a payment service provider and forward your Partner-Experience-Voucher directly to the customer.
The customer uses only this Partner-Experience-Voucher to legitimize themselves with you and take part in the experience
After the experience, you settle the Partnervouchers as usual via the JSMD partner portal. This is the signal for the payment service provider to transfer the purchase price already deposited for you by JSMD to your bank account.

What changes for me in the process?

The process changes little for you after the customer has redeemed the JSMD Voucher:
The customer redeems their JSMD Voucher, chooses their experience and arranges a date.
JSMD then purchases your Partner-Experience-Voucher (it is created for you by JSMD) and forwards it to the customer
The customer legitimizes themselves on site with your Partner-Experience-Voucher (instead of the JSMD Voucher as before) and takes part in the experience.
Once the experience has been completed, you settle your account as usual via the standardized JSMD partner portal and the payment service provider transfers the purchase price (equivalent to the previous «payout amount») for your Partner-Experience-Voucher to your bank account.
In practice, this is not a significant difference in the process, but legally, one transaction will become two in the future.
Please clarify any tax implications directly with your tax advisor.

Can I stay with the previous intermediary model?

Unfortunately, we cannot make this possible for you, as we will be discontinuing our previous voucher model as an intermediary with the switch to the new model.
This is due in particular to the increasing regulation of vouchers and the regulatory requirements for the brokerage business.

Which experiences are affected by the switch?

All experiences available from JSMD are affected without exception.
This also means that once the business processes have been adjusted, all experiences – including those with a retail price of over €250 – will once again be available to our customers online and offline (in stores/ commercial partners).

What will change for customers?

From the customer’s perspective, buying and redeeming vouchers at Jochen Schweizer or mydays will remain just as easy as before. However, the redemption process for customers will be even more flexible than it is today.

How does the experience booking work?

The most convenient way for customers and experience partners is to book an appointment when redeeming the JSMD Voucher and purchasing your Partner-Experience-Voucher on the JSMD platform («direct booking»). However, there will still be the option of «partner chat» for booking experiences.

Benefits for me as an experience partner

What financial advantage does the switch have for me?

No more price risk: Compared to the current model, your price risk is eliminated between the time of the JSMD Voucher purchase and the time of redemption. In future, you will always receive the agreed amount valid at the time of redemption at JSMD (i.e. the time at which we purchase the Partner-Experience-Voucher from you).
- In detail: Until now, you have always received a payment amount for the performing of your experience that was based on the date of sale of the Jochen Schweizer or mydays voucher. This sometimes represented a considerable business risk for you, especially if vouchers were only redeemed late in the validity period, if the costs for the performing had risen massively in the meantime. In 2022 in particular, this was a major problem for many of our partners due to the explosion in energy and fuel costs and the high inflation rate.
- With the new process, we always purchase your Partner-Experience-Voucher at the purchase price agreed with you at the time of purchase. This means that the risk of increased costs no longer lies with you. This applies to the redemption of all JSMD (value) vouchers sold by Jochen Schweizer or mydays after the process switch.

No payment risk: The payment service provider guarantees payment of the purchase price once the experience has taken place. As soon as the customer redeems their JSMD Voucher for a partner experience, JSMD pays the purchase price to the payment service provider together with the purchase of the Partner-Experience-Voucher. It is therefore essential that each partner has its own account with the payment service provider. The fees due for this are permanently paid by JSMD.
Latest payout after 12 month: JSMD guarantees early payment of the valid purchase price for Partnervouchers purchased with an appointment after 12 months at the latest. The legal validity of the Partnervouchers of 3 years remains unaffected.

Vouchers

Do I have to provide the Partner-Experience Vouchers for my experiences myself?

No, we will take care of the production and administration of the Partner-Experience-Vouchers purchased from you at no extra cost to you, so that you have no additional expense.

What does the validity of the Partner-Experience-Vouchers in §5 para. 4 mean?

As a new voucher, namely your Partner-Experience-Voucher, is generated when the customer redeems the JSMD value vouchers, the statutory limitation period of 3 years to the end of the calendar year applies here (different periods apply for sales in/to Austria/Switzerland). This is a purely legal requirement.
In practice, customer behaviour will not change in the new model. When the customer redeems their JSMD Voucher, the vast majority of customers want to make an appointment to enjoy the experience as soon as possible. An appointment booked by the customer is binding.
This is particularly convenient and easy for the customer if you set up your appointments in the JSMD partner portal and the customer can book a binding appointment directly. This is not a change to the previous model.

Can I demand surcharges or additional payments from the customer?

Additional payments or surcharges are not permitted for the services included in the Partner-Experience-Voucher.
It is only possible to make additional payments for additional services that the customer wishes to book (e.g. an extra night in a hotel, a video of the experience or a longer journey time in a vehicle).
Under no circumstances may the customer be obliged to book additional services.

How can I adjust my prices in the future?

If your sales prices change, please let us know as usual and we will arrange a contract adjustment for the purchase price.
Please note that a price adjustment will only be possible a maximum of once a year in future. This is the only way we can bear the price risk and give customers a performance and price guarantee for their Jochen Schweizer or mydays vouchers.
Of course, customers with Partner-Experience-Vouchers must continue to be granted the corresponding service without restriction or additional payment.

Settlement

How does the settlement work?

In the future, when our customers redeem the JSMD Voucher, we will purchase your Partner-Experience-Voucher and create a corresponding purchase confirmation for you.
At the same time, we will pay the agreed purchase price to the payment service provider when the Partner-Experience-Voucher is purchased.
In addition, you will receive a credit note from us, which is a substitute for an invoice and will include all features relevant to VAT. You therefore do not issue us with an invoice. So that we can create the credit note correctly, we will need to request some (tax) data from you and keep it permanently up to date (e.g. in the event of changes to services) (see also questions on the topic of “Information required for Settlement”).
The confirmation and credit note will be stored in your personal account in the partner portal and will be available for you to view/download.
After the experience has been completed, you will settle your Partner-Experience-Vouchers in our partner portal JEP as before. This automatically triggers the transfer of the purchase price or the sum of the purchase prices of all settled vouchers from the payment service provider to your account in accordance with the agreed payment targets.

Will the payment terms change?

No, the agreed billing conditions and payment terms remain the same as before.
The payout amounts/payment amounts/minimum payout amounts agreed in the previous service overviews remain unchanged and will represent our «purchase price» in the future.

What happens when «old vouchers» are redeemed?

In the case of extended old vouchers, if the payout amounts have changed, you will receive the increased payout amount as a «purchase price», capped at 10% per extension year (a maximum increase of +30% is possible) or up to the current purchase price. Nothing changes here compared to the existing process.

Can I settle a JSMD (value) voucher?

No, JSMD-vouchers may no longer be accepted by you for regulatory reasons and can no longer be billed by us (experience boxes etc. also count as JSMD-vouchers).
Only the Partner-Experience-Vouchers that we have purchased from you and forwarded to your customers are billable. If customers contact you without a Partner-Experience-Voucher, do not arrange any appointments and do not carry out the experience until the customer has redeemed their JSMD Voucher with us and we have purchased a corresponding Partner-Experience-Voucher from you. JSMD Vouchers will be clearly recognisable as such for customers and partners and will differ from Partner-Experience-Vouchers.
Our customers will also be able to redeem JSMD Vouchers conveniently on their smartphones, in an emergency and if there are free dates, even immediately before the experience on site. You can view all your Partnervouchers in the JSMD partner portal and thus also check the customer with their Partner-Experience-Voucher on site.

Information required for Settlement

Disclaimer: JSMD cannot provide tax advice. For further and detailed information, Partners should consult their tax advisor or accounting contact.

What information will be required for the settlement of my Partnervouchers in future and why?

By switching to the Voucher4Voucher model, JSMD purchases the Partnervoucher from the experience partner at the time the JSMD Voucher is redeemed. JSMD purchases these Partner-Experience-Vouchers from the partner with an appointment.
In this context, it must be ensured that billing documents such as a credit note between JSMD and the partner show the correct tax rate per experience/Partner-Experience-Voucher. For this purpose, it is necessary that the correct tax rate is stored in the partner portal for each experience offered by the partner. Information about the tax status of the partner is also necessary for correct creation and billing.

What information do I need to provide as a partner in order to issue billing documents correctly?

In order to issue the credit note and other payment documents correctly, it is necessary for the partner to provide information on their tax status as an entrepreneur (e.g. taxed entrepreneur or micro-entrepreneur), as well as the tax assessment per experience (e.g. tax rate 19% or reduced tax rate 7%).
If you have a VAT ID as a partner, this must be entered in the «My data» section of the partner portal.
You can check and, if necessary, update this information in the partner portal under Account settings> Account data.
It is also necessary for the experiences offered by the partner to be labelled with the applicable tax rate.
This function is expected to be available from August – 1st 2024 and will be available in the «Tax data» section of the partner portal.
Who creates the invoice between me as a partner and JSMD?
Nothing will change in the process of creating the billing documents: JSMD will continue to take care of creating the documents between JSMD and the partner. In the so-called «reverse credit note procedure», JSMD creates a credit note for the partner when the Partnervoucher is purchased.

How can I provide this information to JSMD and keep it up to date (e.g. in the event of service changes)?

To start the new contractual relationship in the V4V Model, a tax rate must be assigned to each of the experiences offered by the partner:
This can be done easily and flexibly by the partner in the partner portal.

How do I enter the information for each experience? What is the procedure for entering the tax rates per experience?

The «Tax data» section offers the option of assigning a tax rate to all experiences offered by the partner. When the «Tax data» tab is opened, the partner sees a list of the experiences they have listed with JSMD. By clicking on the «pencil» icon, the experiences can be edited and the corresponding tax rate can be entered. My experience has several tax rates, how do I proceed?
For experiences that have several tax rates, it is possible to enter several tax rates for each experience listed in the partner portal. Clicking on the «pencil» icon opens the editing view, clicking on the «plus» icon creates a further column. After successful editing, click on the «Save» button to finalise the entry for each experience.

When will I know if my entry has been accepted by the system?

After completing the processing of the experiences and clicking on «Send», a pop-up «Under review» appears for the partner.
The partner portal then creates a time-stamped CSV file which logs your entries. A CSV file is then created by the partner portal, which logs your entries.
Once the entry has been validated by the system, you will receive a message from the partner portal informing you that the entry was successful.
If a further revision is necessary, you will also receive information via the partner portal.

What do I have to do if the tax classification of my experiences changes? Where can I enter or update this information?

In the event of a change during the year, the partner can independently and flexibly update the tax data for each experience as described above in the «Tax data» tab.

What do I have to do if my tax status as a partner changes?

It is important that the partner informs JSMD of the change in their tax status via the entry in the partner portal. To do this, update the values in the field in the «My data» area. This can be found after logging into the partner portal by clicking on «Account settings» in the «My data» tab.
If a partner changes from «Micro-entrepreneur» to «Regularly taxed entrepreneur» status, this must also be reflected in the partner portal. To do this, update the values in the field in the «My data» area.

Do I also have to enter this tax information in my payment service provider account?

No, it is no longer necessary to maintain the tax details for each experience within your payment service provider account.

Payment Service Provider

Who is the payment service provider and what role does it play in my cooperation with JSMD?

In the future, we will use Stripe to process payments between JSMD and you as an experience partner.
Stripe is one of the leading payment service providers in Europe, naturally fulfils all regulatory requirements and, with its «Stripe Connect» marketplace payment platform, offers precisely the product that we want to use for payment processing in the future.
On this «JSMD Stripe Connect» platform, JSMD and each of our experience partners maintains its own clearing account. If JSMD purchases a Partnervoucher when a JSMD Voucher is redeemed, the purchase price is paid from the JSMD account to the respective partner account on the «JSMD Stripe Connect» platform.

How do I work with the payment service provider as an experience partner?

As an Experience Partner, you open a settlement account directly with Stripe in your own name («Stripe Connected Account Agreement») and identify yourself once as required by law when opening an account («KYC» process). You can then receive payments from JSMD for your sold and settled Partnervouchers and have them transferred to your bank account.
JSMD will cover the costs for account opening, payment transactions and operation for you for as long as our co-operation exists.
You can only use your «Stripe Connected Account» for your JSMD co-operation, not for any other co-operation partners or other purposes.

How do I open my account with the Payment Service Provider in detail?

Opening a «Stripe Connected Account» clearing account is quick and easy.
You will find the entry link in our JEP partner portal from 01.08.2024. It is important to open the account as soon as possible so as not to risk any delays in payment after the launch of the «V4V» voucher model.
The opening process essentially comprises the following steps

Details of your company, owners and management
indication of the reference account (e.g. your account at your bank)
settings to access online banking

This allows you to conclude the contract with Stripe completely online via your «Stripe Connected Account» and open your account..
Stripe may then ask you to verify your company details, the identity of the owners and managers and their private addresses with suitable documents. You can do this easily and conveniently by uploading the relevant documents in PDF format directly via the «Dashboard» of your «Stripe Connected Account».
During the entire process, Stripe support is also available to you via chat, e-mail or telephone.

What are the costs for this account?

JSMD will bear all costs of operating and using your «Stripe Connected Account» for the duration of our cooperation.

How and when can I access my account balance?

You can access your «Stripe Connected Account» at any time via online banking.

Payment amounts for Partner-Experience-Voucherst hat have already been sold but not yet settled can be viewed, but are not yet released until settlement, i.e. you cannot yet dispose of them.
These amounts will be released for you with the settlement or with the automatic settlement after 12 months and automatically transferred to your reference account (e.g. at your bank). If a purchased Partnervoucher is returned by the customer or cancelled by you, the corresponding payment that has not yet been released will also be cancelled.
Vouchers with payment amounts that have already been released can no longer be returned or cancelled.

Can I also use my account for other businesses and co-operations?

Can I opt out of the account and receive my remuneration directly from JSMD as before?

Payment processing between JSMD and you as an experience partner can only take place in our «V4V» voucher model via our payment service provider Stripe.

I have already maintained my tax data in the partner portal, do I also have to enter this in my Stripe-Account?

No, it is no longer necessary to maintain the tax details for each experience within your Stripe account.

Implementation Schedule

What is the timetable for the switch?

We have received regulatory approval for our V4V voucher model and are working flat out to implement it.
We will confirm the exact date of introduction in Q4 2024 at a later date, as the changeover involves considerable effort and high investments. We will inform you in good time in any case.

What happens if I don’t sign the new contract?

At the start of the switch, we will only be able to purchase Partner-Experience-Vouchers if the new «V4V» framework agreement has been signed. This means that if the new framework agreement has not been signed by you, we will have to remove all experiences from active sale and redemption at the start of the switch.
Due to the regulatory requirements of the previous intermediary business, we are unfortunately unable to allow you to remain with the previous intermediary model. We ask for your understanding.

What happens up to the time of the switch?

The existing framework agreement remains valid until the changeover.

What about the previous AVB?

The previous AVB are no longer applicable, as we have regulated all essential points in the new framework agreement