PatientFiMD Studio vs CareCredit Local Buyout Arena ⚔️

When a patient chooses a 6-to-24 month 0%-APR promotional plan, the lender does not waive interest—they deduct an upfront Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) of 5.9% to 14.9% directly from the clinic's payout. On a $5,000 implant or aligner case with an 11.9% promo fee, $595 disappears before you pay your dental lab.

Whenever treatment coordinators offer 12- or 24-month promotional plans by default to patients who would have paid via regular credit card (2.4% swipe fee) or HSA/FSA. That card cannibalization costs an extra 8% to 12% of gross production without adding incremental case volume.

By requiring a 30% to 35% upfront deposit that covers 100% of your hard dental lab, aligner, or injectable consumable costs on Day 1, and auto-debiting the remaining 65% over 4 to 6 months. Even with a 6% default rate on the remaining balance (~3.9% effective loss + 2.5% card fee), the practice keeps 4.5% to 8% more net margin than paying a 10.9%–14.9% lender MDR.

Divide the lender's net MDR premium (Lender MDR minus 2.5% standard card processing) by the financed balance share (1 minus Down Payment %). At a 10.9% lender MDR and 35% down payment, your clinic breaks even up to a 12.9% installment default rate.

Present options in strict margin order: 1) Pay-in-full with a 3% bookkeeping courtesy, 2) 6-month split-pay (capped at 5.9% MDR), 3) 35%-down in-house auto-debit for mid-tier cases where the deposit covers lab COGS, and 4) 12–24 month third-party financing strictly as a final closer.

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