Common Questions about LeagueSafe

How do I setup my league on LeagueSafe to collect online payments?

In-season transaction fees: Can my owners pay LeagueSafe throughout the season for in-season fees (i.e. add/drop or trades)?

Yes and no. Payments made after the default deposit deadline for your sport will incur a late fee. LeagueSafe is not perfect for all leagues, and leagues that derive a significant portion of their fees from in-season transactions may find that our service isn't ideal for them. That said, Commissioners who want to avoid late fees and still account for their in-season fees using LeagueSafe have several options:

1) Once the NFL regular season ends, the commissioner can designate the transaction fees owed by each team, and at that time owners can deposit additional funds. At no time may a commissioner designate end-of-season fees that amount to more than 100% of the league balance. For example, if your league collected only $500 at the beginning of the season, only $500 can be paid into the league at the end of the season.

2) Commissioners may want to have owners prepay for transaction fees at the beginning of the year. For example, all owners might be required to pay $20 towards in-season transaction fees. Owners who don't incur $20 in fees can be reimbursed at the end of the year. Owners who owe more than $20 can settle up at the end of the season as described in option #1 above. IMPORTANT: Commissioners who opt for the prepayment method will have to change entry fees to reflect the prepayment amount. For example if your league has a $50 entry fee and everyone must prepay $20 in transaction fees, you'll want to set your entry fee to $70.

Paying offline: What if some owners prefer to give me cash or a check, rather than using LeagueSafe?

In part to make it easier on fantasy commissioners, we highly encourage everyone in your league to deposit funds into your league's LeagueSafe account. However, we recognize that this may not be possible in every situation. In this case, fantasy commissioners have several options:

1) Collect cash or checks from certain members of your league, then use your own credit card or bank account to make deposits to your league balance on their behalf.

2) Account for the non-LeagueSafe funds manually on your own, managing the funds in your own personal bank account all season long (yes, this defeats the purpose of using LeagueSafe in the first place, but you could do it).

Notifying Owners: How do I get people to pay for my league?

You can send invitations to your league members during the league setup process, or by clicking the NOTIFY OWNERS tab from your league home page. You have two options related to notifying league members that they owe money to your league:

1) Private Invitations: Use this method if you want to be in full control of the people that can pay for your league. First, add owners using the MANAGE OWNERS tab, then send them private invitations from the NOTIFY OWNERS tab.
2) Public Invitations: Best used for office pools in which you may not know (or care) how many people enter and pay for your league. Simply enter email addresses of all the people you want to invite. You can also copy/paste the provided public invitation link and sent it via your own email address, post it on a league message board, etc. Remember that anyone who has this link will be able to join and pay for your league.

Commissioner Reimbursement: What is it?

This feature allows your league commissioner to recoup any fees he/she might have paid to an online fantasy league management service. If this feature has been activated, the commissioner will be authorized to withdraw up to $200 from the league balance to pay for your league's online service. The amount to be withdrawn is disclosed to all league members before they make their payment and, importantly, no funds are available for withdrawal until after the deposit deadline for your applicable season has passed.

LeagueSafe members who use MyFantasyLeague as their league management service can pay MFL directly out of their league balance. This feature can be activated from the LEAGUE SETTINGS tab on the league home page.

AutoNag: Getting owners to pay on time.

While we can't guarantee payment by your league members - we’re not a collection agency with our own group of hired goons - we do help league commissioners by doing the nagging of unpaid members for you. Our “AutoNag” feature sends payment reminder e-mails to your league’s deadbeats with increasing frequency as your payment deadline approaches. Commissioners can turn the “friendly reminders” on or off from the LEAGUE SETTINGS tab on the league home page.

Entry Fees: How do I change the entry fee for my owners?

There are two ways to change entry fees:

1)To change fees for individual owners, click the MANAGE OWNERS tab from your league home page, then click the "Edit" link next to the owner whose entry fee you want to change.
2) To apply a change of entry fee to every team in your league, click the LEAGUE SETTINGS tab, then change the default entry fee. Changing the entry fee in this manner will override any changes you made using the method described above.

Payouts: Does LeagueSafe support weekly payouts?

Unfortunately, no. For security reasons, LeagueSafe does not offer commissioners the ability to make any payouts until the end of the season. The first day that payouts are available is displayed clearly on the league home page.

Invitations: How do I pay for my league on LeagueSafe?

E-Check: My payment is still pending but the funds have already disappeared from my account.

E-checks take four business days to clear the bank on both sides of the transaction. LeagueSafe is required to wait the full four days before we can clear E-check deposits out of "Pending" status. It's not unusual for the funds to be removed from the user's bank before the payment is reflected on LeagueSafe. Barring some sort of error during the transaction process (a mis-typed account or routing number, for example), the payment will clear within four business days. Keep in mind that the four-day period won't start until the following business day for payments made after normal business hours or on weekends.

Credit Card: My card keeps getting rejected. Why?

The most common reason for a failed credit card transaction is that the billing address entered does not match the billing address for the debit/check/credit card being used for payment. Our Address Verification System (AVS) security measures will reject any transaction for a billing address mismatch. The best thing you can do in such a situation is contact your issuing bank to verify the address they have on file for you, then enter it EXACTLY the same way on our site. Alternatively, you may try variations of your address - like "Street" instead of "St." or "East" instead of "E.", and so on.

Balance Transfer: How do I pay for a league using money in my LeagueSafe account?

Members who have money in their LeagueSafe account can use that money to pay for other leagues registered with LeagueSafe. If you have a balance in your account, you'll be given the option to use it towards a new league after you click the payment link in the invitation email for that league.

Refunds: How can a LeagueSafe user request a refund?

Payment Deadline: What is it, and what's with the late fee?

One of LeagueSafe’s main objectives is to make life simpler for hard-working, under-appreciated fantasy commissioners. As part of this objective, we’ve drawn a line in the sand for payments to be made. Nobody wants to let their unpaid entry fee hang over their head all season long – that’s not fun for anyone, least of all your league commissioner. Therefore, we’ve set the payment deadline several weeks into the regular season. Without a deadline, some people would never pay – it’s as simple as that. But we also realize that situations arise whereby an owner or two might not be able (or willing) to pay on time. Hence, the Late Payment feature, which has a $10.00 fee designed as an incentive for owners to pay on time. If you don’t want to pay the fee, just make sure you log in BEFORE your league's deadline and make your payment.

Payment Deadline: What if I miss it? Can I still pay?

Maybe, maybe not. If, and only if, your commissioner has activated the Late Payment feature on your league, you’ll still be able to pay even after the deadline passes. IMPORTANT: Please note that late payments made into all LeagueSafe leagues are assessed a late payment fee. This fee is disclosed and shown clearly during the checkout process. The late fee is non-refundable, so if you have any questions about paying the fee you are encouraged to contact your commissioner before making your payment.

Payout Rule: What is it?

At the beginning of the season, the commissioner selects the Payout Rule, which determines how much involvement league owners will have in validating the end-of-season winners. Some leagues allow the commissioner to have complete control over designating winners; others ask the owners to vote to ratify the commissioner’s payout designations. Owners who join and pay into the league are asked to approve the commissioner's selection prior to making their payments.

Postseason payouts: When can payouts be made?

Shortly (within 24 hours) after the end of the regular season, commissioners will be allowed to distribute payouts to league members. The date when payouts first become available is displayed on your league home page.

Once funds have been allocated and, if necessary, approved by the league, they will be authorized for individual league members to withdraw. After withdrawal has been initiated, winners can expect to receive their funds within 5-10 business days, depending on their chosen method of withdrawal.

Winner payouts: How do I get paid at the end of the season?

Once the season has ended, your league commissioner will assign league funds to the winners of your league. Once the payout allocations have been approved in accordance with the Payout Rule for your league, individual winners are responsible for logging in to their LeagueSafe accounts and withdrawing their winnings. The amount available for withdrawal will be shown at the top of your user home page. Funds are available within 24 hours from the end of the regular season.

Payouts: Majority Vote Method

Commissioners who selected the Majority Vote payout method at the beginning of the season are solely responsible for allocating payouts at the end of the season. Once the allocation has been submitted, the league will be given a chance to vote on the proposed allocations via email. Once the allocation has received enough votes to pass with a 51% majority, funds will transfer from the league into individual owner accounts.

The vote will stay open for 7 days. If not enough votes are cast to reach a majority, the allocation will pass or fail based on the number of votes cast at the time of expiration. For example, if 3 members of a 10-team league vote YES and 1 votes NO, the allocation would pass by a count of 3-1 upon expiration.

Withdrawing Funds: What are my options for withdrawing my winnings?

LeagueSafe currently offers the following methods for withdrawing funds:

1) Prepaid Visa card – This card works like any other Visa card, and can be used anywhere Visa is accepted. And, it can be customized with a message announcing your victory. The LeagueSafe Visa Prepaid Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to a license from Visa USA, Inc. The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC. It’s free!

2) E-check – Funds are sent directly into your bank account. Just enter your account information and we'll send your winnings to your account electronically. This is our fastest payment option. There is a $5 processing fee for this payment option.

3) Paper Check (Standard Processing) – A paper check is mailed to you. There is a $1.50 processing fee for this option.

4) Paper Check (Express Processing) - A paper check is mailed to you. Requests submitted by Noon CST are processed and dropped in the mail on the same day. There is a $7.00 rush delivery fee for this option.

Withdrawing Funds: What are the delivery times for the different withdrawal options?

1) Prepaid Card: 5-8 business days.
2) E-Check: 3-4 business days.
3) Paper Check (Standard): 10-14 business days.
4) Paper Check (Express): Processed same day for requests made by Noon CST. Delivery times vary based on U.S. Postal Service timelines.

Withdrawing Funds: Why can't I see my e-check withdrawal as a pending transaction in my bank account?

It depends on your bank. It usually takes 3-4 days for the transaction to be available in your account, but it varies depending on your bank's processing schedules and funds availability policies. Contact your bank directly if you have any questions about their policies.

2012 Bank Holidays:

New Year's Day: January 2 (Monday)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day: January 16 (Monday)
President's Day: February 20 (Monday)
Memorial Day: May 28 (Monday)
Independence Day: July 4 (Wednesday)
Labor Day: September 3 (Monday)
Columbus Day: October 8 (Monday)
Veterans Day: November 12 (Monday)
Thanksgiving: November 22 (Thursday)
Christmas: December 25 (Tuesday)

FREE: You said this was free. Why am I being charged a transaction fee?

Using our default payment and withdrawal options, LeagueSafe is 100% free from start to finish. There are no fees for a commissioner to set up a league, and nominal transaction processing fees apply only if the default payment settings are changed by the commissioner. Users may withdraw winnings for free by loading their funds on a prepaid debit card, or pay nominal fees for other withdrawal methods.

FREE: Does LeagueSafe skim any of my league's funds?

No. At the conclusion of the regular season, 100% of your league fees are returned to the winners of your league.

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