> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://wavecnct.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Credits and Usage

> How enrichment credits work, what they cost, how to buy more, and where to track usage

Credits pay for **contact enrichment**: the step that turns a name and a company into a complete, CRM-ready lead with a verified email, phone number, job title, and LinkedIn profile. Every plan uses credits, and every account starts with a few for free.

Credits are separate from your plan. You buy them as you need them, and they never affect card sharing, contact storage, or CRM sync.

## What Uses Credits

Each enrichment costs **1 or 4 credits**, depending on how much Wave Connect already knows about the contact:

| Enrichment                                           |    Cost   |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | :-------: |
| Contact with an email, phone number, or LinkedIn URL |  1 credit |
| Deeper search with only a name and company           | 4 credits |

Credits are used when a contact is enriched, whichever way it was captured:

* **Event badge and QR code scans** are always enriched, so each scanned contact uses up to 4 credits.
* **Business card scans**, **lead capture form** submissions, and other new contacts are enriched automatically when **Auto-enrich new contacts** is on (see [Auto-Enrich](#auto-enrich-new-contacts)).
* **Manual enrichment**: open any contact and click **Enrich**. The button shows the cost before you confirm.

You are never charged when enrichment cannot find more details for a contact. Contacts exchanged between two Wave Connect users are already complete and are not enriched.

<Note>
  Sharing your card, NFC taps, QR code scans of your own card, SMS and email sharing, CRM integrations, and analytics never use credits.
</Note>

## Free Credits

Every new account includes free credits: **10 credits** for a personal account and **20 credits** for a new organization. They never expire, and no payment method is required.

## Where Credits Live

Credits belong to the billing account, not to individual seats:

* **Personal accounts** have their own balance.
* **Organizations** share one pool. Every member draws from the same balance, and the **Usage** page shows how many credits each teammate used.

In an organization, only the **Owner** can open **Billing**, buy credits, and change credit settings. Members see the current balance at the top of the **Contacts** page.

## Buying Credits

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to Billing">
    In your Wave Connect account, go to **Settings** → **Billing**. The **Credits** card shows your available balance.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Buy credits">
    Pick a preset amount (20, 50, 100, or 200 credits) or enter a custom quantity. The dialog shows the total and the price per credit.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pay">
    If you have a saved card, the purchase is charged right away. Otherwise you are taken to checkout to add one. Your credits are added to your balance within a few moments.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Pay-as-you-go credits are **\$2.50 USD per credit**, plus applicable taxes. Purchased credits are **valid for 12 months**.

You can also buy credits from the scanner or from a contact whenever you run out: the **Buy credits** button opens the same dialog.

<Tip>
  Capturing a lot of leads? Annual credit plans offer volume pricing that drops below the pay-as-you-go rate. Contact [sales@wavecnct.com](mailto:sales@wavecnct.com) for a quote.
</Tip>

## Credit Plans

A credit plan is an annual allowance of credits, set up with our sales team, for organizations that capture leads at scale.

* Plan credits **reset every year** on your plan's renewal date. Unused plan credits do not roll over.
* Plan credits are used **before** any purchased credits.
* The **Credits** card shows how many plan credits you have used this cycle and when they renew.
* While you are on a credit plan, buying extra credits and auto-reload are managed through sales rather than self-serve.

To change or cancel a credit plan, contact your account manager or [billing@wavecnct.com](mailto:billing@wavecnct.com). Canceling a plan ends it at the close of the current cycle; purchased credits are not affected.

## Auto-Reload

Auto-reload buys credits for you when your balance drops below a threshold, so lead capture never stops in the middle of an event.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Save a payment method">
    Auto-reload charges your default card, so add one under **Settings** → **Billing** first.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Turn on Auto-reload">
    On the **Credits** card, switch on **Auto-reload**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose when and how much">
    Set **When balance falls below** (the threshold) and **Buy this many credits** (the amount). By default, Wave Connect buys 40 credits when your balance drops below 20.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Optionally cap your spending">
    Set **Maximum credits per month** to limit how many credits auto-reload can buy in a calendar month.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Auto-reload purchases are charged at your pay-as-you-go rate and are valid for 12 months, like any other purchase. If a payment fails, Wave Connect retries automatically; after three consecutive failures, auto-reload is turned off and the Owner is notified to update the payment method.

## Auto-Enrich New Contacts

The **Auto-enrich new contacts** switch on the **Credits** card controls whether every new contact is enriched as soon as it is captured.

* **On**: new contacts from business card scans, the lead capture form, and other sources are enriched automatically.
* **Off**: new contacts are saved as captured. You can still enrich any contact manually, and badge and QR code scans are always enriched.

Turn it off if you prefer to review contacts first and enrich only the ones that matter.

## Tracking Usage

Open **Settings** → **Billing** → **View usage** to see where your credits go.

* **Credits used** for a chosen period, with a daily chart. Presets include the current and last billing cycle, the last 7 or 30 days, and this month.
* **Daily breakdown**: credits used and credits added, day by day.
* **Teammates** (organizations only): credits used by each member, so you can see who is capturing the most leads.

Both tables can be exported as CSV with the **Export daily usage** and **Export teammate usage** options.

The **Credits** card also shows your available balance, the credits used over the last 30 days, and when your next batch of credits expires or renews.

## Running Low or Out of Credits

Wave Connect notifies the billing Owner when credits are running low, and again when they reach zero. You can turn these alerts on or off per channel under **Settings** → **Notifications** → **Credits running low**. Alerts are skipped while auto-reload is on.

When your balance reaches zero:

* **Badge and QR code scanning pauses** until you add credits. The scanner switches to the business card option, which keeps working for free.
* **New contacts are saved without enrichment.** Once you add credits, you can enrich them manually from the contact page.
* **Enrich** buttons show **No credits left** and open the **Buy credits** dialog.

Nothing is lost: your contacts, notes, tags, and CRM sync continue to work.

## Credit Expiry

| Credits                           | Expiry                                |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Free signup credits               | Never                                 |
| Purchased and auto-reload credits | 12 months after purchase              |
| Credit plan credits               | At the end of the plan's annual cycle |

Credits that expire soonest are used first, so you never lose a batch while an older one is still unused. The **Credits** card shows the date of your next expiry.