13 October 2026 · Plato Medical
Plato and WhatsApp: the booking goes in once the deposit is paid.
Most WhatsApp booking stops at “here are some times”. The patient picks one, and the slot sits in the diary whether or not they turn up.
A deposit is the usual fix. But only if someone checks it was paid, and then puts the booking into Plato. Often that means a person matching screenshots to bookings by hand.
We connect WhatsApp, a payment link and Plato so that check happens on its own. Here is how it works.
How it works, step by step.
- The patient messages your WhatsApp. They are asked which location, if you have more than one, and when they would like to come in.
- They see real free times from Plato. The times come only from your own Plato setup. Change a day or add leave in Plato, and WhatsApp follows. Each time is checked again before it is taken.
- The time is held in Plato. The chat reads the booking back. When the patient says yes, the time goes into Plato as “Held, waiting for deposit”. Nobody else can take it.
- A payment link arrives in the same chat. The patient pays on the link by PayNow or card.
- The payment confirms itself. The payment company tells our system the moment the money lands. The booking only goes ahead if the amount is right.
- The held time becomes the booking. Plato shows a confirmed appointment. The patient gets a confirmation. Your front desk gets an email.
- No payment, no booking. One reminder goes out partway through the hold. When the hold runs out, the held time is removed and the slot is free again.
Why the deposit has to be tied to Plato.
A deposit taken in a separate app leaves two lists: payments in one place, bookings in another. Someone has to match them.
Asking patients to send a receipt is the same job in a different form. Someone opens each screenshot and checks it against the bank.
When the payment itself confirms the booking in Plato, there is nothing to match. Your diary shows paid bookings and held times, and nothing in between.
What your clinic decides.
- The deposit amount.
- How long a hold lasts before the time goes back on sale.
- Who skips the deposit. Patients on a paid package can be recognised by phone number and book without one.
- What goes to a person. Health questions, anything that sounds urgent, and anything you would rather your team handled. The chat hands those over instead of answering.
What stays yours.
Your WhatsApp number. Your Plato, which keeps the patient records. Your payment account, so deposits go straight to the clinic and we never hold the money.
Each build is custom to the clinic's own rules. Before scoping, it is worth knowing what Plato's API allows and the one condition it sets on outside software. We covered both in Plato Medical WhatsApp integration.
Questions clinics ask about deposits on WhatsApp
- Can a clinic on Plato take a deposit on WhatsApp?
- Yes. The patient picks a time in the WhatsApp chat, the time is held in Plato, and a payment link arrives in the same chat. When the deposit is paid, the held time becomes the booking in Plato.
- Does someone at the front desk have to check each payment?
- No. The payment company sends a signed notice the moment the money lands, and the booking is only confirmed when the amount is right. Nobody checks a screenshot or the bank. The front desk gets an email for each paid deposit.
- What happens if the patient never pays?
- They get one reminder partway through the hold. When the hold runs out, the held time is removed from Plato and the slot is free again.
- Which payment providers does this work with?
- The deposit is paid into the clinic's own payment account, so we never hold the money. It needs a provider that sends an instant notice when a payment succeeds. HitPay and Stripe both do.
- Does every patient pay a deposit?
- The clinic decides. Patients on a paid package, for example, can be recognised by their phone number and book without one.
Running Plato and losing slots to no-shows?
We build this on your own Plato, your own WhatsApp number and your own payment account.