AIBU to think Busy Bees charging £4 per payment for parents who pay via Tax-Free Childcare outside their app is outrageous?

[DtM1988]

Busy Bees (390+ nurseries, UK's biggest chain) have told parents that from 1 April, all payments must go through the Busy Bees App. If you don't use the app, you get charged £4 per payment.

We pay via HMRC's Tax-Free Childcare scheme directly. That's how the government designed the system to work. But Busy Bees say paying that way means it "is not being made correctly" and now want to charge us extra for doing it.

The app doesn't just handle payments. It also processes child observations, messaging and account management. So the only way to avoid the charge is to consent to all of that. I don't want to link my government TFC account to a third-party app with poor reviews just to avoid a penalty.

I raised a formal complaint with head office. They defended it as covering "manual reconciliation" costs, but every TFC payment already includes a unique HMRC reference. They wouldn't give any detail when I asked about their data protection impact assessment.

I've filed with the ICO and Trading Standards. We're leaving early because of this head office policy. Other parents at our branch are doing the same.
Anyone else at Busy Bees been hit with this? Is it happening at other branches too?

Gone with YANBU because my job role means I can only make payments through tax free childcare on the phone as my employer can't be on online tax accounts for security reasons.

I pay via tax free childcare but through the app - you can set it up to take payments from your tax free childcare account automatically.

I wouldn't be able to do that as I have no online account for tax.

I didn't know you could use the tax free childcare scheme without having the online account. How do you pay with your childrcare scheme now? I use to log onto the TFC account online - pay directly. I use the same TFC account to link to the app to now pay. no fee

It's Busy Bess they tend to do what they please

What is it you object to with their preferred payment method? It sounds like you don’t want to rather than can’t but I don’t understand the issue. Surely you’re using the Busy Bees app already?

I have to call them to make the payment.

Privacy anxiety

So you could link your tax free childcare account to the app to avoid the penalty but don’t want to? I think YANBU to be annoyed but it sounds like you do have options

I'm having a pain with this I'm set up as the Bill Payer on the app I think just because I registered my child originally with the nursery but my partner actually has the tax free childcare account. They have been zero help so far in helping with this

So the only way to avoid the charge is to consent to all of that. I don't want to link my government TFC account to a third-party app with poor reviews just to avoid a penalty.

So for clarity, you don’t have to pay via the Busy Bees app, you could link your TFC account to the app and that would be acceptable to them, and you’d avoid the charge?

If thats the case, YABU. If you choose not to do it, then you pay the £4 manual reconciliation charge.

From what you are saying you are trying to have it both ways.

You don't want to use their app which cause the nursery additional costs which they are now passing onto you, but you don't want to pay that cost?

I think you either need to suck the charge up, or use the app.

Presumably you pay the cost of processing for not using their -app… or they roll it into the fees and charge everyone…!

How much are busy bees charging out of interest? Our nearest one was £2,500 a month for a baby - an additional £4 on top of that seems a bit petty.

Well done for reporting them. You need to go to the Early Years team at your local authority too. All that said, it’s Busy Bees. It’s like going to Costa and then complaining about the coffee being bad. You get what you pay for and there are much better nursery chains out there.

Totally agree! It's so grabby, especially when costs have massively gone up for everything else. I have complained to our manager. Also, there was so little notice.

We've had local uproar because you can now opt put of the full price week at Easter and Christmas but they hadn't actually told anyone 🙄

oh tell me about it... honestly, it's not even about that recent extra charge, it's about ALL THE NEW extra charges they introduced over the months and years. I get it, they are a business - but don't be an evil greedy business. Just recently, Busy Bees has changed their policies about early drop offs - extra chagre, which keeps going up every while. Then meal charges, then this, than that - they jump on every possible opp they get to get more from already bled-out-dry parents.

They sure do - my favorite are the new charges on top of new charges. Just recently they introduced an early drop off charge, which used to be a part of the full fee. And then they keep increasing it, alongside other fees. Our costs from March to April just this year are going up 14.8%. Mad!

thank you - appreciate it. What pains me here is that Busy Bees are going to now financially penalize me for using the Gov UK system as I did so far. Yes, I understand it is "only £4", but it's more than just a fee. It is an extra charge on top of all other charges Busy Bees has introduced all these years. Just this year, from March too April, our cost will go up by 14.8% - and most of that is their cheeky increases of those extra fees. I am mostly P/O at them for all of this, but the £4 fee for using a gov regulated scheme has pushed me over the edge.

I feel you. You should see what they did in 2025. Busy Bees has introduced the paywall to even access the app. Unless you added your bank details, you were not able to see your child reports. They later backtracked on that, but all in all - they seem to care about what benefits them the most. Kids and parents are just an excuse to make profit. Profit 1st, Kids 2nd, Parents 3rd should be Busy Bees Nurseries slogan.

But that bit is your choice, you can link up your childcare account to their app and not pay the £4, or have I misunderstood? I’d still be annoyed at them forcing the app and taking the piss with other charges, but actually paying the charge is avoidable isn’t it?

Appreciate your inputs - yeah, it does boil down to that. But I can't shake the feeling of this not being right. I am using a legal gov backed scheme to pay the fees on time - and now, if I don't wanna do it via their app - I get a financial penalty. And this penalty is a result of their inefficient operational processes. Honestly, just an excuse to cut down their staff, make more money from parents, and add another fragmented cost, on top of all other costs. Since the first day we walked into the Busy Bees nursery, our costs have gone up by 55%. Just this year, from March - April, 14.8%. What the heck.

unfortunately there is no option to NOT use the app. It is their payment gateway.

oh I am sure they will roll something else into all fees. Just this year, our costs went up by 14.8% from March - April. I have a problem with Busy Bees Nurseries constantly finding excuses how to charge parents more. I live in the North East, so it's less than down south. With all belts and whistles, cca 2k per child.

Thank you for supporting me in this stressful topic. People don't really realize it's not just about £4 fee - it's about everything that came before, and this just took the cake. I also reported them to Trading Standards, ICO, and my local MP. I don't think much will come of it, but that's the problem with all parents that just keep quiet and absorb the costs. Eventually, companies take us for granted and fail to realize there are other options. heh, yeah, agree with the Costa comment - it foes feel like it. But at least, I will have my voice heard in their ecosystem.

Thank you! Also - whaaat? you can opt out?? How??