Pricing, Payments, and Pledge¶

This page collects payment methods, quote mechanics, pledge amount, service fee, weekly sharing, fees, and payment-setting rules.

Quote price and pledge amount¶

The Pledge Amount varies for each member and is determined by factors related to the member and vehicle, including vehicle model, age, mileage, owner's age, and driving record.

Quantitatively, the Pledge Amount equals 80% of the quote price for each GDC Plan. The quote price consists of the Pledge Amount at 80% and Service Fee at 20%.

When joining GDC, members only pay the 20% Service Fee upfront. The Pledge Amount represents the member's maximum potential contribution and commitment to share costs with other members. It is not collected initially. Instead, it is drawn upon through weekly sharing contributions if and when eligible events occur in the community. Sharing contributions never exceed the original Pledge Amount.

The quote price is not an insurance premium. It represents a potential maximum contribution rather than an actual upfront cost.

Service fee¶

GDC collects a service fee equal to 20% of each member's quote price when the member joins or renews participation in the program.

The service fee supports platform operation, technology infrastructure, customer support, administrative expenses, loss assessment service, pricing data usage, and other essential services.

The service fee is refundable before the corresponding GDC Plan takes effect. Once the plan becomes effective, the service fee is used to provide services for members and cannot be returned.

GDC does not have plans to change the service percentage charge, and members have absolute freedom to choose whether to join or quit GDC.

Payment methods and transaction fees¶

Members joining GDC can use credit cards, debit cards, or link a bank account to pay via ACH.

Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported in certain situations, including:

Initial service fee when joining a GDC Plan.
Manual or automatic renewal service fees.
Automatic weekly sharing payments if Apple Pay or Google Pay has been added as a payment method on the Payment Settings page.

Apple Pay and Google Pay are not supported for manual weekly sharing payments.

For GDC Plan service fees, users can add a new payment method on the payment checkout page. For weekly sharing contributions, users can add or modify the bank card/account used for contributions in the Payment Settings section of the GDC Plan details page.

Fee structure:

For credit card payments, the channel fee is 3.1% of the total amount paid plus $0.05 per transaction, regardless of debit or credit card. The total amount paid includes the channel fee and the original payment.
For Apple Pay or Google Pay, the transaction fee remains consistent with standard credit card processing.
For ACH payments, the fee is 0.8% for both first-time and subsequent payments, calculated on the total amount paid.

3DS is a security protocol used to prevent fraud in online credit and debit card transactions. Members normally need to complete 3DS authentication when paying the service fee for the first time and generally do not need to do it every time for weekly sharing.

Cards can be unlinked from payment settings for service fees or weekly sharing contributions. Cards linked for commission withdrawals are managed through the withdrawal page and Stripe.

Card updater and card security¶

Stripe may automatically update stored payment methods when a customer's card information changes due to expiration, replacement, or upgrades. This is handled through the Automatic Card Updater provided by card networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

GDC does not have access to or store complete bank card details. Stripe stores encrypted tokenized card numbers in compliance with PCI-DSS standards.

If a member sees fraudulent card charges elsewhere, members should contact the card issuer to freeze the card and request a replacement, while ensuring GDC weekly sharing payments can still be processed normally.

A public announcement with details of Eligible Events in a Sharing Cycle is available to all members 7 days before sharing contributions are collected.

Sharing is requested on a weekly basis. A required sharing contribution is collected from each member's preset payment method and used to pay for eligible events.

The amount a member donates weekly is called the Individual Shared Amount. It is decided by the total amount needed for sharing contributions that week, the member's remaining pledge balance, and the sum of all remaining pledge balances of all members.

Formula:

Each Member's Individual Shared Amount = Remaining Pledge Balance multiplied by the shared ratio applied multiplied by (1 + a floating standard of up to 9.9% on the Individual Shared Amount).
The shared ratio is calculated by dividing the Actual Total Sharing Contribution Amount by the cumulative Remaining Pledge Balance across all members' GDC Plan Accounts at that time.

The general Individual Shared Amount cap is 7.5% of each member's Pledge Amount per Sharing Cycle. Until December 31, 2026, the Individual Shared Amount for any cycle is capped at 3.75% of the member's Pledge Amount.

Payment failure and outstanding contribution¶

If a weekly sharing contribution is not made by the end of the grace period, the member will be considered to have automatically withdrawn from the GDC Plan. The grace period is 14 days.

An Outstanding Contribution is an amount the member is required to pay but has not yet settled. It can occur when:

Weekly sharing contributions are not paid on time.
Costs associated with an eligible event, such as remaining pledge balance required for repairs, are not paid by the due date.

Payment failures may occur when the member's Payment Instrument has insufficient funds or credit. During the grace period, GDC may continue attempting to charge the full required amount.

If the Outstanding Contribution is not cleared within the 14-day grace period, the member faces automatic withdrawal from GDC and loses the benefits and supports provided by membership. If the member wants to join GDC again later, the member must clear the outstanding contribution upon joining. Failure to rectify insufficient remaining pledge balance during the grace period could negatively affect credit score because the platform is entitled to engage a third party to collect the Outstanding Contribution from the defaulting member.

To protect against overdraft, members should check account balance often, setting low-balance alerts, and opting out of overdrafts where available.