How a Veterinary Practice Streamlines Payments and Improves Client Experience with Stripe and Covetrus® 

Practice: Wicker Park Veterinary Clinic (Chicago, IL)

Industry: Veterinary / Animal Health

Key Challenges:

• Manual processes for collecting and reconciling payments
• Time lost to correcting human error
• Inefficient workflows that pulled focus from patient care

Key Outcomes:

• Faster checkout and reduced need for manual entry
• Quicker refunds, often processed within hours vs. days

On an average day, Wicker Park Veterinary Clinic in Chicago cares for dozens of patients. With a large team of six doctors, five front-desk team members, and three to five new clients arriving daily, the schedule fills up fast. According to Practice Director Jasmin Cruz, each 30-minute appointment adds up to “a lot of pets” coming in — leaving little room for slow payment processing. 

Behind all those appointments was a lot of hands-on work, especially at checkout. Cruz and staff used to spend hours collecting and reconciling payments, as pet owners brought more than leashes and treats in their bags — they also had a variety of payment methods, from cards and cash to digital wallets.

To collect pre-service deposits, staff had to manually enter card information over the phone. At checkout, they had to type in payment details while clients waited with anxious pets ready to go home. In a bustling office with constant distractions, human error was inevitable. To keep records accurate, end-of-day reconciliation often meant tracking down missing details, such as figuring out which type of card was used.

At the end of the day, managing payments was taking up too much valuable time and pulling staff away from client service and patient care. Wicker Park needed a simpler way.

Wicker Park now uses a joint solution from Stripe and Covetrus® to quickly process their payments.

Stripe Terminal devices support in-clinic transactions using clients’ preferred payment methods. The system integrates with the clinic’s cloud-based PIMS, Covetrus Pulse®, via Stripe Connect — allowing staff to collect payments directly within their existing workflow.

The team can also take payments via mobile devices, using text-to-pay links to retrieve information within seconds, without manually retyping. This feature was a key reason for adopting the solution and is used frequently for onboarding new clients, collecting pre-payments, and easing sensitive conversations.

Cruz also enjoys how easy it is to follow up on outstanding balances. “I just send an email alerting clients they have a balance due,” says Cruz. Refunds are fast, too — since card details are stored securely in the system, there’s no need to call clients for information again.

Thanks to the Stripe and Covetrus payment solution, Wicker Park saves measurable time per transaction — with fewer clicks and less data entry. Cruz noted that the time savings are especially significant over the phone, reclaiming two to three minutes per call that were previously spent capturing and verifying payment details. Clients benefit, too: their information is kept private during calls, and they can pay quickly and securely from their mobile device.

The joint solution creates a better experience all around. Pet owners can pay the way they want, from wherever is most convenient — often right from their phone. Wicker Park’s team is happier, too. “It makes my life and the front staff’s so much easier,” says Cruz.

The result? Patients get in and out faster — with tails still wagging.

With Covetrus Payments powered by Stripe, clinics can integrate modern payment solutions that help make the checkout experience more efficient and end-of-day tasks easier.

Ready to cut down on credit card administration with streamlined processing?
Schedule a demo today to see how Covetrus Payments can transform your checkout process.

Together, Stripe and Covetrus deliver a veterinary commerce platform that simplifies payments, automates financial workflows, and enhances the pet owner experience. Covetrus brings deep expertise in veterinary care and practice management, while Stripe powers the payment infrastructure needed to support growing businesses. Their solution — embedded directly into Covetrus Pulse — combines the strengths of fintech and veterinary software to support a more modern and efficient practice.

©2025 Covetrus, Inc. All rights reserved. No copying without consent.

Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Used with permission from Wicker Park Veterinary Clinic. Conducted in partnership with Stripe and Bridge Partners.