At Pinwheel.us, we are committed to keeping our users informed about important legislation that can affect operations. One such piece of legislation is California Senate Bill 478 (SB 478), which has introduced significant changes to the way event registrations are handled in the state.

What is California SB 478?

California SB 478, also known as the Honest Pricing Law, took effect on July 1, 2024. This law aims to enhance transparency and accountability in pricing by requiring organizations to disclose all processing fees associated with event registrations upfront. This ensures participants have a clear understanding of the total costs before they commit. Specifically, organizations must clearly display any fees wherever pricing information is referenced.

How Pinwheel Supports Compliance

To help our users comply with SB 478, Pinwheel has implemented a feature that supports fee transparency. If your account is based in California, the display of processing fees is automatically enabled. For users outside California who market to participants in the state, compliance is also necessary and just a few clicks away:

1. Open Account Settings.
2. Navigate to Registration Settings.
3. Turn on the “Automatically show processing fees in all price displays” toggle.

Once enabled, processing fees will be added to all pricing displayed in the following areas of the event registration process:

• Information Page
• Information Panel
• Participant Summary Page
• Store Page
• Donation Page

Organizations Can Cover the Fees Without Displaying Them

Events can still opt to have processing fees absorbed by the organization, eliminating the need to disclose these fees as part of the registration cost.

Comprehensive Marketing Compliance

Beyond registration forms, organizations must ensure that all references to pricing—including those on websites, social media campaigns, blog posts, email marketing campaigns, and other promotional materials—reflect the processing fees. This requirement helps maintain consistency and transparency across all consumer-facing materials.

Potential Nationwide Impact

Although SB 478 is currently a California-specific law, a similar federal law has already passed the House with bipartisan support and is now awaiting Senate approval. If enacted, this could establish nationwide requirements for processing fee disclosures, further emphasizing the importance of transparent pricing.

Conclusion

California SB 478 brings important changes to event registration, prioritizing transparency and accountability. Pinwheel.us is here to help you stay compliant with these updates while building trust with your participants. If you have questions, our team is ready to assist. Let’s ensure your events succeed in this evolving regulatory landscape!