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Setting Up and Managing Recurring Payments

Updated

Overview

Recurring payments allow you to automatically bill your customers on a set schedule, such as weekly, monthly, or annually. This is ideal for businesses offering subscriptions, memberships, services, or any product that requires regular payments. By automating billing, you can improve your cash flow, reduce administrative tasks, and increase customer retention.

This guide will show you how to set up recurring payments, create and manage billing plans, and handle subscriptions effectively.

What Are Plans and Subscriptions?

To effectively implement recurring payments, it’s essential to understand its two key components: Plans and Subscriptions.

  • Subscriptions store customer details, including name, payment information, and address. While adding a customer’s information, you can create a customized subscription for them without requiring a predefined plan.
  • Plans define scheduling details such as duration, frequency, and cost. They can be assigned to multiple customers, and any changes made to a plan will apply to all customers using it.

Merchant Impacts / Business Considerations

  • Consistency: Automated billing ensures customers are charged on time.
  • Flexibility: You can customize payment schedules per customer.
  • Efficiency: Reduces manual invoicing and collection efforts.
  • Visibility: Access to detailed reports on successful, declined, or failed transactions.

Prerequisites

You must have the Access Recurring/Installment permission enabled for your user account.

How to Enable Permission

  • Log in to your merchant portal.
  • Go to Options > Settings > User Accounts.
  • Select the username to edit.
  • Under Permissions, check Access Recurring/Installment.
  • Click Save.

How to Access Recurring Payments

  1. Log into your Merchant Portal.
  2. On the left panel, click Recurring, or go to Services > Add Subscription from the homepage.

Adding a Subscription

You can create a subscription directly for a customer using their credit card or electronic check information.

Steps to Add a Subscription:

  1. Navigate to Recurring > Add Subscription.
  2. Select the payment method (if multiple options are available).
  3. Enter customer and payment information.
  4. (Optional) Select a processor, if applicable.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Choose to:
    • Use an existing Plan, or
    • Click "Create New Billing Plan" to set up a new one.
  7. Enter:
    • Charge amount.
    • Billing frequency (daily or monthly options).
    • Total number of charges or select "Charge until canceled."
    • Start date for billing.
  8. (Optional) If you want to save this plan for future use, provide:
    • Plan Name / Description
    • Plan ID (for advanced integrations)
  9. Click Save. A confirmation message will appear: "Your Recurring/Installment Transaction has been Successfully Added."

Note: Align the start date with your billing frequency to avoid unintended early charges.

Editing a Subscription

You may need to update a subscription to change details or pause/unpause billing.

Steps to Edit:

  1. Navigate to Recurring > List Subscriptions.
  2. Search for the customer.
  3. Select the subscription.
  4. Make your changes.
  5. Click Save.

Deleting a Subscription

Important: Deleting a subscription is permanent and cannot be undone.

Steps to Delete:

  1. Navigate to Recurring > List Subscriptions.
  2. Search and select the subscription.
  3. Click the Delete button at the top.

Creating a Billing Plan

Plans simplify setup when multiple customers share the same billing schedule.

Steps to Add a Plan:

  1. Navigate to Recurring > Add Plan.
  2. Enter:
    • Charge amount.
    • Billing frequency.
    • Total number of charges or "Charge until canceled."
    • Start date.
  3. Provide Plan Name / Description and Plan ID.
  4. Click Save. A message will confirm: "Your Plan has been Successfully Saved."

Editing or Deleting a Plan

Caution: Changes to a plan affect all customers using it.

To Edit:

  1. Go to Recurring > List Plans.
  2. Select the plan.
  3. Edit as needed.
  4. Click Save.

To Delete:

  1. Ensure no customers are using the plan.
  2. Navigate to Recurring > List Plans.
  3. Select the plan.
  4. Click Delete.

Check Plan Usage:

To check how many customers are currently using a plan:

  1. Navigate to Recurring > List Plans.
  2. Click on the plan name.
  3. A banner at the top of the plan details page will display one of the following messages:
    • "This plan is not used by any customers."
    • "This plan is used by X customer(s). All customers using this plan will be affected by your changes."

Additional Subscription Options and Recurring Services

When creating or editing subscriptions, you may see additional features depending on your account configuration:

Subscription Options

  • Customer Vault: Check "Add to Customer Vault" to securely save customer details for future use.
  • Level III Advantage: Enter enhanced transaction data such as item details, tax amounts, and shipping information.
  • Merchant Defined Fields (MDFs): Enter your own custom data fields to track business-specific information.
  • Automatic Card Updater: Automatically updates cards that are reissued or expire. If you want to exclude a card, check "Skip this card when using Automatic Card Updater."

Recurring-Compatible Services

  • Webhooks for Recurring: Set up webhooks to receive real-time updates for recurring transaction events.
  • Batch Upload: Create and upload recurring subscriptions and billing plans in bulk for efficient processing.
  • Recurring in iProcess: Use the iProcess mobile app to view, add, edit, or delete recurring credit card subscriptions.
  • Emailed Recurring Reports: Subscribe to receive daily summary reports via email.
    • To receive this notification:
    1. Log in to your merchant portal.
    2. Navigate to Options > Settings > User Accounts.
    3. Click the username you want to edit.
    4. Under Notifications, check 'Receive Recurring Reports'.
    5. Click Save.

Reports include:

  • All successfully processed recurring transactions for the day.
  • Separate listings of declined and errored transactions.

Processor Assignments

When creating or editing a subscription in the Virtual Terminal, you can assign a processor using a dropdown menu:

  • Manual Assignment: You may select a specific processor from the dropdown list.
  • Optional Assignment: If no processor is selected, the subscription is not tied to a specific processor and will follow your default transaction routing settings.
  • Dropdown Visibility: Even if you only have one processor, the processor dropdown will still appear if a processor had previously been assigned to the subscription.
  • Processor Changes: If an assigned processor is later disabled or deleted:
    • The subscription will fail to process and generate an "Invalid Processor" error.
    • A warning box will appear in the subscription details, prompting you to either select a new processor or use the default processor.

User Permissions and Ownership

  • Subscriptions are tied to the user who created them.
  • If a user is deleted, their subscriptions transfer to the deleting user.
  • If the new user lacks access to the assigned processor, subscriptions may fail.

Common Questions

How do I email receipts to customers?
Use the "Send receipt email" checkbox when creating or editing a subscription. Save your changes to enable receipt emails.

Can I pause a subscription?
Yes. Edit the subscription and check the box labeled "Subscription is paused."

Will the system automatically retry failed payments?
No. The system attempts the payment again on the next scheduled charge date. You can manually adjust the next charge date to retry sooner.

Can I store CVV numbers for subscriptions?
No. Storing CVV is prohibited. 

Does surcharging apply to recurring transactions?
Surcharging is not supported for recurring transactions.

What happens if the assigned processor is disabled?
You will receive an error during processing. Edit the subscription to assign a valid processor.

Need Help?

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact your Merchant Service Provider.