A recurring payment, also known as a subscription, is a method used to charge a recurring amount to a customer for ongoing products or services. Recurring payments are useful for subscription plans including gym memberships, streaming services, and meal delivery boxes and are useful for bill payments, such as storage unit rentals, utilities, and mobile phone bills.
A recurring payment is made up of three parts:
Customer: Identifies the Merchant customer that the recurring payments are charged to.
Plans: Sets the details for the amount and frequency of recurring payment.
Subscriptions: The assignment of the Customer’s new payment details or token to the plan as the payment method for each recurring payment.
When each part of the recurring payment is configured, the customer is charged regularly without requiring the Merchant to re-enter their payment details for each payment.
Set Up a Recurring Payment Plan
To build a recurring payment for a new customer:
Save a customer information while processing a payment:
Select Create Payments in the left navigation panel.
Build your sale or $0 auth transaction.
Select the Save Customer Info checkbox.
Click the Customer Details dropdown and enter the email address and other optional customer information.
Click Process Payment.
Copy the new token hash value:
Select Customers in the left navigation panel.
Select your new customer to access their Customer Profile page.
Click Payment Methods in the left Customer Profile menu.
Copy the Token value for the customer’s payment method.
Create the recurring payment plan:
Select Plans from the Recurring Payments dropdown in the left navigation panel.
Click Add Plan.
Set the Amount, Plan Schedule, and Interval as needed.
Click Add.
Create a subscription to assign the customer token to the plan:
Select the new Plan from the Plans page.
Click Add Subscription.
Set the Recurring Schedule dates and click Create with Token.
Paste the payment token value you copied from Step 8 into the Token field.
Click Add.
Result: The new customer payment method has been successfully tokenized and assigned to their customer record on the Payrix Pro platform. The new customer payment method is tokenized and linked to their record on the Payrix Pro platform. The plan defines the frequency and amount of the recurring payment charges. The subscription assigns the customer's payment method to the plan to ensure the correct customer is charged.
Notes
You can also create tokens for customers using Quick Charge, Invoices, PayFields, PayFrame, and the Customer Profile page.
This process also applies to existing customer tokens. Start from Step 6 if you would like to set up a recurring payment for an existing customer.
Recurring Payment Plan Processing Schedule
All subscription payments are processed daily shortly after midnight Eastern Time (ET). The following schedule outlines the specific times and corresponding email notifications for each subscription type:
Time (ET) | Plan Interval | Email Subject |
|---|---|---|
12:08 AM | Days | Daily subscriptions processed |
12:09 AM | Weeks | Weekly subscriptions processed |
12:10 AM | Months | Monthly subscriptions processed |
12:11 AM | Years | Annual subscriptions processed |
Timing Your First Plan Payment
When a new recurring payment plan is created, the first payment is not processed immediately. The first payment is processed during the next scheduled processing time based on the Plan Interval and the assigned Subscription Recurring Schedule dates.
To charge the customer immediately when creating a subscription, you must submit a separate Sale transaction outside the subscription schedule.
Handle Payment Failures and Retries
Payrix Pro does not automatically retry failed recurring payments.
If a payment fails, the system will attempt it again at the next scheduled interval, up to the limit set by the Max. Consecutive Failures for the Plan or Subscription. Once this limit is reached, no further attempts are made.
To monitor and respond to failed recurring payments, set up a Subscription Failed email alert or web alert.
Cancel a Recurring Payment Plan
If a subscription is canceled outside the platform, such as through a third-party system, you must manually set it to Inactive to prevent any further charges.
To cancel a recurring payment plan:
Select Plans from the Recurring Payments dropdown in the left navigation panel.
Select the relevant Plan.
Select the Details tab.
Click the edit icon.
Select Inactive from the Active dropdown.
Click the confirm icon to save.
Result: The recurring payment plan is now Inactive, meaning any subscriptions created and assigned to this Plan will not attempt further payment processing to their assigned customers.
Cancel a Plan’s Subscription
To cancel an individual subscription:
Select Plans from the Recurring Payments dropdown in the left navigation panel.
Select the relevant Plan.
Select the Subscriptions tab.
Select the relevant Subscription.
Click the edit icon.
Select Inactive from the Status dropdown.
Click the confirm icon to save.
Result: The subscription is now Inactive, meaning this particular Recurring Schedule will no longer process payments from the assigned customer payment method.