Home > Optional Features > Recurring Payments

Recurring Payments

Service:

nAuthorization

Processors:

nSee the following table.

Depending on the types of products and services you sell, you might want to process recurring payments for a customer. For example, you might want to charge a customer 19.95 USD each month to use a service that you offer.

You must disclose clearly to customers when they make a purchase what the amount will be for the recurring payments. If the amount varies based on usage, make it clear.

To create a recurring payment:

Step 1For the first payment, the type of request you need to send depends on which processor and card type you are using.

nFor Mastercard and American Express transactions on FDC Nashville Global, include the following fields and values in the request for the first payment:

ccAuthService_commerceIndicator=recurring

ccAuthService_firstRecurringPayment=TRUE

card_cvNumber

nFor all card types on OmniPay Direct, request a non-recurring transaction and include the following field and value in the request for the first payment:

ccAuthService_firstRecurringPayment=Y

nFor all other processors and card types, request a non-recurring transaction for a credit card authorization.

If the first authorization is successful, you can submit subsequent authorizations for recurring payments using that card. If the first authorization is not successful, do not submit subsequent authorizations using that card.

Step 2For each subsequent recurring payment, send an authorization request using the e-commerce indicator to indicate that the payment is a recurring payment:

ccAuthService_commerceIndicator=recurring

For Discover card transactions on FDC Nashville Global, subsequentAuthOriginalAmount is a required field. See the description for the subsequentAuthOriginalAmount field in Table 10   , Request Fields.

If your processor supports merchant-initiated transactions, your authorization request must include subsequent authorization fields as described in Merchant-Initiated Transactions.

 

CyberSource also offers services that enable you to create a subscription or customer profile for a customer in the CyberSource system and then use that subscription or customer profile later to manually or automatically bill the customer. The CyberSource system eliminates the need for you to handle or store the customer’s sensitive credit card information or create your own system for billing the customer on a regular basis. For more information, see Token Management Service Using the Simple Order API and Recurring Billing Using the Simple Order API.

AVS and Recurring Payments

If AVS is supported for your processor and card type, AVS is run for every authorization request that you submit. For recurring payments, verify the AVS result for the first payment to ensure that the payment information is accurate and to reduce the risk of fraud.

You must decide what to do with the AVS results for subsequent payments. You might want to ignore the AVS results for these payments because you already confirmed with the first payment that the credit card number is valid and not fraudulent.

When you need to change the credit card number used for a series of recurring payments, follow Step 1    in creating a recurring payment to verify the new account number. Closely evaluate the AVS results. If the first authorization is successful, you can submit subsequent authorizations for recurring payments using that card. If the first authorization is not successful, do not submit subsequent authorizations using that card. For subsequent payments, follow Step 2    in creating a recurring payment. You can choose to ignore the AVS results.

CVN and Recurring Payments

Replacement Expiration Dates for Recurring Payments

Service:

nAuthorization

Processors and card types:

nSee the following table.

Normally when you request a credit card authorization, you must provide a valid expiration date for the credit card. If you are processing a recurring payment, and the credit card that you have on file for the customer has expired, you might still be able to request the authorization depending on which processor you use. Instead of sending the out-of-date expiration date, you can include a replacement expiration date in your request.

 

The replacement expiration date that CyberSource supports is 12/2099. To use this date, include these fields and values in your authorization request:

card_expirationMonth=12

card_expirationYear=2099