Recurring Payments

Recurring payments are card payments that are made using a card that has been saved to a customer’s wallet.

These payments are classified as Card-on-File (CoF) transactions.

Recurring payments can be initiated by either:

• a customer – customer-initiated-transaction (CIT) or
• a merchant – merchant-initiated-transaction (MIT) with the customer’s consent

Recurring payments do not necessarily require a CVV (card verification value) or 3D Secure authentication, although these are recommended if the payment is initiated by a customer.

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NOTE:

Recurring payments can incur higher bank fees per transaction.

Benefits

Recurring payments offer benefits to both merchants and customers.

• Merchants can reliably collect payments from customers without the customer’s direct involvement for each payment.
• Customers can pay for goods or services using the convenient “set-and-forget” recurring payment without having to enter the card and payment details every time.

Types of recurring payments

There are different types of recurring payments depending on whether:

• the payment is ad-hoc or recurs at predefined intervals
• the amount is fixed or variable
• whether the duration is predefined

Subscription: a fixed amount at predefined intervals (e.g. Netflix subscription)
Instalment: a fixed amount at predefined intervals for a specific duration (e.g. Buy Now/Pay Later)
Collection (or standing order): a variable amount for ad-hoc or predefined intervals (e.g. municipal account)

How do recurring payments work?

See API Recurring Payments for further detailed information.