Subscription authorization of recurring charges

Overview

Use multiple renewal authorization (retry logic), along with additional customer retention tools from 2Checkout, to recover expired subscriptions for which the renewal process has failed. 2Checkout supports expanding the number of renewal authorization attempts for expired subscriptions beyond the default tries described above. The 2Checkout system enables the customization of post-expiration subscription renewal authorization attempts, fine-tuning them to increase your renewal rates.

Authorization retry intervals can be set in:

• Hours - At least 20 hours after subscriptions expire. The minimum interval between two (2) consecutive authorization retries is 20 hours.
• Days - Any number of days can be set, but 2Checkout makes retries only in the grace period of subscriptions.

Availability

All 2Checkout accounts. 

Multiple authorization attempts work for:

• Subscription auto-renewals (including imported subscriptions)
• Trial conversions

Requirements

This feature works only for subscriptions that have expired but are still in their grace period (status: Past Due). 2Checkout makes multiple renewal authorization attempts for expired subscriptions only if you set a grace period.

Authorization scenarios

Depending on the renewal interval set for subscriptions, the 2Checkout system will charge customers in accordance with the following two scenarios:

1. Subscription billing cycle smaller or equal to six (6) months. The 2Checkout system attempts to charge customers according to their time zone at a maximum of three (3) hours prior to the expiration of the current subscription.
2. Subscription billing cycle is larger than six (6) months. 2Checkout makes the first attempt to charge shoppers two (2) days prior to the expiration date. The system makes a subsequent attempt one day before the subscription expires.

Workflow

Let's assume that you're selling monthly subscription and that you set a 5-day global grace period for all subscriptions, and that 2Checkout has configured three additional renewal authorization attempts, 20 hours but also in the first and third day after the expiration deadline.

Subscription A, purchased by Customer A on April 15, is set to renew on May 15.

On May 15 the 2Checkout system attempts to automatically charge for the renewal per the auto-renewal configuration. The transaction fails due to a lack of funds.

Subscription A is transitions to the manual renewal system, and 2Checkout contacts Customer A providing information on the failed transaction as well as the guidance necessary for the subscription to be renewed through a manual payment.

20 hours after the subscription expired, a new authorization request is made. This is followed, by another automatic renewal authorization attempt the next day after Subscription A expired.

The same happens on the third day, provided that the customer has not renewed the transaction manually by then. If Customer A's card now holds sufficient funds, the account is automatically charged and the subscription renewed.

Payment methods for recurring billing

The 2Checkout platform supports recurring billing for the following payment methods:

• Credit/debit cards (Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, JCB, Carte Bancaire, Dankort, Discover and local cards from Brazil and Turkey)
• PayPal
• DirectDebit 
• iDeal
• Sofort banking
• eCheck/ACH
• Neteller
• Skrill

Grace period

The grace period provides an interval of time during which shoppers can purchase a subscription renewal, following the expiration deadline.

Configuring a grace period for subscriptions does not influence the recurring billing process. After the grace period, if any, runs out for expired subscriptions, customers have to purchase a new subscription. 2Checkout calculates expiration deadlines (GMT+02:00) from the subscription generation date, taking into consideration the billing cycle you configured.

FAQ

Can multiple renewal authorization attempts be discontinued for a subscription?

Yes, this happens automatically:

• If customers renew their subscriptions through a manual payment - although the discontinuation is only valid for that specific billing cycle, and the multiple renewal authorization settings will continue to come into effect as subscriptions expire.
• Or if the subscription expires.