Recurring Payments / Subscriptions | SpotOn Virtual Terminal

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Recurring Payments & Subscriptions

Recurring payment plans can be built within SpotOn Virtual Terminal, and are the perfect solution for managing subscriptions and/or membership programs. Once a plan is created, customers can be added to the plan and automatically charged at specified time. For example, a recurring charge could be set up for the 15th of every month or every X number of days, weeks, or months.

 


 

Create a Recurring Plan

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  1. From the Merchant Dashboard, click the menu icon in the upper left (3 x 3 square icon), and select Virtual Terminal

2. Select Recurring from the menu on the left

3. Click Create Plan

4. In the Details section of the Create Plan sidebar, input the Name and Amount (Price) of the recurring plan

5. Select the Frequency type- Repeat Every or On day

  • Repeat Every

    • Usability - More common - use this option when you want to have a fixed charge that is not prorated by the time passed within the billing cycle. For example, a quarterly subscription for a gift box or a monthly subscription to a gym that is not refundable if the customer cancels before the end of the month.

    • Enter a number and select:

      • Day(s)

      • Week(s)

      • Month(s)

      • Year(s)

  • On day

    • Use this when you want to charge an amount that is prorated between the start date and the day of month you’ve set. For example, a retainer for a continuous service or a monthly subscription to a gym.

    • Select the day of the month

    • Select how often

      • 1 Month (Monthly)

      • 3 Months (Quarterly)

      • 6 Months (Bi-annually)

      • 12 Months (Annually)

      • Custom

6. When you have selected the desired schedule, review, then click Save Plan

 

 


 

Create a Subscription

Once a Subscription/Recurring Plan is created, Subscribers can be added.

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  1. From the Merchant Dashboard, click the menu icon in the upper left (3 x 3 square icon), and select Virtual Terminal

2. Select Recurring from the menu on the left

 

3. Select the desired Recurring Plan from the list

4. From the Plan Details screen, click Add Subscriber

  • The Add Subscriber sidebar will open

5. Click Bill To to search for a customer by name, or create a new customer by clicking Create New Customer Account.

6. Select desired customer, or create new customer account

7. Input payment details, or choose an existing payment method (card-on-file)

8. Click Save & Continue

9. Press Set Schedule to set the start and end dates

10. Input the Start date then use the End Date drop down menu to select when to end the subscription:

  • Until Cancelled

    • This means the subscription will continue until you actively cancel it

  • After

    • Input the number of payments to take before the subscriptions expires

  • On Date

    • Select the End date for the recurring payments

    • End dates are not prorated

11. Click Continue

 Please note the difference between the two types of plans: 

  • Repeat Every - will charge the plan amount on the start date

  • On Day - will have a prorated charge on the start date

    • The prorated amount is calculated by dividing the plan amount by the relative remaining time of the cycle

    • For example, for a $100 plan that is billed on the 1st of each month, a subscriber with a start date of the 15th of the month will be charged $50

 

12. Review plan

13. Click Create Subscription

Subscriber is now added to the Recurring Payment Plan


Cancel an Individual Subscription

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1. Go to Subscription Details page

2. Select the desired Subscriber

3. At the top right of the screen, you can find the menu under More Actions

4. Click Cancel Subscription

5. When prompted in the sidebar, confirm the cancellation

  • The subscription will be canceled immediately


Deactivate a Plan

Deactivating a plan will block you from adding new subscribers to a plan. It does not mean the subscriptions within the plan are canceled.

The only way to delete a plan is by having no subscribers on that plan.

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1. In the Virtual Terminal, navigate to the Recurring tab

2. Select the desired plan

3. Click More Actions in the upper right corner

4. Select Deactivate Plan

5. In the Deactivate Plan sidebar, confirm this action by clicking Deactivate Plan

6. The plan is now deactivated

  • A banner will display at the top of the plan details advising the deactivation, and that any plans active, will remain, until cancelled


Delete a Plan

Recurring Plans can only be deleted if there are no subscribers.

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1. In the Virtual Terminal, navigate to the Recurring tab

2. Select the desired plan

  • Remember, only plans with 0 subscribers can be deleted

  • Plans with subscribers can only be deactivated

3. Click More Actions in the upper right corner

4. Select Delete Plan

5. In the Delete Plan sidebar, confirm this action by clicking Delete Plan

  • When a plan is deleted, it cannot be recovered


Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is the Plan List page?

The Plan List page includes all the plans you have created. You can filter the plans to see only active or deactivated plans by pressing the chip button:

  • Please note, the Active Subscribers column includes the sum of the active and scheduled subscribers.

 

 


 

 

What is the Plan Details page?

On this page, you can see all the subscribers that are included in the plan. You can sort by start and end date, name, email address, or other details.

 

 


 

 

What is the Subscription Details page?

This page includes the subscriber details, the subscription status, and payment history.

Subscription statuses:

Scheduled - a subscription with a future start date

  • On the start date, the subscription will become active

  • Scheduled subscriptions are still considered active in the totals

Active - a subscription that has started (at least one charge attempt) and the end date has not passed.

Expired - a subscription that reached its expiration date (end date)

Canceled - a subscription that you (the merchant) canceled proactively

The payment history located in the bottom part of the page includes all the expected billing periods of the subscription. Whenever a payment is being made, you can find it under the billing period. 

If and when there are cases where there are several failed transactions and you have to manually charge them, find the manual charges listed in the current or last billing period.

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