Before implementing a specific recurring billing solution, a business must address each of the separate aspects, related to recurring payment platform implementation. Four key aspects to be taken care of are sometimes referred to as creation, compliance, conveyance and collections.
Particular important issues associated with creation component of the recurring billing process include types of subscriptions, payment plans and payment methods used by customers, as well as security of payment pages used for recurring billing.
PCI compliance component involves such critical issues as storage of cardholder data, tokenization methods to be utilized, and ownership of credit card data.
Conveyance of payments calls for establishment of relationships with payment gateways, payment service providers, acquirers, and, sometimes, for direct relationships with processors. A company may have relations with multiple of the listed types. Usage of soft (or dynamic) descriptors is another important issue related to conveyance component of recurring billing.
Collections component of recurring billing process is related to declined transaction recycling collection of debts. Functionality behind collections component must embed effective mechanisms for reconciliation, recycling of declined transactions, updating of cardholder information, dunning management and chargeback handling.
More detailed information on each of the listed components can be found in respective article “4 Cs of Recurring Billing” on Paylosophy.com.