What Recurring Billing is and What Benefits Can I Get?

[Alisha]

We are going to discuss about the recurring billing system. Welcome to all take a participation on this active thread.

[vangogh]

Recurring billing is used when you have a customer you charge once a month or 3 months or some length of time. Web hosting is a good example. You take the customer's credit card and set things up so the charge goes through automatically each time period. The benefit is in the automation. Instead of having to invoice someone or have them fill out their credit card information every month the charge is automatically processed. It's a lot less work.

Some people might also refer to recurring billing as simply having customers pay for a service that charges them every month or quarter or whatever length of time. The benefit is getting paid again and again and again.

[cbscreative]

Vangogh explained well what recurring billing is, but your post isn't clear about how you want to discuss the topic. The important points I would add to the discussion is to make sure your merchant account has that feature included because it may not be part of the standard plan. Also PCI compliance is a big issue but that's true no matter what types of transactions you are processing. With recurring transactions you are "storing" credit card info and PCI is very strict about that.

Also, the volume of transactions will determine which plan is best for you. PayPal will be a good option for low volume but can be expensive with high volume. Monthly and per transaction fees vary widely, so do rates. You can also find plans based on factors like whether you selling retail or operating a charity. You definitely want to choose the plan best suited to your needs.

[Twhansbury]

Recurring payments eliminates the need to continually send paper invoices and checks, saving on paper and postage costs and streamlining the process even further.
By setting up recurring payments, as well as payment alerts and reminders, customers can avoid late payments and merchants can enjoy a steadier, more controlled and increased cash flow.

[Alisha]

I am very happy to see you all here.@vangogh very well explained.@cbscreative, you are right I did not mention the name of a particular account cause I do not want to discuss about any specific account. Let we start to discuss for all types of account, and your providing information will be fruitful for those merchant account holders. Thanks @Twhansbury for your response.

[Twhansbury]

Alisha thank you,

I want to add as well that the benefits to your cash flow statement and also operational outlook is very good. Being able to forecast cash flow and to predict expenses is very valuable in financial analysts.