Visa Brings Clarity to Recurring Payments
In June 2019 Visa announced that, from 18 April 2020, it would be updating its rules relating to free trials and introductory offers as part of an ongoing subscription service. These changes will enable greater transparency, choice, and control for customers. The IXOLIT Group has integrated these updates into its IXOPAY and IXOPLAN platforms.
What are these changes?
Express consent – At the time of enrollment cardholders must give consent to enter into an ongoing subscription.
Easier Cancellation – Visa will require cancelations to be as easy and straightforward. Cardholders must be able to cancel online regardless of how the cardholder subscribes to the site.
Expanded Disputes Rights – “Misrepresentation” will be expanded, specifically for transactions where merchandise or digital goods have been purchased.
Explicit Transaction Receipts – When entering into a subscription three things must be made explicitly clear to the cardholder:
How long the trial period or promotions period is and when they will be charged.
The date and transaction amount for the first transaction (even if this is zero) and subsequent recurring transactions.
A link or a simple method in which the cardholder is able to cancel.
Enhanced Notification – At the time of enrollment, merchants must provide a copy of the terms and conditions of the subscription service to the cardholder, even if no amount was due at the time. This must include:
- Confirmation that the cardholder has agreed to a subscription.
- The start date of the subscription.
- Details of the goods/services.
- Ongoing transaction amount and billing frequency/date.
- Link or other simple way in which the cardholder can easily cancel any subsequent online transactions.
Merchants must send a reminder notification including a link to the online cancellation policy at least seven days before initiating a recurring transaction if: a trial period, introductory offer, or promotional period is about to end or if the nature of the recurring agreement has changed.
Statement descriptor – For the first transaction at the end of a trial period, an additional descriptor will be required in the Merchant Name field of the Clearing Record.
What do these changes mean for eMerchants and consumers?
The changes are meant to ensure that there is clear communication between the goods/service provider and the consumer. The new conditions will protect both parties and should reduce payment disputes.
The development teams of IXOLIT Group have made updates to its payment orchestration platform IXOPAY and IXOPLAN, its recurring billing platform, to technically integrate the new measures by Visa; ensuring that our clients can quickly and efficiently implement the changes needed to comply with these news rules.
About IXOPAY
IXOPAY is a payments orchestration platform enabling independent, flexible and global payment processing. As a highly scalable and PCI-DSS certified “fintech enabler”, IXOPAY fulfills the needs of large merchants as well as those of “white label” clients: payment service providers (PSPs), acquirers and independent sales organizations (ISOs). The modern, easily extendable architecture offers smart transaction routing & cascading, state-of-the-art risk & fraud management, fully automated reconciliation and settlements processing, comprehensive reporting as well as plugin-based integration of acquirers, payment service providers and alternative payment methods (APMs).
IXOPAY is part of the IXOLIT Group, founded in Vienna, Austria in 2001. With local entities in Austria and the USA, IXOLIT supports national and international customers across various industry verticals. The owner-led and -financed company has grown from 2 to more than 65 employees and is focused on building innovative solutions for eCommerce.
Please find more information about IXOPAY here: https://www.ixopay.com