I'm looking at implementing recurring billing via MercuryPay. I'm referencing the MercuryPay Platform Integration Guide.
The "Getting Started" section says this (emphasis theirs):
All use of recurring tokens must be clearly stated in the merchant’s terms and conditions, and signed by the cardholder indicating acceptance. The banking industry monitors their use. Recurring tokens should not be used for Card on File transactions where the cardholder is not charged a true recurring transaction.
But then the MToken section says:
The token can then be used in place of the cardholder account number to perform subsequent transactions if required, or it can be stored safely for card-on-file recurring billing programs.
As well as:
By replacing card data with a token record, MercuryPay’s tokenization processing helps merchants achieve PCI compliance and enables them to safely implement features such as recurring billing, card-on-file, and gratuity handling.
How does a "card on file" transaction differ from a "true recurring transaction"? The guide uses "card-on-file" repeatedly in contradictory ways but never defines it.
What I'm trying to do, ideally, would be best described as a payment plan. The customer would make an initial down payment and then be billed monthly 4 additional times.
Hello Andy,
The MercuryPay platform supports two types of tokens, OneTime and Recurring. The term "card on file" can be applied to several use cases, but ultimately means the same thing "the card number (token in this case) is being saved for future use". Below I have outlined the use cases and the proper token frequency to be used.
OneTime frequency tokens can be used two ways:
Recurring frequency tokens can only be used for scheduled/subscription payment plans. So, the scenario you describe above about a payment plan should use a recurring flag and the token should be purged after all payments have been received.