The GoPay payment gateway makes it possible to carry out recurring payments by payment card. This function works very well for paying for regularly recurring services, e.g. subscriptions.
💡 GoPay tip:
The recurring payments function is available by default in the payment gateway test environment. If you want to activate recurring payments for your merchant outlet in the production environment, first contact GoPay support at [email protected]. You can find the requirements for activating recurring payments here.
For the buyer, the payment is completely standard. The customer makes the payment and, during the payment and after it is completed, the payment gateway informs them that they have set up a recurring payment with the relevant parameters (amount, repetition frequency).
💡 GoPay tip:
The repetition can be cancelled at any time from the GoPay account following the procedure described here.
A recurring payment can also be used together with another function provided by GoPay – pre-authorisation. In that case the customer can be offered a free period of using the service: the customer makes a standard payment, the payment is blocked on their account for a certain period, and once the set period has elapsed the payment is taken from the customer and the recurring payment is set up.
There are two types of recurring payments you can use:
automatic recurring payment
on demand
Automatic recurring payment
An automatic recurring payment is similar to a standing order – the same amount is collected at regular intervals.
The service works on the direct debit principle: the client agrees to the amount and period of the payment and to the final end date. If the first payment, which authorises the overall setup, is successful, the subsequent recurring payments take place automatically at the defined interval, without the client having to enter any details.
Recurring payment on demand
With on-demand payments the amount and the time interval of the payment vary, depending on the merchant's settings.
The service works on the same principle as the first type. With the first payment the client confirms that they agree to pay the amounts resulting from their use of the service and to the final end date. The first payment authorises the setup; subsequent payments then take place automatically on the basis of the amount requested and the due date set by the merchant.
💡 GoPay tip: Is a customer unable to set up a recurring payment at the payment gateway even though you have recurring payments configured? Check whether the customer is using a Maestro payment card. This type of payment card does not support recurring payments.