What are recurring payments?
Recurring payments – also known as subscription payments – allow payments to be collected repeatedly using a selected payment method without the customer having to authorize each payment again.
To process recurring payments, a mandate must first be created. This mandate represents a one-time consent from the customer allowing future payments to be collected using the selected payment method. It authorizes the payee to debit amounts on a recurring basis.
Once the mandate has been granted, the customer does not need to take any further action for future debits – payments can be processed automatically.
An active mandate is required in order to capture recurring payments.
Setup of a payment method for Recurring Payments
To use a payment method for recurring payments, it must be configured accordingly both in copal and in the collana pay setup in Business Central.
Setup of the Provider Account in copal
To use a payment method for recurring payments, the AllowRecurringPayments toggle must be activated in the Advanced Options of the provider account.
Setup of the payment method in Business Central
To use payment methods for recurring payments, the Recurring Payment checkbox must be enabled for the respective payment method in the collana pay setup.
Creating a mandate for recurring payments
In order to process recurring payments for a customer, an active mandate must exist.
This can be created in the following ways:
- Create a mandate via the Customer Card
- Create a mandate via a new Sales Order
- Import a mandate
Creating a mandate via the Customer Card
To create a new mandate, select Customer and collana pay Mandates from the ribbon on the Customer Card.
Click New to create a new mandate.
A Payment Method Code for a recurring payment method must be selected.
By clicking New Transaction, a transaction for creating the mandate will be generated.
After the corresponding notifications have been processed, the transaction will have the status Pending. A payment link will be visible in the transaction, which can be sent via email.
Sending the payment link
Emails are not sent automatically. This provides the flexibility to design and customize the sending process according to your own requirements.
Customizable email reports
A new report selection for collana pay has been created for email communication related to mandate creation. For new installations, the Cronus template is configured by default for email communication. Existing installations must create their own email layout for this functionality. This allows email reports to be customized according to company branding and specific communication requirements.
The report layout with ID 71759576 can be exported and the Word template can be customized.
The variable for the payment link is called PaybyLink_PAYTransaction. Afterwards, the report layout can be imported back into Business Central.
Activating the mandate
After the payment has been completed, an external mandate ID is stored in the mandate and the mandate becomes active.
With the active mandate, recurring amounts can now be collected.
Alternatively, a new mandate can also be created directly from a Sales Order.
Creating a mandate via the Sales Order
To create a new mandate, a Payment Method Code for recurring payments can be specified in the Sales Order.
When the order is released, a mandate is created and the collana pay transaction has the status CREATE Pending.
The payment link can be found in the collana pay transaction, which allows the customer to complete the payment.
Sending the payment link
Emails are not sent automatically. This provides the flexibility to design and customize the sending process according to your own requirements.
Customizable email reports
A new report selection for collana pay has been created for email communication related to mandate creation. For new installations, the Cronus template is configured by default for email communication. Existing installations must create their own email layout for this functionality.
The report layout with ID 71759576 can be exported and the Word template can be customized.
The variable for the payment link is called PaybyLink_PAYTransaction. Afterwards, the report layout can be imported back into Business Central.
Activating the mandate
After the payment has been completed, an external mandate ID is stored in the mandate and the mandate becomes active. By clicking the external mandate ID, you can navigate to the mandate.
With the active mandate, recurring amounts can now be collected.
If another mandate for the same customer and the same payment method code needs to be created, this must be done via collana pay Mandates on the Customer Card.
Payment using a recurring payment method
If an active mandate exists for a customer, Sales Orders can be posted and payments captured without the customer having to re-enter data or authorize the payment again.
For this purpose, a Payment Method Code must be selected in the Sales Order for which an active mandate exists.
When the Sales Order is released, the collana pay transaction will have the status RESERVE OK and the Sales Order can be posted.
The reserve and capture entries are visible in the log of the collana pay transaction.
If more than one active mandate exists for the selected payment method code, a notification message will appear and an active mandate must be selected via the external mandate ID in the collana pay transaction.
After selecting the mandate ID and releasing the Sales Order again, the collana pay transaction will have the status RESERVE OK and can be posted.
Canceling mandates for recurring payments
If no further payments should be processed using a mandate, the mandate can be canceled.
Mandates can be accessed via the Customer Card.
From the selected mandate you can navigate to the collana pay transaction.
The mandate can be canceled here.
When the mandate is canceled, it becomes inactive. Refunds for captures that were triggered using the mandate can still be posted.
Log entries for the mandate remain available.
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