Our automated recurring credit card payment system allows paid product subscriptions to automatically be paid at the start of each month. It is the default payment method for all new publisher accounts.
💡 We use Cybersource (a VISA company) for payment processing, and Maxio/Chargify for managing subscriptions and invoicing. See the "Security" section below for more details.
Exclusions
Currently these product subscriptions are not available for automated credit card payment:
- Annual payments. Customers wishing to pay a once-off annual fee are still required to use a manual payment method.
- Adswizz services. Customers using enterprise Adswizz hosting & monetisation services.
Benefits
- The primary benefit to using automated credit card payments is convenience. There is no need to receive and pay manual invoices every month.
- Additionally, all automated card payment invoices are accessible directly in the publisher dashboard.
How automated payment works
Our platform will request credit card details to activate a paid subscription for one of our products.
Credit card details are authenticated when added and then stored securely by our credit card processor (Cybersource).
Every month on the billing date (default 1st) an invoice is issued for all paid services. Each invoice includes:
- Service charges, in advance, for subscribed products and components.
- Metered costs, in arrears, accrued during the previous month period for usage based components.
Example: an invoice on the 1st of April may include the cost of a "Pro" package in advanced (for the month of April) and 150 minutes of transcription minutes used in the previous month (March).
The payment processor will immediately attempt to settle the outstanding amount against the stored credit card. Should payment fail, if will be retried. See the dunning section of this article for more information on payment failures.
Payment points
This section describes the specific points where card payments will be triggered.
1. First paid subscription
New accounts start with a free podcast package only, after which users can upgrade to a paid podcast package or trial and then subscribe to a different paid services (like our radio streaming or mobile app packages).
- When enabling the first paid subscription the platform will require valid credit card details to be entered.
- At this point no transaction is performed, but a pro-rata amount for the subscribed feature(s) will be added to the first invoice.
- The first credit card invoice and payment is triggered on the
1stof the next calendar month.
2. Subscription changes
When a user changes subscriptions by upgrading products or adding additional paid components to their account:
- All product and component upgrades incur a pro-rata charge up to the next billing date.
- When a customer upgrades a product package (ex: upgrading from
Podcast ProtoPodcast Studiopackage), an immediate payment will be triggered for the pro-rata amount. - When a customer adds additional components to a product (ex: adding the
Stream archivecomponent to a stream package), the pro-rata costs are not charged immediately, but accruess to the next invoice. - Package downgrades or component removals does not issue service credit.
Failed payments & dunning
If a credit card payment fails, the payment will be retried 4 more times over the next 14 days.
At every point of failure an email will be sent to the account holder, including details of what caused the failure.
After 14 days, the account will be suspended automatically.
❗ Suspended accounts may be deleted 30 days after non-payment.
Customers can rectify payment issues themselves by adding a new valid card via the billing portal.
Security
Our platform does not directly process or store the credit card details nor are the card details visible to our system. The card number is entered inside a window that securely links to Cybersource where the details are stored in a secure digital vault. Cybersource (a VISA company) fully complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements and financial industry standards to ensure the safety of your card data.
Converting from manual payments to automated card
Customers can convert their accounts from manual payments to automated card payment on the Account page of the publisher dashboard.