ARB Authorized Issues

Question

I am working on an application that provides a 30-day trial, and then the possibility of a monthly or yearly subscription (at two different prices).

I used a lot of information provided by John Conde on his website (thanks to John), but I want to be sure that I have the right idea of ​​how it all works - the first time I do something with Authorize. network or subscriptions ...

So, if I have a 30-day trial, and someone decides that they want to pay today, they should not be paid for 60 days. I set the start date to 60 days, but should I see any charge in Authorize.net showing it on hold?

Next, is this part of the ARB service that it “monitors” the renewal, or I have to do something to run the check regularly. I'm sure there is ARB, and I don’t need a cron to check every day, but I would rather ask a dumb question now, rather than have a bunch of missing payments later.

Finally, what information would you recommend to me in my local database, and that I should allow the capture of the ARB service. Currently, I save what a subscription element is, who makes the payment (by id), name on the card, the last four digits of the card, if they want to refer to what was used, the expiration date of the card, so I can look for pending end (if it is not part of the ARB), and the start date of the subscription ends.

Any further information is appreciated.

Answer 1

So, if I have a 30-day trial and someone decides that they want to pay today, they should not be billed for 60 days. I set a start date of 60 days, but should I see any blame on Authorize.net, showing that this is pending?

Use the AIM API to pay your initial payment, and then set the start date in ARB within 60 days (when their first payment will be). You will not receive a notification that the subscription is “waiting,” but if the subscription identifier is returned to you by the ARB API, then it is safe to assume that the first payment will be made in 60 days.

Further, this is part of the ARB service that it is “looking” for updates, or should I do something to trigger a check on a regular basis. I am pretty sure that there is ARB, and I don’t need to check cron every day, but I would now prefer a dumb question and not have a bunch of missing charges later.

You do not have to do anything. "A" in ARB means Automated and fully automated. As soon as the payment is planned, it will be launched automatically before the end of the subscription, you will cancel the subscription or your card will expire and you will not renew it until the next scheduled invoice date.

Finally, what information would you recommend storing in your local database and what should I allow the ARB service? to seize. Currently, I store what the subscription item is, who the person making the payment is (by id), name on the card, last four digits of the card, if they want to indicate what was used, the card's validity period, so I can look for pending expiration (except this is also part of the ARB), and the start date of the subscription.

Send as much information as possible to the ARB API. This makes it easier to research transactions in the Authnet dashboard, as you can compare what you have done with what they show in your transaction history.

It looks like you are storing information that will be useful to you. I encrypted any credit card associated with making it less useful if your database was hacked. You store enough information that a hacker can use to convince your customers that they have their credit card number, and then everything becomes very ugly.

Answer 2

Well, in general, you should avoid storing CC information (for security reasons), so storing everything in ARB would be better.

You must plan the payment right when the user logs in and sets startDate in the SOAP call 60 days later. Save the transaction key or call it nonetheless so you can unsubscribe from ARB at any time. If you do this, you may not need to go to payments at all, and you just need to process the subscription and cancel the subscription.