Recurring Card Payment Set-Up in Plus2
Problem
Administrators need to create a subscription in Plus2 that is collected by Recurring Card Payment (RCP), with the right duration, renewal, price levels and contract rules, so it collects correctly every period.
Resolution
Open Subscription Types in Plus2
- Go to
Configuration > Financial > Subscriptions > Subscription Types.
- Go to
Create the subscription with RCP as the payment method
- Create the subscription as you would a Direct Debit one (same department and price-level structure, an ordinary price product behind it), but set Payment method to RCP.
Set the duration and renewal
- Use a one month (monthly rolling) recurring duration, with automatic renewal ticked.
- A long fixed duration (for example 99 months) doesn't work. Check with Gladstone Support for the exact duration setting on your system (see Notes).
Restrict price levels
- Untick every price level the subscription shouldn't be sold against. Plus2 doesn't pick the right price level at sale time, so restrict it on the subscription.
Schedule future price changes (if applicable)
- Where the monthly price is recalculated each year (for example annual course fee ÷ 12), enter a future-dated price on the price product (for example a new price from a set date) so it changes automatically.
Use separate subscriptions per programme (if applicable)
- Use a separate subscription per programme or sport (for example gymnastics and tennis) so each can be stopped separately and priced differently.
- Give holders the course at £0 with a price level override. The override stops applying if the subscription fails to pay.
Save the subscription
- Click Save, then sell it as described in Selling RCP and Registering the Customer's Card in Go.
Notes
- Duration: some guidance describes the RCP duration as fixed at "31 days from today" (a rolling monthly charge) rather than one month. Either way, an RCP can't bill on a fixed calendar period (for example the 1st to month end). Check the subscription's duration setting in Plus2.
- Fixed dates: RCPs can't have a fixed start and end date. Payment is tied to duration: one payment per period rollover.
- Instalments: the Plus2 instalments option (an annual fee split into, for example, 11 or 12 payments, or paid over the first 3 months) doesn't work with DD or RCP on Go. Don't use it for new subscriptions; the box still appears in Plus2.
- Front-loading an annual fee: collecting a full year's fee in only the first few months via RCP is not confirmed as possible; an attempt to front-load an annual fee into the first 3 months via RCP didn't work. The DD equivalent (a 12-month fixed-end subscription with price products at one third of the fee for 3 months, then £0) is untested and complicated by price rises. Both need confirmation from Gladstone's data and product team before being offered.
- Old wizard set-ups: monthly rolling subscriptions previously forced to a 365-day end date by old wizard set-ups should be rebuilt as proper monthly rolling or 12-month committed subscriptions.
- Contract cost: consumer legislation requires the total contract cost to be shown up front when joining, as well as the pro-rata and monthly amounts. A 12-month committed membership shows its earliest end date (for example 11 months ahead with a one-month notice period) in Go and in 360.
- Selling: sell RCP through Go where possible: Go takes the first payment and registers the card automatically. Selling at a Plus2 or 360 till registers no card; the customer must add one in their Go wallet or the next collection fails.
- Collection: collection runs daily through the GMC RCP service, and RCP must be enabled on your merchant ID. See Configuring the RCP Service in the GMC.
- Cancelling and testing: see Cancelling, Freezing and Refunding RCP Subscriptions and Testing Recurring Card Payments.
- Related: Recurring Card Payments (RCP); RCP Compared with Direct Debit; Using RCP Subscriptions for Courses; Price Level Override (PLO); Direct Debit Set-Up in Plus2; RCP Reverification FAQ.