Manging Subscriptions & Recurring Payments

Evonet integration (LinkPay, Drop-in, and Direct API) provides a unified framework for tokenization and recurring billing. Our API abstracts the technical complexities of card scheme mandates and wallet networks, ensuring your integration remains compliant with Merchant-Initiated Transaction (MIT) frameworks.

How to Create a Subscription

To initiate a subscription, you must provide a unique identifier for the user or the specific subscription plan using the userInfo.reference parameter.

API Parameter: userInfo.reference.
Function: This ID maps your internal customer record to the stored credential (token) generated by the card scheme or wallet.

Prepare Terms and Conditions (T&C)

Card schemes require explicit cardholder consent for recurring charges. The T&C must clearly state:

Billing Frequency: Exactly when charges will occur (e.g., monthly, annually).
Subscription Duration: The length of the commitment.
Variable Charges: If amounts vary based on usage, clearly explain how the final charge is calculated.
Renewal Notifications: Merchants must send a notification to the customer prior to renewal.
Integration Tip:
- Drop-in: Use the TnC SDK parameter to embed these terms directly in the checkout page.
- LinkPay & Direct API**: T&C must be presented to the user before the final checkout action.

Complete the First Subscription (CIT)

The first transaction is a Customer-Initiated Transaction (CIT) and requires a full authorization.

Tokenization: Upon success, the API returns a token (prefixed with pmt_). Store this alongside your userInfo.reference.
Security Flags: The first transaction must include mandatory security indicators like CVC2/CVV2 and the ideally carry out 3DS authentication to manage liability shifts.

Subsequent Charges (MIT)

How it works: To process a renewal or a subsequent charge, merchants only need to provide the stored gateway token (prefixed with pmt_) in the Payment API request.

Technical Abstraction: When you submit a pmt_ token, Evonet automatically handles the technical requirements required by card schemes and wallet networks, including:
- Transaction Linking: Automatically referencing the original Trace ID/Transaction ID from the first subscription (CIT).
- Stored Credential Indicators: Correct flagging of the message to show the cardholder is not present.
- Network Token Mapping: Converting the pmt_ token into the required network-level cryptograms.
Developer Responsibility: Ensure your system triggers these API calls according to the billing frequency disclosed in your T&C.

Cancel a Subscription

Properly handling cancellations is a critical compliance requirement to prevent "Subscription Not Recognized" disputes and potential network fines.

Token Management: Once a customer requests a cancellation, you should immediately remove or deactivate the associated pmt_ token from your local database to prevent any accidental future charges.
Customer Notification: Upon successful cancellation, merchants are required to send a confirmation notification (email or SMS) to the customer.
Compliance Audit Trail: Retain the record of the cancellation request and the timestamp of the sent notification. This serves as Compelling Evidence should a dispute arise later.

Evonet System Update: (Optional) Use the Delete paymentMethod API to signal to Evonet that the recurring relationship has ended, ensuring our monitoring systems do not flag the merchant for inactive token maintenance.