Articles on Subscriptions
Recurring charges, renewals, failed payments, and churn: keeping a subscription alive without manual work.
15 articles
Same subscription on web, iOS, and Android: avoiding double billing with a single entitlement state
Allowing a customer to use their subscription across platforms without paying twice requires anchoring billing to a central account. Here is the architecture needed to coordinate web, App Store, and Google Play.
Card tokenization: what a token is, who stores it, and why your database should never see a PAN
Understand how tokenization works in modern e-commerce, the key differences between gateway and network tokens, and why card numbers should never touch your servers.
Free versus paid trial periods: technical impact on conversion, payment failures, and churn
Choosing between a free or paid trial alters sign-up rates, card processing workflows, payment failure frequency, and exposure to dispute costs.
The hidden cost of failed payments: return fees, retries, and lost customers
When a recurring transaction fails or a customer disputes a charge, the problem goes far beyond unpaid invoices. Direct processing fees, operational overhead, and involuntary churn multiply the true financial impact.
Bizum, card, or bank transfer: which method to offer and what each one costs
We analyse the operational differences, processing fees, fraud risks, and settlement times of cards, Bizum, and bank transfers for an online store in Spain.
What is an entitlement and why access permissions should live on your server, not the device
Decoupling commercial purchases from actual usage rights prevents local tampering, simplifies multiplatform logic, and protects application revenue.
Automatic subscription renewals: payment retries, notices, and expired cards
Involuntary churn caused by recurring payment failures undermines subscription revenue. We examine how to distinguish soft and hard declines, use card account updaters, and build effective retry schedules.
Cancelling a subscription in one click: consumer regulations and the true cost of retention tricks
Obstructing digital subscription cancellations not only breaches European consumer law, but also drives bank chargebacks. We examine what the rules demand and how to design clean cancellations.
Key subscription metrics: MRR, voluntary churn, and recovered revenue
Managing recurring revenue requires distinguishing customer cancellations from technical payment failures. We examine MRR calculations, churn types, and recovery workflows.
Subscription invoicing in Spain: VAT, recurring payments and the VeriFactu era
Managing subscription invoicing in Spain involves understanding the application of VAT (always included or added as appropriate), the mechanics of recurring invoices, and the implications of the new VeriFactu regulation. This article details how to adapt these processes to current legislation.
In-app payments: app store and google play commissions, and external billing options
App stores set the rules for payments within their platforms, charging commissions for transactions. Understanding these policies is key for developers and businesses. This article details App Store and Google Play commissions, and explores the possibilities and limitations of offering alternative payment systems or directing users outside the app.
Payment security: what you must never store, and why webhooks are signed
Most online payment incidents don't come from a sophisticated attack, but from two design decisions: storing card data you never needed, and trusting whatever the customer's browser says.
Invoicing subscriptions in Spain: VAT, renewals, and VeriFactu
A subscription is not a charge that repeats: it is a charge and an invoice that repeat. Who bears the VAT, what happens when the card expires, and what the verifiable invoicing rules demand all change the design from day one.
In-app payments: what the store takes, and when you can charge outside it
App Store and Google Play commissions don't apply to everything you sell from an app. The dividing line is what kind of product you deliver, and knowing where your case falls decides whether you pay 15%, 30%, or your own gateway's fee.
What actually happens inside an online card payment
Between the customer pressing "pay" and the money reaching your account, three separate things happen: authorisation, capture, and settlement. Knowing where each one occurs explains why a payment can show as "approved" and still not be charged.