Hi, thanks for checking this out.
Here is a quick summary of my problem:
I have a website that offers software services on a recurring
subscription basis. I do my signups and billing via the following
vendors:
1. Nova ? supplies my merchant account.
2. Authorize.net supplies my online processing gateway.
3. Billthru.com supplies my recurring billing by passing billing info
to authorize.net on a scheduled basis. My website deals directly with
billthru, passing payment info.
The problem here is billthru.com.
Their purpose in this chain is as follows:
1. They provide a billing API (application programming interface) that
allows my website to create a new customer and billing schedule in
their system while keeping the customer at my website. This is much
like the Authorize.net AIM integration.
2. They handle the recurring billing by passing info to authorize.net
on a scheduled basis for each customer. For example, some of my
customers are billed monthly, others yearly. This is different from
Authorize.net?s ARB (automated recurring billing) in that I get access
to my customers billing information, and there is no human involvement
? everything happens automatically.
3. They provide an interface where my customers can login and update
an expired credit card, or submit a new card.
Now it seems that billthru has split up - the partners are bickering
or something. Their phones are disconnected and they don?t answer
email or trouble tickets. I need to leave them and find another
recurring billing solution.
My needs for recurring billing are as follows:
1. I need a way for my website to enter a new customer and billing
schedule WITHOUT sending the visitor to the third party website. This
is usually handled by an API for the vendor that allows my website to
deal with them in the background while processing the customer
request. (similar to authorize.net?s AIM)
2. Ideally, but not required, there should be no human involvement. I
don?t want to have to manually enter info or something each time a
signup occurs, just need notifications that everything is proceeding.
3. I want to have access to my customers billing information (credit
card). This is important if I need to bill them for a custom item, or
want to leave the recurring billing vendor in the future (if they fall
apart, as with billthru).
All of the recurring billing solutions I have found don?t meet my
needs in one or more of the following ways:
1. They require the user to leave my website during signup, such as
with a form post to their system, and then a post back to my system.
2. They don?t provide me with access to customers payment information,
so if I leave them, I have to re-collect billing info for every one of
my subscriptions (ouch!).
Does anyone know of any recurring billing service that works like
billthru.com, in that it:
1. Provides an api that can be connected to with PHP using CURL or
some similar method. I use php on a FreeBSD server.
2. Provides me with some access to the customers billing information
so I am not completely locked in with the processing company.
3. Preferrably, provides some way for the customer to update their
payment info, even if I have to build a front end for an API or
something.
Thanks so much, feel free to ask questions if you need this clarified. |
