Meet Clover Recurring Payments

Whether you’re running a subscription service or membership business, collecting on-time payments at a regular cadence can often lead to frustration and delays. Between chasing late payments and reconciling invoices, many merchants can easily spend too much time on accounting and bookkeeping. 

Meet our latest feature, recurring payments, which is included with most Clover service plans. Recurring payments is a convenient and reliable way for merchants to get paid faster and on-time by automatically charging a customer’s card at predetermined intervals. With recurring payments, we are also releasing a new, easy-to-use invoice manager to help merchants track the status of all invoices, making it easier than ever to track which invoices have been paid and which ones are still pending.

What is recurring payment?

Recurring payments enables a merchant to set up a regular payments schedule and automatically charge customers’ cards on file at an agreed-on cadence. Customers are provided a receipt each time a charge is made, giving them peace of mind that they can continue to enjoy your product or service without interruption. 

The process to set up recurring payments with Clover is easy. It starts with getting a Virtual Terminal account. Any business can use Virtual Terminal to securely process credit cards – from restaurants and retailers to services businesses who take payments over-the-phone or by mail. Even if you’ve never had a Clover device, you can sign up and log in to your Clover Web Dashboard from a smartphone, tablet, or computer–anytime, anywhere.

Once you’re logged in, click on the Recurring Payment menu item on the left navigation to create a new recurring payments plan with a payments schedule. Add your customers to the plan by searching for them in the customer database or adding a new customer. As long as the customer has a card on file, you’re good to go! Set the start date, and payment will automatically be charged per the schedule. Customers will receive an email receipt each time the charge goes through. 

Why should you use recurring payments?

Recurring payments are a win-win for many business owners and their customers. 

For businesses, recurring payments cut down on the time and effort spent manually sending out invoices each month, quarter, year, or whatever recurring time period you provide your services. Setting up a recurring payments plan reduces the risk of late payments and helps business owners get paid faster and better manage cash flow. The reliability and predictability of recurring payments helps merchants plan ahead for seasonal peaks and dips, impacting everything from staff scheduling to inventory management. 

Customers, too, like the convenience of recurring payments. They no longer need to worry about late payments, which typically incur fees, penalties, and other unwanted charges. And, they will no longer receive recurring reminders that payment is due. Recurring payments are seen as more secure than paper bills, giving customers peace-of-mind that their personal information won’t be at risk. 

Recurring payments are better for the planet, too. When you account for the fuel, water, and emissions also caused by transporting paper bills, the decision to rely on recurring payments gets even easier. 

Streamline invoicing through Invoice Manager

Along with recurring payments, we’re also releasing a new reporting screen, invoice manager. This report provides a way to track all invoices, including recurring payments and one-time payment requests. 

Invoice manager aims to make accounting and bookkeeping easier. We know these activities can be burdensome: 40% of small merchants say reconciling their invoices and accounting in general are the worst parts of their job. We’re making it easier to track and manage invoices by separating them from other orders, providing better clarity for merchants to follow up on outstanding payments as needed. 

Get ready to accept Recurring Payments 

Recurring payments is available to all merchants starting November 15. Sign up for a Clover Virtual Terminal account and activate recurring payments in Account & Settings > Virtual Terminal on Clover Web Dashboard.  Recurring payments and invoice manager can be accessed from the left navigation menu on Clover Web Dashboard.

To learn more about recurring payments, speak to our Clover Merchant Services team or visit our site. And check out articles in our Help Center for recurring payments and invoice manager for even more helpful information. 

Editorial Team

Clover product news, Money management, Payments & processing, Run your business

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