When setting up a Course Section (within either the Courses or ECFE module), the Recurring Charge feature allows you to charge the person being enrolled at the time of enrollment then charge them again automatically on pre-set future dates. For each recurring charge date, the payer is sent a reminder about the upcoming charge 5 days before it is to occur.
When creating a price using Recurring Charges, you select the gear tool to display the additional options. Select the check box for Recurring to display the required fields.
When you set up the Recurring Charge, you enter a dollar amount in the Registration Amount field. That is the amount the person is charged immediately upon enrollment (online or from the Admin side). The registration amount can be $0 if desired where they would not pay anything upon enrolling. You then set the amount that they will be charged on a recurring basis under the Recurring Amount field. There can only be one recurring amount to be collected (that dollar amount can't vary). In the Recurring Charge Dates field, you enter the dates that the automatic charges will occur separated by a comma (i.e. 01/1/20XX. 02/01/20XX, etc). Income range only applies for ECFE course sections (for those using that module).
Require All Payments
When using this feature, you must select Yes or No to Require All Payments. Below is an explanation for that field.
If Require All Payments is set to Yes and a customer registers for a course after the first pre-set recurring payment charge date, they will be charged for the missed recurring payment at the time of registration (as well as any Registration Amount if applicable). For example, for a Course that is charging $25 for the Registration Amount and $50 on the dates of 7/10, 8/10 and 9/10, if they register on July 11th (or after), they will be charged the $25.00 up front plus $50.00 for the missed recurring payment on July 10th. They will then be charged the $50.00 again on August 10th and September 10th.
If Require All Payments is set to No, that same customer would be charged only the $25.00 Registration Amount. They would then be charged the $50.00 on August 10th and September 10th (so the system would pro-rate off 1 payment automatically).
If set to No, on the Admin side, staff would create any credit adjustments using Add Adjustment to adjust off any costs that is being manually pro-rating for that specific enrollment.
When completing an enrollment for a class that uses Recurring Billing, the system defaults to asking for an electronic payment method (to collect future payments). Staff can use the Pay Later option if the electronic payment method is not being added during the enrollment. If a non-electronic payment like cash or paper check are being applied by staff for the registration portion of the enrollment, that can be collected from the Admin cart or the Make a Payment can be used once the person is enrolled. The consumer can log in online and add or change the saved payment method at any point.
Saved Payment Methods
When a person registers online for a course section using Recurring Billing, they are required to add a saved payment method to collect future charges. They can update or remove that saved payment method at any time. If there is not a saved payment method on file for a particular enrollment, staff can use the Add Saved Payment Method button to update the enrollment. For card and payment data security, it is recommended that the payer log into their account online and add their credit card or bank account details by scrolling to Saved Payment Methods in the bottom footer. If necessary, staff can use that Add Saved Payment Method button to add one provided the payer has given staff the full card data including expiration and CVV/security code or full bank account and routing numbers.
Notifications
If a Course Confirmation email is sent, it will include the details of which saved payment method was added during the enrollment and the future dates it will be charged. 5 days before each charge will be collected, the payer is automatically sent a reminder email about that upcoming payment.
Price Changes
If there needs to be a change to the price set up for the course section, changing the price at the Course Section does not automatically change the price for those already enrolled. The new price structure would only impact those being enrolled after the change was made. Existing enrollments would need to be updated manually to reflect any new prices.
Cancellations
If staff need to cancel a course section, any future recurring billing payments will automatically not be collected. Staff does need to navigate to the Course Section and select Cancel Section. A banner will be displayed at the top that the section has been cancelled. If needed, any enrollments can be removed and already collected payments refunded even after the section has been cancelled.