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Set Up and Manage Autopay

Updated

What this does: Set up Autopay so a member’s stored card or bank account is charged automatically for recurring fees, then switch it or turn it off from the back office when needed.

Applies to: GrowthZone AMS with the GrowthZone Pay or NAR eCommerce gateway. Members can also manage their own Autopay in the Info Hub.

Before you start:

Time needed: About 5 minutes per member.

Set up Autopay

Autopay needs two things: a stored payment profile, and that profile assigned to the member’s recurring fees.

  1. Store a payment profile. Staff can do this in the back office (see Store and assign a payment profile). Members can do it in the Info Hub (see Store Credit Cards in Info Hub or Store Bank Account/ACH Profile in the Info Hub).
  2. Assign the profile to the recurring fees. In the back office, see Store and assign a payment profile. Members can use Manage AutoPay in the Info Hub.
  3. Check how it will bill. When a stored profile is charged depends on your billing setup. See When stored payment profiles are charged, Run upcoming billing and Automated Scheduled Billing.

Checkpoint: the membership’s scheduled billing shows the payment profile in its Invoice Setting section.

NOTE: If you use Recalculation or Effective Date Pricing at renewal, every membership item, voluntary or not, is charged to the stored profile. Tell members this before a price increase so they can keep or turn off Autopay.

To see who is on Autopay, run the Stored Payment Profiles Report. To help members manage it themselves, share Info Hub Training for Your Members.

Switch Autopay to a different card or account

  1. If the new card isn’t stored yet, add it first. See Store and assign a payment profile.
  2. On the contact’s Billing Setup tab, in Membership Scheduled Billing, click the link for the membership.
  3. In the Invoice Setting section, choose the new profile from the Payment Profile list.
  4. Click Done.

NOTE: This changes future recurring billing. If an advance invoice has already been created with a scheduled payment, change that payment too; see Edit Scheduled Payment on Advance Invoice.

Turn off Autopay

  1. On the contact’s Billing Setup tab, scroll to Membership Scheduled Billing and click the link for the membership or recurring fee item.
    Contact record, Billing Setup tab, with the Membership Scheduled Billing section and the membership link boxed
  2. In Automatic Payments, select Disabled.
    Edit Membership Billing screen, Automatic Payments section, with the Disabled radio button boxed
  3. Click Done. Nothing is saved until you do.
  4. If the contact has more than one recurring fee item on Autopay, repeat for each one.

Cancel a payment already scheduled on an invoice

Turning off Autopay doesn’t stop a charge that’s already scheduled on an invoice (for example, an upcoming billing invoice showing a card charge date). If the member doesn’t want that charge either:

  1. On the contact’s Billing tab, open the actions menu (…) on the scheduled payment.
  2. Click Edit Scheduled Payment.
  3. Clear the scheduled payment.
  4. Click Done.

Common pitfalls

  • Member still charged after Autopay was turned off: a payment was already scheduled on an invoice. Cancel it as shown above.
  • Changes didn’t stick: the window was closed without clicking Done.
  • Still charged for another fee: each recurring fee item has its own Autopay setting.
  • Expecting the card to be gone: disabling only unassigns it. Remove the saved profile separately if needed.
  • No option to store a card or bank account: a GrowthZone Pay or NAR eCommerce gateway isn’t set up.
  • Stored but never charged: storing a profile isn’t enough. Assign it to the recurring fees too.
  • Members surprised by voluntary items on their card: with Recalculation or Effective Date Pricing, every item is charged. Tell members before a price change.

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