Skip to main content

Storing Customer Credit Cards for Future Use

How can I keep a card on file so that it can be re-billed at a later date?

Written by Michelle Carone

Storing a customer's credit card lets you bill it later for the balance, approved add-ons, or a returned payment, without asking for the card again.

Available to accounts that take card payments through Remedy Payments. To get card processing set up, or to change whether cards are stored automatically, book a card plan discussion with Remedy Payments.

This article covers whether cards are stored automatically, and what the customer agrees to when a card is stored. To save a card to a specific opportunity, see How to Save a Credit or Debit Card on File for an Opportunity.

Note: SmartMoving will never store actual credit card numbers. When card information is retained, we store a "secure card reference" given to us by the credit card companies. This is the preferred method recommended by the credit card companies to prevent any sort of fraud in the event of a data breach.


What the Customer Agrees To

Before a card is stored or charged in the Customer Portal, the customer accepts the Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms. They check a box reading "I have read and agree to the Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms and authorize [your company name] to store and charge my card as described." Your company name is filled in automatically.

The customer cannot complete the payment or save the card without checking the box.

SmartMoving records each acceptance with the payer's name, the date and time, the version of the terms they accepted, the payment method they authorized, and their IP address.

The wording is yours. The terms your customers read are set in Settings > Accounting & Profitability > Payment Agreements, where you can edit them, insert your company details, and see which version you are on. Each acceptance also files a Card Authorization Agreement on the opportunity as proof of what the customer agreed to. See Managing Payment Agreements.

Where the customer sees the terms

The terms appear on the payment surfaces in the Customer Portal. This table covers where, and how they are presented.

Where

What the customer is doing

How the terms appear

Saving a card after signing an estimate

Storing a card, no payment

In full on their own step, with a button to agree and continue

Paying by E-Check with a backup card required

Storing a backup card

In full on their own step, before the bank details

Paying an invoice or deposit by card

Paying

A checkbox in the payment form, with the terms behind a link

Paying a storage balance

Paying

A checkbox in the payment form, with the terms behind a link

The pattern is that storing a card shows the terms in full on their own step, and paying shows a checkbox with a link.


Store All Cards on File

If you want cards to always be stored for later use, this is automatically enabled by default as a system-wide setting in your payment gateway when you integrate with Remedy Payments. If you would like to turn this off so that saving a card becomes an optional, per-transaction choice, you'll need to reach out to Remedy Payments and ask them to make this change at the account level. This setting is controlled by the merchant and is not managed in your SmartMoving settings.

Note: This default does not apply to residents in Canada. To have this feature turned on you'll need to reach out to Remedy Payments and ask they turn this on for you.

[email protected]
Telephone: 714-461-2200


Store Cards on File Selectively

If your gateway account is not set to store all cards, you can store a card one payment at a time. In the payment wizard, select Credit Card as the payment method, then choose On File in Payment Category. SmartMoving shows a Store Card On File panel reading "No charge will be made. The card will be securely stored for future use," and the card is retained for future use without a charge.

Note: On File appears in Payment Category only when you are keying in a new credit or debit card. It is not offered for a card already saved, for cash, or for a check.

Note: Choosing On File is separate from the Payment Authorization and Card-on-File Terms the customer accepts in the Customer Portal. On File controls whether the card is kept. The terms are the customer's authorization to keep and charge it.

Did this answer your question?