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Which payment system to use with SubscriptionBridge

The features available to you change somewhat depending on the payment system used

Payment systems and features

SubscriptionBridge can either trigger payments against credit card accounts stored in a PCI compliant credit card vault (when using the Early Impact Payment Gateway), or manage subscriptions whose recurring payments are processed by an external recurring payment system (Authorize.Net ARB, PayPal recurring payments). The subscription billing features available to you change somewhat depending on which payment system you choose.

In the table below, EI Gateway stands of the Early Impact Payment Gateway, PayPal WPP stands for PayPal Website Payments Pro Recurring Payments. PayPal EC stands for PayPal Express Checkout Recurring Payments.

  EI Gateway Authorize.Net ARB PayPal WPP PayPal EC
Create and sell subscriptions Feature included Feature included Feature included Feature included
Flexible billing plans Feature included Feature included Feature included Feature included
HTML e-mail notifications Feature included Feature included Feature included Feature included
Automated customer service Feature included Feature included Feature included Feature included
Metered billing Feature supported Feature not supported. Feature not supported. Feature not supported.
Freemium model Feature supported Feature not supported. Feature not supported. Feature not supported.
International customers support Feature supported Feature not supported. Feature not supported. Feature included
Requires merchant account Yes, ask us. Yes No No

Elaborating a bit more on the information presented above...

The main difference: who triggers the payments?

When using SubscriptionBridge with the EI Gateway, SB is the recurring payment engine: it retails total control on when payments are processed. This translates into more subscription management features, such as the ability to support metered charges (usage-based billing). Credit card information is stored in a Level 1 PCI-compliant payment vault.

When using SubscriptionBridge with an external recurring payment system, SB sets up a recurring billing profile when a subscription is purchased. Then, recurring payments happen outside of SubscriptionBridge (which still handles notifications, modifications, upgrades, etc.).

Still not sure? Contact us.

We did our best, but the explanation above might not be enough to help you make a good decision. Contact us and we'll be happy to help you choose the payment system that makes the most sense for you!