Subscription or AutoBill object. In a recurring billing model, Subscribe uses the PaymentMethod object as the source Payment Method for the periodic billing transactions it processes with the payment processor, charging the customer for every periodic bill.
Subscribe also allows you to place credit on the REST Subscription or SOAP AutoBill object or on a customer’s Account. Transactions generated by an AutoBill first attempt to use credit available on that AutoBill or customer Account, and bill the AutoBill PaymentMethod for any remaining balance after the credit is redeemed. Subscribe automatically adjusts one-time transactions by the amount of credit available on a customer Account, redeems the appropriate credit, and adjusts the transaction for the remaining balance. Customers can also pay for a transaction with currency credit present in their account without specifying a payment method, provided there is credit in the account to cover the transaction. If available credit is insufficient, the transaction is denied.
Credits are stored in the form of tokens(see The Token Object in the Subscribe API Guide ), time or currency. Token and currency credits are automatically deducted from available balances when a transaction is processed using the same token type or currency. Time credits serve to delay an AutoBill’s billing process by the amount of time granted.
Subscribe redeems credit automatically when transactions are processed, in an order determined by the credit type, sort value, and time stamp. You can assign Time and Currency credits a sort value upon grant, to customize the order in which they are redeemed.
You can add credit to an Account or AutoBill using the Subscribe Portal or an API call. All credit activity is marked with a times tamp, enabling you to analyze your grant and consumption of credit.