I am using Authorize.net and they recommended Cybersource for my Merchant Service Provider. I thought I was good to go, then today I got this email:<p>"On your web site you offer a 30 day trial period. No credit card information can be taken before a trial period is over. You will need to remove the 30 day trial period or not take any credit card information until the 30 day trial period is over."<p>It seems like a common web app practice to take credit card information then not charge until the 30 day trial is over, but the MSP isn't letting me. What do I need to do in order to make this happen?
Talked to my vendors and I'm just updating this thread in case someone runs into the same problem and finds it.<p>1. Its NOT an Authorize vs Braintree issue. Your gateway doesn't care at all. It has everything to do with your Merchant Service Provider.<p>2. Different merchant service providers have different rules. For reference, Cybersource (a Merchant Service Provider, and Authorize.net's parent company) does not allow you to take a credit card payment at the beginning of a software trial period. They require you to give the trial, THEN ask for the cc info and begin the recurring payments immediately after taking the information.<p>Cybersource claims that this is what they are supposed to do: when you take cc info online to charge, you pass that information to visa/mastercard/whatever credit card company, who then authorizes the transaction. There is an auth code associated with this transaction, and the auth code expires eventually.<p>They've told me that the rules from visa/mastercard are fairly clear that you're supposed to charge once you take the info, but some Merchant Service Providers aren't very strict on that.<p>tldr: Cybersource won't let you take credit card info until you charge the card. You'll have to find a different MSP.
Switch to a different merchant service provider. They probably won't give you an exception unless you already have a history with them, and high volume.