Installment

Installment payments allows you to split the payment of an invoice into several installments. CentralPay then charges the customer’s card according to a payment schedule defined during the first transaction. It can be used to offer your customer a payment plan or to automate a “down payment/balance” type of payment.

Unlike subscriptions, a customer cannot cancel an installment payment from the customer portal.

CentralPay helps you collect payments owed by your customers through a system of automated retries in the event of a failed direct debit. However, CentralPay does not guarantee the collection of these amounts through credit or a receivables financing system.

ℹ️ The "Installment" is not the only way to process recurring transactions.
Visit the Recurring card transactions page or the Direct debit transactions page for details by payment method.

1. Create an installment payment

First, you must create a Customer that contains at least:

• A Card (if you wish to make card transactions)
• Or a Mandate (if you wish to make card transactions via SEPA direct debit)

Next, the Installment service will allow you to easily set up an installment payment based on the information provided in your request.

Then you can create an Installment:

• Depending on your preferred payment method:
  • for card transactions : enter the customer profile ID “customerId”
  • for transactions via SEPA direct debit : enter the mandate SEPA direct debit ID “mandateId” an enter the desired transaction date in “requestedCollectionDate”
• Enter the amount in centimes “amounts”
• Enter the currency in ISO “currency” format
• Enter your client’s IP address in “endUserIp”
• Enter the installment settings “iterationCount”, “IntervalCount” and “intervalUnit”

With this service, you can also:

• d’imputer des frais supplémentaires à votre client (feeAmount) : pour la mise à disposition de cet étalement des paiements
• to specify a deposit amount that will be deducted from the total amount (depositAmount). This deposit can also be set for a specific date (depositStartingDate)
• to set a start date for the installment plan (startingDate): for example, if you want the down payment to be paid immediately and the first installments to be debited starting on a certain date

Please note that when a installment payment is created, your customer automatically receives an email containing the details of their payment schedule. This email also includes a link to our Customer Portal, where they can view the status of their recurring payments and update their credit card or SEPA direct debit information if necessary.

2. Example of installment payment

You want to bill your customer €1,000, divided into 3 monthly payments starting on July 5, 2024, with a down payment of €200 on June 28, 2024, and add an additional fee of €10:

• amount =100000
• depositAmount = 20000
• feeAmount = 1000
• currency = EUR
• intervalUnit = MONTH
• intervalCount = 1
• iterationCount = 3
• depositStartingDate = 2024-06-28
• startingDate = 2024-07-05

The split plan will be as follows:

• June 28, 2024 = €200.00 (deposit)
• July 05, 2024 = €276,68 (first installment + rounding adjustments + additional fees)
• August 05, 2024 = €276,66 (second installment)
• September 05, 2024 = €276,66 (third installment)

ℹ️ The rounding are applied to the first payment (excluding deposit).

3. Automating retries in case of failure

If a payment fails to be debited, CentralPay will make additional debit attempts based on the settings defined in the Merchant Portal:

Access:

Field behavior:

• Transaction time: the time at which the direct debit payments will be processed by CentralPay
  • Selection of a value between 4 and 23
• First payment failure: What to do in the event of a first failed direct debit
  • Try again in 1, 3, 5, or 7 days = a new attempt to process the transaction on day+X after the initial transaction
  • Stop = the system will not another attempt to process the payment
• Second payment failure: What to do in the event of a second failed direct debit
  • Try again in 1, 3, 5 or 7 days = a new attempt to process the transaction on day+X after the previous attempt.
  • Stop = the system will not make a second attempt to process the payment
• Third payment failure: What to do in the event of a third failed direct debit
  • Try again in 1, 3, 5 or 7 days = a new attempt to process the transaction on day+X after the previous attempt.
  • Stop = the system will not make a third attempt to process the payment.
• Fourth payment failure: What to do in the event of a fourth failed direct debit
  • Try again in 1, 3, 5 or 7 days = a new attempt to process the transaction on day+X after the previous attempt.
  • Stop = the system will not make a fourth attempt to process the payment