Payment Spring: Mastercard Regulation Changes

Mastercard regulation changes

• Merchants must disclose the basic terms of the recurring agreement at the point of payment and capture the cardholder’s affirmative acceptance of such terms. The disclosure must include the price that will be billed and the frequency of the billing (for example, "You will be billed USD 9.95 per month until you cancel the recurring agreement.").
  • For electronic commerce (e-commerce) merchants, the point of payment includes the screen where cardholders enter their card credentials and any screens that show a summary of the order (such as a shopping cart) before it is submitted for authorization by the cardholder.
  • Providing a link to another page that contains this information (such as a terms and conditions page), or otherwise requiring the cardholder to expand a message box or scroll down the page to see the terms, will not satisfy this requirement.
• Merchants must send a confirmation by email message or by another electronic method at the time of enrollment in a recurring billing plan that provides the terms of the recurring agreement and clear instructions about how to cancel the recurring agreement.
• Merchants must send a receipt by email message or by other electronic method after every billing that includes clear instructions for how to cancel the recurring agreement. A notice posted in an online account (My Account page) does not satisfy this requirement. Cardholders may choose to opt out of receiving these notices.
• Merchants must provide an online or electronic cancellation method (similar to unsubscribing from email messages or any other electronic method) or clear instructions on how to cancel that can be easily accessible online (such as a “Manage Account” or “Cancel Recurring Payment” link on the merchant’s home page).
• For any recurring payment plan that bills a cardholder less frequently than every six months (e.g., the cardholder is billed every six months every year, every two years, etc.), the merchant must send a notification at least seven days, but no more than 30 days, before the billing date that includes the terms of the recurring agreement and instructions about how a cardholder may cancel it. The notification can be an electronic receipt sent via email or text. The notification cannot be a push notification within a mobile application.  Cardholders may be given the option to opt out of these notices.

Site Stacker Configuration

• The Recurring Scheduling Confirmation notification must be on, and sending the details of the recurring transaction (on by default) with language stating that they can cancel with a link to their donor dashboard.
  • In compliance with: “Merchants must send a confirmation by email message or by other electronic method at the time of enrollment in a recurring billing plan that provides the terms of the recurring agreement and clear instructions about how to cancel the recurring agreement.”

• The Recurring Scheduling Updated notification must be on and sending the details of the recurring transaction (on by default) with language stating that they can cancel with a link to their donor dashboard.

• The Contribution Receipt notification must be on for online contributions with language stating that they can cancel with a link to their donor dashboard.
  • Merchants must send a receipt by email message or by other electronic method after every billing that includes clear instructions for how to cancel the recurring agreement. A notice posted in an online account (My Account page) does not satisfy this requirement.
  • The term “cancel” is a requirement on all these messages.
    • Suggested language: “You can securely update or cancel your recurring online at "donor dashboard link”.