Mastercard Compliance and Scheduling Early Notification of Charges.

Mastercard is implementing five new requirements for notification of recurring payments that apply to sustaining donor programs. The new Mastercard rules (page 185, section Subscription Billing Merchants) state that organizations must clearly communicate charges and notify donors prior to the charge. This affects how organizations will notify donors of upcoming scheduled recurring gifts. Let's breakdown each of the requirements and walk through how RaiseDonors helps you comply with these notifications.

Mastercard Rules

RULE 1

The Merchant must disclose the subscription terms simultaneously with a request for Card credentials. 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 subscription). Merchants that utilize a negative option billing model must also disclose the terms of the trial, including any initial charges, the length of the trial period, and the price and frequency of the subsequent subscription (for example, You will be billed USD 2.99 today for a 30-day trial. Once the trial ends, you will be billed USD 19.99 each month thereafter until you cancel). An e-commerce Merchant must:

a. Clearly and prominently display the subscription terms on any payment and order summary webpages; and Card-Not-Present Transactions
b. Capture a Cardholder’s affirmative acceptance of the subscription terms before completing the subscription order.

How to Comply using RaiseDonors

RaiseDonors always and clearly communicates the price and frequency that will be charged to the donor.

You can also provide information on the thank you page via merge tags about the gift.

If an administrator is changing the schedule on behalf of the donor

And in the Donor Portal if the Donor wishes to cancel the transaction.

Note that providing a link to another webpage or requiring the Cardholder to expand a message box or scroll down the webpage to view the subscription terms does not satisfy this requirement. 

RULE 2

Immediately after the Cardholder completes the subscription order, the Merchant must promptly send a subscription order confirmation to the Cardholder through an email message or other electronic communication method that includes the subscription terms and clear instructions on how to cancel the subscription.

How to Comply Using Raise Donors

You can include this on the thank you page

And in the thank you email

RULE 3

Each time that the Merchant receives an approved authorization request, the Merchant must provide the Cardholder with a Transaction receipt through an email message or other electronic communication method that includes instructions for canceling the subscription (and thereby withdrawing permission for any subsequent recurring payment Transactions).

How to Comply Using RaiseDonors

This is done in the thank you email, as shown above.

RULE 4

The Merchant 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 are easily accessible online (such as a “Manage Subscription” or “Cancel Subscription” link on the merchant’s home page).

How to Comply Using RaiseDonors

All of this is accomplished through the donor portal. However the last sentence provides an example where it says ‘on the merchants home page’. We cannot cover our customers websites, but the customer is placing the RD donation form on the website. And from the donation form, we do offer the ability to turn on/off a link to the donor portal.

RULE 5

For any subscription where the billing occurs less frequently than every six months (180 days), the Merchant must send an electronic reminder to the Cardholder at least seven days but no more than 30 days prior to the next billing date that includes the subscription terms and clear instructions on how to cancel the subscription. The communication must clearly reference in the subject line that it relates to upcoming charges to the Cardholder (for example, “Important Information About Upcoming Charges to Your Account”) and the message must be distinct from marketing communications that are otherwise sent to the Cardholder.

How to Comply Using RaiseDonors

RaiseDonors by Virtuous automatically sends out a notification 7 days prior to a recurring gift charge if you turn this on in your notification settings. To do so, go to settings, then notifications and select donors to send donors an upcoming charge email notification.

You can also go into the email builder and build a custom upcoming charge email to be sent to your donors.