Verify billing info

Use Recurly's Verify Billing Info feature to validate stored credit card details via API — confirming payment information is accurate before transactions are attempted.

Verify Billing Info lets you validate the credit card details stored in Recurly's secure vault — confirming that a customer's payment information is accurate and current before a transaction is attempted. Verification is triggered via API and returns a success or decline response based on your gateway configuration.

Not included in Starter or Pro — contact Recurly Sales to upgrade

1Definition 2Key benefits 3Key details 4Verify billing info via API

Prerequisites

API v3 or v2 integration
Credit card gateway (non-credit card payment methods are not supported)

Limitations

Only accessible via API — no Admin Console functionality is currently available
Verification uses either a $1 authorization or zero-dollar authorization (ZDA), based on your gateway configuration
CVV is not included in verification due to PCI compliance regulations. To run a verification with CVV, use the billing info verification endpoint that supports CVVs — your customer must be in session to provide the value
Verifications count as transactions and may incur transaction fees from both Recurly and your gateway

Definition

Verify Billing Info lets merchants validate the credit card details stored in Recurly's secure vault. By confirming that stored payment information is accurate and current, merchants can reduce payment failures, identify accounts with outdated billing details, and maintain confidence in their stored data regardless of how long it's been on file.

Key benefits

Proactive verification Confirm the validity of stored billing information before transactions are attempted, reducing preventable payment failures.

Enhanced customer targeting Identify customers with outdated billing details and trigger targeted campaigns or communications to get them updated.

Merchant confidence Know that stored billing information remains accurate over time — whether it was added last week or last year.

Key details

Supported gateways

Verify Billing Info is compatible with all Recurly credit card gateway integrations. Non-credit card payment methods — including PayPal Business, Adyen HPP, Adyen ACH, and GoCardless — are not supported.

How verification works

When you initiate a verification, Recurly routes the stored billing information for the provided account to the default gateway that supports the card type. Recurly transmits all stored fields associated with the default billing info, which may include the PAN, expiration date, cardholder name, and cardholder billing address.

PCI compliance noteCVV is never transmitted during verification due to PCI compliance regulations. To include CVV in a verification, use the billing info verification endpoint that supports CVVs — your customer must be in session to provide the value.

Verification type

The verification runs as either a $1 authorization or a zero-dollar authorization (ZDA), depending on your gateway configuration settings. Both count as transactions and may incur transaction fees.

3DS handling

Billing info verification is counted as a customer-initiated transaction and may trigger 3D Secure (3DS) authentication requests. If your customer might be required to complete authentication, have them in session before initiating the verification. Handle 3DS response and request flows through Recurly.js as usual.

Gateway routing

By default, Recurly routes verifications to the default gateway that supports the card type associated with the account. You can optionally specify a gateway_code to direct the verification through a particular gateway. If the specified gateway doesn't support the card type, Recurly returns an error.

If a gateway_code is already set on the subscription or billing info, the verification will be directed to that gateway automatically.

Verify billing info via API

Send a POST request to /accounts/:account/billing_info/verify, where :account is the account code.

Send the verification request

Using API v3 or v2, send a POST request to /accounts/:account/billing_info/verify with the account_code included in the call.

Specify a gateway (optional)

Include a gateway_code in the request body to route the verification through a specific gateway. If the specified gateway doesn't support the card type, an error is returned.

Handle the response

Review the API response to determine whether the verification was successful or declined. If 3DS is triggered, handle the authentication flow through Recurly.js as usual.

Updated 18 days ago

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