Glossary

Familiarize yourself with the terminology used at Recurly.

Is something not defined here? Please contact our support team.

A

account
Represents a customer that subscribes to your service.
account code
The unique identifier of an account.
add-on
Optional products that can be rolled into the recurring invoice of a subscription plan.
API
Stands for "application programming interface" and helps you integrate your website with Recurly.

B

C

canceled subscription
A subscription that is still active but will not be renewed at the end of its current service period. At that time, the subscription will move into the expired state.
client library
Platform software that connects to our API. We support Ruby, Python, and PHP.
coupon
A discount applied to an account.
CVV
Stands for "card verification value" (and sometimes called CVC). A validation number provided by credit cards to ensure an additional layer of security. Billing providers like Recurly are not allowed to store CVV values.
dt>CPF
Essentially Brazil's version of a SSN. Used for processing PrimieroPay transactions.

D

delinquency
Failure to pay an invoice, resulting in a past-due balance.
dunning
Related to delinquency, dunning is the process of trying to collect payment from delinquent users by sending them emails.

E

expired subscription
A subscription is expired when the service has been canceled and the service period of the last renewal date has run out.

F

G

H

Hosted Payment Pages
Secure checkout pages for each of your subscription plans that are easily created from your Recurly Admin Panel. Customers can be directed from your website to the appropriate hosted page where they enter their billing information.

I

J

K

L

M

MailChimp
An email marketing list manager (mailchimp.com). Recurly integrates with MailChimp so that you can easily segment your campaigns and target communications based on a variety of attributes we pass.
merchant account
A special bank account where your funds will be deposited after you collect them from your customers. You must have a merchant account to use Recurly.
MRR
Stands for "monthly recurring revenue". A report providing a best-effort approximation of your average monthly income.
Multi Currency
Our system to provide you with the ability of collecting subscription payments in multiple currencies.

N

O

P

payment gateway
Facilitates the transfer of money from the account's credit card to your merchant account. You must have a payment gateway to use Recurly.
PCI-DSS compliance
Stands for "Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard." Provides a framework developing a robust security process for credit card transactions. Any merchant or service merchant provider accepting, transmitting, and/or storing cardholder data must be PCI compliant. Recurly is PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant as a service merchant provider.
plan
See subscription plan.
webhook
A message that can be sent by Recurly to an endpoint in your application to keep your system in sync with Recurly and be alerted of actions as they happen.

Q

R

recurring billing
Payments that occur on a regular basis. E.g., a monthly donation, or a yearly subscription.
Recurly.js
Our JavaScript library. Designed to be easily embedded and customized to match the look and feel of your website.

S

Salesforce Integration
Connects all accounts and transactions to your Salesforce organization for automated synchronization and powerful reporting capabilities.
sandbox
When you sign up for Recurly you will create a sandbox site for testing and development. Recurly recommends creating a second site to be used for continued testing once you move into Production. This site would be free as long as it remains in sandbox mode.
subscription plan
Tells Recurly how often and how much to charge your customers. Subscription plans can be created with free trials, optional products (called add-ons), setup fees, and more.

T

transaction
Charges (recurring or one-time) that Recurly bills to an account.
Transparent Post
With minimal work, allows you to host a subscription signup, transaction, and billing information form on your website and still be PCI compliant.

U

user
An employee with access to your Recurly Admin Panel. There are five different access levels.

V

VAT
Stands for "value-added tax." Supported by Recurly for European merchants Recurly handles VAT percentages across different countries and different purchasing scenarios.

W

X

Y

Z