Setting Up Recurring Payments With Gravity Payments

By Jordan Lee, editorial persona modeled on an eight-year merchant-support documentation role
Last reviewed: July 12, 2026

Gravity Payments supports secure card storage and automated billing, but it does not publish one universal subscription screen for every merchant. Recurring-payment controls may sit inside Gravity Link, Clover, a virtual terminal, an industry-software integration or a custom customer portal.

This independent guide is not operated by Gravity Payments and cannot create, cancel or inspect a billing plan.

What Gravity Payments recurring billing includes

Recurring billing lets a merchant collect authorized payments on a schedule without requesting the payment method again for each billing cycle. Gravity promotes secure card storage for automated billing, while its Gravity Link description says merchants can save customer records, establish recurring billing and manage invoices and receipts.

Gravity also describes customized portals through which customers can manage their payment schedule, method and payment type. An internal support console may give the merchant’s staff access to customer information and billing accounts. Those functions describe customizable Gravity solutions rather than a guaranteed Dashboard menu available to every account.

That distinction comes first.

Do not promise customers a self-service subscription portal until the exact software and account configuration have been confirmed.

Find the system that owns the billing plan

Gravity’s public materials mention several recurring-payment routes:

Gravity-related setup	Published recurring function
Gravity Link	Saves customer information, establishes recurring billing, manages invoices and receipts
Customized payment portal	Lets customers manage payment schedules, methods and payment types
Secure card storage	Stores payment credentials for automated billing
Virtual terminal	May support recurring billing, depending on the terminal
Clover dashboard	Gravity says Clover supports recurring billing through its virtual-terminal environment
Industry-software integration	May provide tokenized card storage and recurring billing inside the connected software

Sources: Gravity Payments’ automated-billing, developer, virtual-terminal and partner pages.

A merchant using veterinary, medical, property-management or other specialized software may manage the schedule inside that product rather than through the standard Gravity Dashboard. Gravity’s partner pages describe tokenized card storage embedded in software such as CounselEAR and AestheticsPro.

Priority one is locating the original billing record. Skip creating another recurring plan merely because it cannot be found in Dashboard.

Get clear authorization before saving a card

A stored credential is a card number or payment token retained by the merchant or its service provider for future transactions. Visa’s stored-credential framework says the merchant must establish an agreement with the cardholder before storing the credential for future use.

The agreement should explain:

• How the stored payment method will be used
• The payment amount or the way it will be calculated
• The recurring frequency or event triggering a charge
• The cancellation and refund policy
• Any permitted surcharge or convenience fee
• How changes to the agreement will be communicated

Visa also says the agreement should be retained for the duration of the customer’s consent and provided to the issuer when requested.

A checkbox labeled only “save card” is not the same as agreement to recurring charges. The customer must understand that later merchant-initiated payments will occur and on what terms.

Tokenization is not ordinary card storage

Gravity’s developer page describes tokenized transactions as unique number strings that replace sensitive card data. It separately promotes secure card storage for automated billing.

This means staff should use the card-on-file feature supplied by the approved Gravity integration. Payment details should not be copied into general notes, spreadsheets, appointment comments or paper reminders for later billing.

The original customer interaction also matters. Visa distinguishes a cardholder-initiated transaction from a later merchant-initiated transaction. The first interaction establishes the payment relationship; later recurring charges are submitted under the standing instructions created with the customer.

Use the supported stored-card function first. Skip improvised storage.

Send receipts after recurring charges

Mastercard’s subscription guidance says an electronic receipt should be provided after an approved recurring authorization. The receipt should include, or provide access to, account-management information and instructions for cancelling the subscription.

Gravity Link is described as supporting invoices and receipts, while Gravity’s custom portals can give customers control over payment schedules and methods. Whether those communications are automatic depends on the integration being used.

Confirm four items during setup:

1. Which email address or phone number receives the receipt
2. What business name appears on the receipt
3. Where cancellation instructions are displayed
4. Whether a failed attempt also sends a customer notice

A recognizable business name can also reduce disputes from customers who do not recognize the statement entry.

Recurring payments may cost more than in-person sales

Gravity’s advertised 2.5% plus $0.10 price applies to qualifying in-person transactions. Its pricing page says transactions accepted without the customer physically present, or integrated into software, may not qualify for that flat rate.

Recurring card charges are normally card-not-present transactions. Gravity says card-not-present activity tends to carry higher interchange costs because it presents greater processing risk.

Confirm the following before calculating subscription margins:

• Card-not-present processing rate
• Gateway or integration charge
• Recurring-billing software cost
• Failed-payment or retry cost
• Card-update service cost, when applicable
• Refund and chargeback fees

Gravity does not publish one recurring-billing price that applies to every integration. A software partner may also charge separately from Gravity.

Why a recurring charge may fail

Gravity does not publish a single decline-code guide covering every subscription integration. Troubleshooting should begin with the billing record rather than guesses about the customer’s finances.

Check whether:

• The plan remains active
• The scheduled date has arrived
• The stored payment token remains attached
• The amount matches the customer agreement
• The initial card-storage transaction was approved
• The customer previously cancelled or changed the payment method
• The integration received a decline response

Visa’s stored-credential guidance says a credential should not be treated as successfully stored when the initial transaction or account verification is declined. It also says a merchant should not continue charging after receiving a decline response, after an agreed cancellation or beyond the authorized duration.

Do not repeatedly force the same failed payment. Review the response inside the supported billing platform and contact the customer through the established business channel when a new payment method is required.

Card replacements do not always end billing

Card networks provide updater services that may pass replacement account information to participating merchants and processors. Mastercard describes its Automatic Billing Updater as a system through which issuers provide updated account details that can be returned to registered recurring-payment merchants.

A customer may therefore replace a physical card and continue seeing an authorized subscription charge. Replacing the card is not necessarily the same as cancelling the merchant agreement.

Visa also offers issuer tools capable of stopping future merchant-initiated recurring or installment payments, but its Stop Payment Service does not reverse a transaction that has already cleared.

The merchant’s cancellation process should remain the primary route for ending service and future billing.

Cancel the billing plan in the owning system

Gravity does not publish one companywide Cancel Subscription button for every merchant product. The cancellation may need to be performed in Gravity Link, Clover, a customer portal or the connected industry software.

Cancel the plan where it was created. Then verify:

1. The status changed from active to cancelled
2. The next scheduled charge was removed
3. The stored payment method is handled under the agreed retention policy
4. The customer received written confirmation
5. Any required final refund was processed separately

Visa says a merchant must stop recurring transactions when the cardholder cancels according to the agreed policy. Mastercard expects recurring-payment receipts to give customers access to cancellation instructions.

No silent continuation.

The FTC said in March 2026 that deceptive negative-option practices may still be addressed through Section 5 of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and existing negative-option rules. It specifically identified inadequate disclosure, billing without consent and difficult cancellation as continuing consumer-protection concerns.

State auto-renewal laws may impose further requirements and vary by region.

Prevent a chargeback after cancellation

A customer who is charged after a documented cancellation may dispute the payment through the issuing bank. The merchant then has to show the original authorization, disclosed billing terms, transaction history and cancellation timeline.

Keep:

• The customer’s initial agreement
• The recurring schedule
• Electronic receipts
• Billing-change notices
• Cancellation request
• Cancellation confirmation
• Any refund record

The stored-card agreement is operational evidence, not paperwork to discard after setup. Visa specifically says it should be retained for the duration of consent and supplied to an issuer when requested.

FAQ

Does Gravity Payments support recurring billing?

Yes, through supported products and integrations.

Is recurring billing inside Gravity Dashboard?

Not always. Gravity describes Gravity Link, Clover, virtual terminals, customized portals and software integrations as possible routes. The merchant must identify which platform created the plan.

Can Gravity securely store a customer’s card?

Gravity advertises tokenized transactions and secure card storage for automated billing. The merchant should use the approved integration rather than recording payment details outside the payment platform.

Does replacing a card cancel the subscription?

Not necessarily. Network updater services may supply replacement account information to participating recurring-payment merchants, while the underlying billing agreement remains active.

Does the 2.5% Gravity rate cover recurring payments?

Do not assume it does. Gravity limits that advertised rate to qualifying in-person transactions and says card-not-present or software-integrated payments may receive other pricing.

What should happen after cancellation?

Future scheduled charges should stop under the agreed cancellation policy, and the customer should receive confirmation. The exact interface depends on the software holding the recurring plan.

Why did a subscription payment decline?

The plan may be inactive, the initial card-storage attempt may not have been approved, the stored payment method may need attention or the issuer may have declined the transaction. Check the actual response in the billing platform before retrying.

The dependable workflow is to establish written billing terms, store the payment method through the approved integration, send receipts, stop charges promptly after cancellation and preserve the complete subscription record.