The recurring membership guide
Running dues that keep collecting, on rails where no card is ever stored.
5 minute read · no sign-up needed
Why mobile money subscriptions work differently
African mobile money networks do not store a card on file. There is nothing to charge silently. A mobile money subscription sends a fresh prompt each cycle, and the member approves it on their phone.
That is not a limitation to route around, it is the shape of the rail. Tell members when the prompt is coming, and approval rates stay high. Surprise them and they decline out of caution.
Grace periods and quiet lapsing
A missed payment is usually a member who was in a meeting, not a member who left. A grace period with a reminder recovers most of them.
Keep the grace period shorter than the billing interval. A monthly plan with a forty-five day grace period is not a membership, it is a donation.
- Monthly plans: around seven days of grace
- Weekly plans: around three
- Always: a warning before anything is cancelled
Tie access to payment, not to a list
The gap between who has paid and who has access is where the leakage lives. A webhook on payment status closes it: access follows the payment automatically, in both directions.
Do it in both directions. A system that grants access on payment but relies on a person to remove it will quietly carry lapsed members for years.
Tiers, and moving between them
Define one product with several prices rather than several products. Moving a member between tiers is then a change of price, and their history stays in one place.
Try it on the sandbox
Test keys work from the first minute and never touch real money, real gateways, or your live webhooks. You can build the whole thing before anyone verifies anything.