Integration Guide

Table Of Contents
Express Checkout Integration Guide May 2010 117
Handling Recurring Payments
Recurring Payments With Express Checkout
11
If this field is not set or is set to CancelOnFailure, PayPal will create the recurring payment
profile, but will place it into a pending status until the initial payment is completed. If the
initial payment clears, PayPal will notify you by IPN that the pending profile has been
activated. If the payment fails, PayPal will notify you by IPN that the pending profile has been
canceled.
The buyer will receive an email stating that the initial payment cleared or that the pending
profile has been canceled if the profile was created using Express Checkout.
Maximum Number of Failed Payments
By including the MAXFAILEDPAYMENTS field in the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile
request, you set the number of failed payments allowed before the profile is automatically
suspended. You receive an IPN message when the number of failed payments reaches the
maximum number specified.
Billing the Outstanding Amount
If a payment fails due to any reason, the amount that was to be billed (including shipping and
tax, if applicable) is added to the profile’s outstanding balance. Use the AUTOBILLOUTAMT
field in the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request to specify whether or not the
outstanding amount should be added to the payment amount for the next billing cycle.
Whether or not you choose to include the outstanding amount with the payment for the next
billing cycle, you can also use the BillOutstandingAmount API to programmatically
collect that amount at any time.
Recurring Payments With Express Checkout
During the Express Checkout flow, you can create one or more recurring payments and mix
recurring payments with other purchases.
The following diagram illustrates the typical processing flow to create recurring payments
during checkout.