Advanced Features Guide

Table Of Contents
Handling Recurring Payments
Options for Creating a Recurring Payments Profile
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46 April 2012 Express Checkout Advanced Features Guide
Including an Optional Trial Period
You can optionally include a trial period in the profile by specifying the following fields in the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request. The following table lists the required fields
for creating an optional trial period.
Required fields for specifying a trial period
Specifying an Initial Payment
You can optionally specify an initial non-recurring payment when the recurring payments
profile is created by including the following fields in the
CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile request:
Required fields for specifying an initial payment
By default, PayPal does not activate the profile if the initial payment amount fails. To override
this default behavior, set the FAILEDINITAMTACTION field to ContinueOnFailure. If the
initial payment amount fails, ContinueOnFailure instructs PayPal to add the failed
payment amount to the outstanding balance due on this recurring payment profile.
If you do not set FAILEDINITAMTACTION or set it to CancelOnFailure, PayPal creates the
recurring payment profile. However, PayPal places the profile into a pending status until the
initial payment completes. If the initial payment clears, PayPal notifies you by Instant
Payment Notification (IPN) that it has activated the pending profile. If the payment fails,
PayPal notifies you by IPN that it has canceled the pending profile.
If you created the profile using Express Checkout, the buyer receives an email stating that
PayPal cleared the initial payment or canceled the pending profile.
Maximum Number of Failed Payments
By including the MAXFAILEDPAYMENTS field in the CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile
request, you set the number of failed payments allowed before PayPal automatically suspends
the profile. PayPal sends you an IPN message when the number of failed payments reaches the
maximum number specified.
NVP SOAP
TRIALBILLINGPERIOD ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.BillingPeriod
TRIALBILLINGFREQUENCY ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.BillingFrequency
TRIALAMT ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.Amount
TRIALTOTALBILLINGCYCLES ScheduleDetails.TrialPeriod.TotalBillingCycles
NVP SOAP
INITAMT ScheduleDetails.ActivationDetails.InitialAmount
FAILEDINITAMTACTION ScheduleDetails.ActivationDetails.FailedInitAmountAction