Stablecoin for Recurring Billing: Powering Payments Through Stripe

Stablecoins are changing how people use cryptocurrency. They tie digital coins with stable assets (such as the US dollar), and combine crypto’s blockchain mechanism with people’s day-to-day spending needs. This encourages customers to utilize their digital currency for regular transactions.

The integration of Stripe and subscription billing software has taken stablecoin utilization to another level—and that is for recurring billing. Stripe already supports USDC payments. If this gateway is integrated with the right billing software, it makes Stablecoin recurring payments not only possible, but also seamless. Let’s get into how.

Stablecoins are stepping into the subscription economy

A stablecoin is a digital currency that is pegged to real-world assets, most popularly the US dollar. As its name suggests, it is more “stable” as compared to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It is stable due to its connection with stable assets like USD. Meaning, if a customer holds 1 stablecoin, it is the equivalent of 1 USD. The value of the stablecoin will change only if the value of the USD fluctuates.

In this way, stablecoins have blended blockchain and consumers’ transactional needs in one currency. The other cryptocurrencies are more volatile…they undergo frequent price swings that can be extreme too. Their unpredictable nature makes them unfit for regular transactions, and more suitable for investment.

Stablecoins, on the other hand, are less volatile, and function like the real-world currency. That is what makes them suitable for recurring billing as well. Customers cannot rely on highly fluctuating currencies to pay their bills. Because in that case, their bills would fluctuate too, always resulting in surprise charges for them.

USDC and USDT are two famous stablecoins, with the former being supported by Stripe. When Stripe is paired with an advanced billing software, it allows the usage of stablecoin for recurring billing. Users can easily select their stablecoin wallet and pay for their subscription invoices. Stripe first converts the payment into USD, and then settles it in the business’s account.

How Stripe enables stablecoin for recurring billing

Stripe can process payments in USDC. And recurring billing software can use Stripe for activating stablecoin-based recurring payments too. This is how that works:

Step 1:

The customer signs up for monthly subscription service.

Step 2:

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The billing platform takes their plan details, and payment method choice into account, creating an accurate invoice. In addition, it configures their billing intervals for upcoming recurring payments.

Step 3:

If the business has chosen Stripe as its payment gateway, its customer can pay using USDC. The billing software creates a Stripe-hosted payment link which is delivered to the customer. By clicking this link, the customer gets the option to pay using crypto, and choose their digital wallet (such as Phantom and MetaMask). When they finish selection, Stripe uses their wallet to process the due amount in stablecoins.

Step 4:

Stripe finishes processing the payment, and deposits the obtained funds into the business’s account. The funds can be converted into USD as well, depending in which form the merchant wants to receive their funds.

Step 5:

On successful payment, Stripe notifies the billing platform via webhook. Subsequently, the billing platform automatically activates the subscription of the customer.

What’s the role of subscription billing software in this process?

While Stripe is in charge of stablecoin payment processing, the billing software is in charge of recurring invoicing and renewals. These are the key functions it performs to ensure that customers can pay for their subscription conveniently:

Plans, billing cycles & invoicing

It’s the job of the billing software to lay down the payment infrastructure for a subscription. That involves various steps. First, subscription plans need to established, and then they have to be linked with the desired billing intervals.

Next, invoices need to be created for customers that subscribe to these plans. Your billing software makes sure that these tasks don’t require much manual grind, and are mostly executed automatically.

Payment routing through Stripe

When customers go with stablecoins as their default payment option, the software offers them Stripe-hosted payment links. All payments done through this link are processed through Stripe.

Listening to Stripe webhooks

Stripe notifies the billing software when it completes processing any stablecoin payment. Through webhooks, it informs the software whether the payment was a success or a failure.

If the payment was a failure, the system flags it so that the company can initiate dunning procedures for its recovery. And if the payment was successful, then the software accordingly updates the customer’s subscription status. For example, it activates or renews their subscription.

Renewing subscription

Subscription is renewed upon payment confirmation, and the customer continues utilizing the service without breaks. Each renewal is executed without interruptions, as long as payments are collected successfully. The billing platform repeats the same invoicing process for each billing cycle, so that customers keep enjoying subscription by easily paying with stablecoin.

Stablecoin payments are user-initiated

Stable coin payments cannot be collected automatically yet. Whenever the payment is due, the customer has to authorize it by logging into their wallet. That’s because USDC can’t be stored like conventional card details. Customer authorization is required each month.

However, businesses can still automate most workflows like issuing invoice, sending payment link and renewing subscription. That helps in accelerating payment collection greatly.

Role of SubscriptionFlow in Stablecoin Recurring Billing

SubscriptionFlow provides businesses with elite recurring billing capabilities. It offers easy Stripe integration, and allows customers to pay in stablecoins, letting businesses cater to wider payment preferences.

This is what SubscriptionFlow does:

Automates invoicing and renewal

Subscribers need new invoices each month, so SubscriptionFlow automates their generation. No matter which plan the subscriber is on, their invoices reflect that accurately, and displays their total charges. The billing software ensures that there are no overlapping bills.

Businesses can see the status of their customers’ invoices in real-time. They can see if the bills are paid, or unpaid. In the case of unpaid invoices, they can re-assign Stripe-hosted payment links to customers. That’s because payment links can expire too, so it’s necessary to update them when that happens.

When invoices are paid, plans are instantly renewed.

Let’s you implement any billing model you want

You can choose any billing model from the ones supported by SubscriptionFlow. There are various models to choose from: tiered-based, usage-based, hybrid, and so on. Whichever model is chosen; the customers’ bills are calculated according to that. And each bill’s payment can be easily accepted in stablecoins.

Retries payments

Payment retries work differently for stablecoin payments. Retries cannot be auto-executed as payments are facilitated by Stripe-hosted links, and are not collected by SubscriptionFlow directly.

So how do retries happen? When payments fail, SubscriptionFlow still helps you retry them by issuing new invoices to customers. When new invoices are issued, it triggers the generation of new payment links. These links are then delivered to the customers so they can try making the payment again.

Customers get to view the most updated payment links, so that they don’t mistakenly select the expired ones. Moreover, they can also be sent retry notifications automatically, so that they know when their new payment link is available, and pay as soon as possible.

Allows payments through alternate methods

In case of stubborn stablecoin payment failures, SubscriptionFlow always has backup payment methods in place. Customers can go to their self-service portal and change their payment option to prevent further failure.

If their crypto-wallet issues resolve, they can switch back to paying with stablecoins. This flexibility is retention-friendly, and ensures you don’t lose revenue over some payment failures.

Bills in different currencies

Businesses can generate invoices in the currency of their customer’s choice. SubscriptionFlow supports a number of currencies, and can convert bills to any. And no matter which currency the bill is in, it can still be paid using stablecoins. Stripe can convert USDC to the selected currency, and settle that in the merchant’s account.

Book a demo with SubscriptionFlow for seamless Stripe integration, and start accepting stablecoin recurring payments today.