If you send recurring invoices through Bluevine and want to streamline customer payments, you can now enable Autopay. This allows your customers to save a payment method and be automatically charged on the invoice due date—reducing manual effort, speeding up payments, and improving your cash flow.

What is Autopay?

Autopay lets your customer securely save their card or bank details on file. For each invoice in a recurring series, Bluevine will automatically attempt to charge the saved payment method on the due date. If the due date is on a weekend or bank holiday, the charge will be attempted the next business day. The customer will receive an email reminder one calendar day before the automatic charge is processed.

Who can use Autopay?

• Autopay is available to Bluevine Standard, Plus, and Premier users.

• Autopay applies only to recurring invoices (such as weekly or monthly invoices) and cannot be used for one-time invoices.

• Recurring invoices are only available for Plus and Premier users. However, Standard users can also create recurring invoices only if they have Autopay enabled.

What are the processing fees?

Bluevine partners with Stripe to power payment processing. Transactions processed through Stripe for Autopay have the following pricing and fees: 

How to offer Autopay to your customers?

1. Create a recurring invoice

   • In the frequency dropdown, select anything other than “One-time.” For more information on recurring invoices, refer to this process. 

   • The toggle to Enable Autopay will become available. Note: If frequency is set to “one-time” the enable autopay toggle will be greyed out.
     
     

2. Enable Autopay

   • Scroll down and switch the Autopay toggle ON.
      

3. Complete and send the invoice

   • Your customer will open their invoice link which now contains a disclosure for Autopay. 

   • Once your customer pays the first invoice and agrees to the autopay terms, their payment method will be stored securely and they will be opted into Autopay.

How does my customer cancel Autopay?

The following steps need to be completed by the invoice end user, not the Bluevine customer. Please note that changes must be made by 5:00 a.m. PT on the scheduled debit date to apply to that payment. Updates made after that time will apply to future payments.
Note: Cancelling autopay does not cancel the recurring invoice series, the remaining invoices will need to be paid manually each time. 

1. Find and open the Autopay reminder email. Note: This email goes out one calendar day prior to the charge attempt, after opting into Autopay.

2. Select Cancel Autopay.

3. A new window will appear, stating “Cancel Autopay?” 

4. Select Yes, Cancel.

5. A confirmation window will appear that states Autopay canceled.

6. An email confirmation will be sent to both users. 

How does my customer update their Autopay payment method?

Payment method changes can be made up to two hours (5am PT) before the scheduled charge (7am PT). Payment method cannot be changed between 5am -7am PT on a charge date while the payment is processing. After this period changes can be made.

1. Find and open the Autopay reminder email. Note: This email goes out one calendar day prior to the charge attempt, after opting into Autopay.

2. Select Update payment method.

3. The invoice will open with the following disclosure: “Changes must be made by 5:00 a.m. PT on the scheduled debit date to apply to that payment. Updates made after that time will apply to future debits.”

4. Make the changes to the payment method as needed. Note: Payment method cannot be changed between 5am -7am PT on a charge date while the payment is processing. After this period changes can be made. 

5. Select Update payment method to save changes.

6. A new message will appear stating “Payment method updated. Your payment method on file was changed.  You’ll receive an email confirmation soon.”

How does my customer resolve a failed Autopay payment?

If an Autopay transaction fails, your customer will receive an email titled “Autopay failed - action required.” To rerun the payment they should follow the steps below. If the payment method on file needs to be updated for future charges refer to How does my customer update their Autopay payment method? above. 

1. Open the autopay failed email and select Pay Invoice.

2. Enter the payment method details on the invoice page.

3. Select Pay [$amount] ​​to complete payment. 

Note: This only pays the current failed invoice. It will not update the payment method for future recurring invoices in the series.

How do I cancel or skip an Autopay for a customer?

We understand that at times there will be changes required to your customer’s payments. Please follow the steps below for managing a customer's autopay.

1. Navigate to Sales > Invoices.

2. Select the applicable invoice to open the details panel.

3. Continue to the cancel or skip autopay section below as needed. 

     To cancel Autopay for the full recurring series on behalf of a customer:

1. Under the Quick actions section, select Cancel Autopay.

   1. A new window will appear, stating “Cancel Autopay?” Note: This action cannot be undone. Your customer will need to manually pay each invoice in the recurring series after canceling autopay. An email will be sent to you and your customer to let them know of the cancellation.

   2. Select Yes, Cancel and a confirmation window will appear that states Autopay canceled. Select Done. 

   3. Select No, go back if cancellation is not needed. 

2. Inform your customer that autopay has been canceled and that they will need to manually pay each invoice for the rest of the recurring series.

     To skip Autopay for a single instance:

      Note: You can delete the single invoice that needs to be skipped. This will keep Autopay running for the rest of the recurring invoice series. 

1. Under Quick actions section select Delete. A popup will appear.

   1. To skip one invoice: Select Delete this invoice only.

   2. To Delete full invoice series: Select Delete this and all following Invoices.

2. Select Done. 

What notifications are sent to my customers?

Customers will receive:

• First Invoice email: The first invoice is when the end user opts into Autopay. Note: This is only sent via email if the invoice delivery method selected is email.

• Autopay invoice reminder email: includes the scheduled charge date and a link to update their payment method. This email is sent one calendar day before the debit charge date.

  • If the payment method is updated, they will receive an email stating that it’s been changed. 

• Email receipt: for each successful Autopay charge.

• Autopay failed email: We will not retry payments after they fail, Bluevine customer needs to action the invoice. Refer to How does my customer resolve a failed Autopay payment? process above.

• Autopay canceled email: Sent if either user (Bluevine customer or end customer) cancels autopay.

Are there autoreminders with autopay?

For customers who are opted into autopay, the only automatic reminder sent is one calendar day before the scheduled autopayment. All other automated reminders are disabled. To learn more about autoreminders, refer to this process for more details.