Is it legal to store a customer card for recurring billing?

Yes, when the customer authorizes it and the card is held in a PCI-compliant vault. You store a secure token, not the raw card number.

What happens when a recurring card declines?

Dunning automatically retries the charge on a schedule, and a card updater can refresh expired details, so most failed payments are recovered without contacting the customer.

Online Payments

How to Set Up Recurring Payments and Stop Chasing Invoices

Stop sending reminders. Recurring billing charges customers on schedule so revenue arrives on its own.

Armour Payments Editorial Team•June 15, 2026•1 min read•Reviewed by Armour Payments Product Team

Recurring payment schedule on a dashboard

The short answer

To set up recurring payments, securely store the customer's card in a vault, set a billing schedule (weekly, monthly, annual), and let the system charge automatically. Add retry logic (dunning) and card-updater tools to recover failed charges and protect revenue.

Why recurring billing wins

Manual invoicing leaks revenue: late payments, forgotten renewals and admin time. Recurring billing removes all three. Once a customer authorizes it, you get paid on schedule without lifting a finger, ideal for subscriptions, memberships, retainers and payment plans.

Setting it up

Store the card securely in a customer vault (you never hold raw card data).
Choose the schedule: weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual.
Set the amount, start date and end (or ongoing).
Turn on email receipts so customers always know they were charged.

Recovering failed payments

Cards expire and decline. Dunning automatically retries failed charges, and an automatic card updater refreshes expired card details behind the scenes. Together they recover revenue you'd otherwise lose silently.