If I am using the Authorize.Net payment gateway and want to use your modules for recurring billing do I need to sign up for ARB or CIM or both?  

 

All our modules are integrated with the Authorize.Net ARB API for recurring billing not CIM.  CIM is a separate service at auth.net and is not required to do recurring billing transactions using SmithCart or any of our other ecommerce modules.  Please see the following summary of ARB vs CIM

 

Automated Recurring Billing (ARB)

 

ARB is used for processing recurring or subscription-based payments automatically. ARB allows you to create a subscription that includes your customers’ payment information, billing amount and payment schedule. Once a subscription is created, Authorize.Net will process the transactions for you, submitting payments using the information and schedule provided. ARB also includes the ability to trial subscriptions with different prices then the regular recurring billing.

 

ARB should be used when your merchants recurring transactions will be billed on the same date and for the same amount each occurrence. For example: membership fees. If you are billing your customer a membership fee of $25/month and bill it on the first day of each month, then ARB is the way to go. You can create a subscription that bills $25 on the 1st day of each month.  After an ARB transaction is created, Authorize.Net handles the recurring billing after that.

 

Customer Information Manager (CIM)

 

The purpose of CIM is to simplify PCI DSS compliance for you by allowing you to store your customers credit card or ACH information on Authorize.Net’s secure servers for use in future transactions. Storing your customers payment information on Authorize.Net's servers instead of in your database satisfies one of the major requirements of PCI DSS compliance.  

 

One feature that CIM provides that ARB does not is the ability to process recurring transactions on different dates and for different amounts. For example, if the amount you bill your customer every month is different then CIM is a good solution for your business.  CIM allows you to create payment profile for each of your customers that will be stored on Authorize.Net’s servers and then use that profile to bill the customer the amount due every month.

 

ARB is for structured recurring payments: the subscription will bill on the same interval and amount each occurrence.

 

CIM is more flexible for recurring payments allowing you to bill your customer on different dates and for different amounts each occurrence.

 

ARB is less maintenance for you because you create your subscription and Authorize.Net processes the payments according to the schedule you created.  

 

CIM requires more maintenance for you because you need to create up a scheduler that calls the CIM API each time you want to charge your customer. However, CIM provide the flexibility necessary for some recurring transaction models.  Additionally, it provides the added bonus of storing your customers payment information allowing you to easily bill repeat customers as needed.