# Merchant accounts for free trial and continuity offers

Merchant accounts for free trial, negative option and continuity offers. One KYC application to acquirers that board trials, with dispute tools to stay under card scheme thresholds.

Page: https://www.orchestrapay.com/regulated-industries/merchant-accounts-for-free-trial-and-continuity-offers

Typical merchant category code: 5968.

## What acquirers look at

Visa and Mastercard have specific rules for trials that convert to paid subscriptions: clear disclosure, explicit consent, a reminder before the first paid charge, and easy cancellation. Acquirers board you on how well you follow them.

- **Clear disclosure at signup.** The trial length, the price after the trial and the billing frequency, shown next to the payment button.
- **Explicit consent.** The customer agrees to the recurring charge before the trial starts.
- **Reminder before rebill.** A notice before the first paid charge with a cancellation link, as the card schemes require.
- **Easy online cancellation.** Cancellation online in a few clicks, without calling support.
- **Descriptors and receipts.** A recognisable descriptor and a receipt for every charge, with how to cancel.

## How Orchestrapay helps

1. **Acquirer Network.** One KYC application, sent to the acquirers in our network of 40+ that board free trial and continuity offers, pre-matched to each acquirer's boarding rules and aware of MATCH status. Approval is always the acquirer's decision.
2. **Never depend on one processor.** Run several merchant accounts behind Smart Routing, with failover when one is paused, and keep your customers' cards in a vault you own.
3. **Keep your accounts.** Chargeback Alerts, Dispute Deflection, VAMP & MATCH Management, 3D Secure and the Antifraud Engine keep dispute and fraud ratios under the card scheme thresholds.

You must hold the licenses and registrations your markets require.

## FAQ

**What are the card scheme rules for free trials?** In general terms: disclose the terms clearly, get explicit consent, remind the customer before the first paid charge, and make cancellation easy. Your acquirer will check you follow them.

**Why are trial offers high risk?** Customers forget they signed up, and disputes follow. The card schemes watch dispute ratios closely on these merchants.

**How do I keep disputes under the threshold?** Chargeback Alerts, Dispute Deflection and the VAMP & MATCH tooling catch disputes early and show you where you stand.

**Can I retry failed renewals?** Yes, within the card schemes' retry rules. Smart Routing can retry a soft decline on another account.

**Can I run trials on several accounts?** Yes. Routing can split traffic across accounts so no single account carries all the risk.

## Related

- [Acquirer Network](https://www.orchestrapay.com/products/acquirer-network.md)
- [Never depend on one processor](https://www.orchestrapay.com/solutions/processor-redundancy.md)
- [VAMP & MATCH Management](https://www.orchestrapay.com/solutions/vamp-match-management.md)
- [All regulated industries](https://www.orchestrapay.com/regulated-industries.md)
- [Talk to sales](https://www.orchestrapay.com/contact)