A core component of SubscriptionBridge is the system's ability to automatically notify you (the Merchant), your customers, and (if needed) an external system (e.g. your Web site) when certain events happen.

SubscriptionBridge sends two types of notifications:

• E-mail Notifications
  • To the Merchant (e.g. John Smith's subscription payment failed because his credit card had expired)
  • To the Customer (e.g. Your subscription payment failed because your credit card expired. Click here to update…)
• XML Notifications
  XML data is sent to a Silent Post URL specified in the SubscriptionBridge Merchant center

There are many scenarios in which e-mail notifications are sent. Whenever a message is sent, SubscriptionBridge uses the settings specified at the Store level under Notification Settings. Here is a description of those settings.

These settings are used whenever an e-mail notification is sent by SubscriptionBridge on your behalf. They are set at the store level. So if you have more than one business running through your SubscriptionBridge account, you can have different settings for each one of them.

• From E-mail: this is the e-mail address that messages will be sent from (e.g. 'no-reply@yourBusiness.com')
• Silent-Post URL: this is an optional, advanced setting. It's the URL that SubscriptionBridge sends information to when an event happens. Programmers can receive that information and perform specific tasks (e.g. automatically turn off a customer account due to non-payment). See the SubscriptionBridge documentation for more information.
• From Name: the person/department that notification e-mails are sent from (e.g. 'Great Company Customer Service').
• Font Family: type of font used in the e-mail notifications (this setting maybe overwritten by settings set by the receiving e-mail client software).
• Font Size: size of the font used in the e-mail notifications (this setting maybe overwritten by settings set by the receiving e-mail client software).
• Customer Account Login URL: Where your customers will log in. If you are using the SubscriptionBridge Customer Center, then select Use default. If you are using the SubscriptionBridge API and managing subscriptions in your own customer account management system, enter the login URL for that system under Use the following URL. This second option should only be selected by advanced users.

You can add a custom message to many of the notifications sent by SubscriptionBridge. For example, you may have special instructions on what to do after a trial account has been setup. The custom message is typically shown in the lower section of the notification, after details for the subscription are listed (e.g. subscription payment date, subscription amount, etc.).

Some details on each of the custom messages that can be specified:

• New Trial Account Welcome
  This message is sent when a new subscription is activated and there is a trial period at the beginning of the subscription. The trial may or may not be a “free” trial. This is defined when you create the “Package” that you are selling. In your custom message you could provide special information about the trial period, for example.
• Account Welcome (No Trial)
  This message is sent when a new subscription is activated, and there is no trial period. In your custom message, for instance, you could remind customers of the benefits of signing up with your company and include a reminder of your return/cancellation policy.
• Subscription Statement
  This is the message that is sent every time a successful subscription payment is processed. Your custom message could include standard information about how you appreciate your customers' business.
• Unsuccessful Payment
  This is the message that is sent after a subscription payment failed. Your custom message could remind customers of what your policies are with regard to failed payments.
• Subscription Ended (N/A for ongoing subscriptions)
  This message is sent when a subscription that included a limited number of subscription occurrences reached the last occurrence. The message is sent after the last payment was processed. This is not a frequent scenario as most subscriptions are setup to be ongoing (i.e. there is no predefined end to the subscription). However, there are cases in which a subscription could only last for a certain time (e.g. a year-long subscription to a magazine, paid monthly). Your custom message could include information on how to reactivate the subscription.
• Subscription Canceled Automatically (Billing Reasons)
  This message is sent when a subscription is canceled automatically by the system after a certain amount of time following failed payments. You custom message could remind the customer of why the subscription was canceled, referencing your Terms and Conditions of use.

• Trial Ending Reminder
  You can specify the number of days before the end of the trial at which time the reminder is sent.
• Trial Ending: Final Reminder
  You can specify when (number of days) the system should send a final reminder before the trial ends and the subscription becomes a full subscription (which often means access to a different set of products/services and a higher payment).
• Balance Due
  You can specify when the system will send a reminder to the customer that a subscription payment failed and that there is an outstanding balance.
• Balance Due: Final Notice
  A final reminder sent to the customer that there is an outstanding balance and that certain events might happen if the balance is not paid (e.g. access to certain products/services is no longer available if payment is not submitted).
• Subscription Canceled
  Sent if you want the system to automatically cancel the subscription if payment is still outstanding after the number of days specified.