When your association uses Authorize.Net as its payment processor, you can save a card on a payment page so your association can charge it again later. Staff can also save a card for you when they help set up a payment. This article explains what happens when you save a card, including how second cards work and what happens when you pay without a contact record on file.
Prerequisites
- Your association uses Authorize.Net as the payment processor for the page you are using.
- You are paying for something that supports a saved payment method, such as a recurring gift, a membership renewal, or an installment plan.
Save a Card
- Open the payment page your association gave you.
- Enter your card details as the page asks.
- Submit the form to save the card.
Result
Authorize.Net stores your card as a reusable payment profile linked to your contact record, so your association can charge it again later.
Tip
Some payment pages show a bank account field, but bank account details are not currently saved this way. Only the card is stored. If you need to pay by bank account, check whether your association offers a different payment page for that.
Add a Second Card
If you already have a card saved with this association through Authorize.Net and you save another one, Rhythm adds the new card as another payment profile under your existing record. Rhythm does not create a new record for you. You then have more than one saved card, and you or your association’s staff can choose which card to use for a charge.
If your association processes payments through more than one Authorize.Net account, different payment pages may save cards to different accounts. For example, separate programs may use separate merchant accounts. A card you save belongs to the Authorize.Net account used by that payment page, so saving the same physical card with a second account creates a separate saved payment method for that program or business area.
Warning
A saved card does not automatically carry over to a payment page that uses a different Authorize.Net account, even within the same association. If you try to use a card you saved on one program's payment page for a purchase on another program's page, the charge can fail because no saved profile exists yet in that second Authorize.Net account. If this happens, remove the saved card and add it again from the payment page you are actually using, so a profile is created in the right account.
If You Save the Same Card Twice
If you enter a card that is already saved for you, Authorize.Net recognizes it as the same card, and Rhythm treats it as already saved. You do not end up with two entries for the same card.
You may see a different issue if you resubmit a payment form too quickly, or if you go back and submit it again while the same session is still active. In that case, Authorize.Net may reject the one-time card information because it has already been used once. If this happens, remove the card details you entered and add the card again from scratch instead of resubmitting the same form.
Saving can also fail as a duplicate when Authorize.Net already has a matching profile for you that was created outside this saved-payment flow, or before your association started using it. In that case, Authorize.Net returns a duplicate-record error instead of reusing the existing profile, and your association may need to help resolve which profile is the one on file for you.
Tip
A company card can show this same duplicate-card behavior when the cardholder name on the card does not match the name on your contact record. If a company card will not save and you are sure it is not already on file, check that the name you entered matches the card exactly before trying again.
Paying Without a Contact Record
Some payment pages let you save a card even when Rhythm cannot find a matching contact record for you. For example, this can happen if you are a first-time payer and your record has not been created yet. In this case, Rhythm still saves your card as a guest payment method.
Warning
Authorize.Net purges a guest payment method saved this way after 90 days. If you plan to use the same card again after that, expect to re-enter your card details.
Guest payment methods all use the same placeholder email address in Authorize.Net, so your association cannot tell them apart by looking at that address alone. If your association later matches your payment to a contact record, ask them to confirm which saved method is yours before relying on it for a recurring charge.
Authorize.Net also limits how many guest payment methods it keeps at once. If that limit is reached, older guest profiles may need to be removed before a new one can be saved. Your association can reach out to Support if guest payments stop saving for this reason.
If Saving a Card Fails
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You see a generic error with no clear reason, and Support cannot find a matching profile or log at Authorize.Net for you | Authorize.Net received the save request and rejected it, even though no reusable profile or log entry is visible afterward | Try again with a fresh card entry; if it keeps failing, contact Support with the exact time and error so they can check with Authorize.Net directly |
| You see a card or bank account error after a save you thought succeeded, or a later payment attempt fails with a "record not found"-style message | The saved profile at Authorize.Net has since been deleted or is otherwise missing, even though Rhythm still expects it to exist | Add the card again from the payment page; contact Support if this repeats for the same saved method |
| The save appears to succeed, but a later charge using that same attempt declines, and future save attempts for that card keep failing afterward | Authorize.Net can create a profile as part of saving, separately from whether a later charge on that attempt is approved; a leftover profile from a declined attempt can block a clean re-save | Contact Support so the leftover profile can be removed, then save the card again |
| Saving or paying fails with no obvious cause, and the same failure shows up for other people at the same time | Authorize.Net itself can have a temporary service disruption, separate from your association's setup | Wait and try again shortly; if the failure is widespread, contact Support so they can check with Authorize.Net |