Recurring billing can definitely work for astrology subscriptions, but it is important to understand that it is significantly more complex than a standard SaaS or subscription box scenario. This is because astrology generally falls into a regulatory gray zone that most payment processors will certainly treat as high risk.
The core issue here is not whether the billing mechanism will work or not, but whether you can find and keep a payment processor that is willing to support it, that’s a more important question. Astrology, tarot card readers, numerology, and other similar spiritual services are generally classified as high risk by most of the acquiring banks and payment service providers.
This simply means that they trigger enhanced scrutiny by the payment processors as well as the card networks. Such services also face a higher risk of chargebacks than mainstream subscription companies. This is because the customers are more likely to dispute the charge by simply claiming that the service was inaccurate, ineffective, or was not as described in the marketing material.
A typical mainstream SaaS subscription might see a chargeback ratio of around 0.3%. On the other hand, an astrology subscription merchant in general may see the chargeback ratio hitting up to 1.5% and sometimes even up to 3%, which is why most of the payment processors that cannot manage chargebacks efficiently generally hesitate to approve such merchants. Some may approve the merchant but later immediately terminate the accounts when they realize that the chargeback ratio is increasing.
Viewing astrology subscriptions is not a judgment about the business itself, but it’s purely driven by the risk factors. The chargeback ratio and the regulatory attention both concentrate in business categories where the product outcome is subjective or is difficult to prove. If a customer buys a month of daily horoscope and doesn’t feel that the guidance you gave was accurate, then that customer may dispute the transaction.
Another example can be if you buy a tarot reading session and you feel that the advice was wrong, then you will potentially raise a chargeback request with your card-issuing bank. If you compare such scenarios with regular businesses like a fitness application where the objective is to reduce weight, then you see that the risk of chargeback is lower there because there’s some sort of commitment to the objective from the customer as well. However, when it comes to spiritual businesses, the customers generally expect all the results based on the consultation offered by the practitioner.
Additionally, astrology subscriptions they often attract payment methods and customer profiles that themselves carry elevated fraud indicators, such as high dispute rate, international payment prevalence, and younger demography with higher chargeback propensity. It is important to know card networks; they also flag fortune telling, which has got the MCC of 7392 for regulatory monitoring. And this is because in some jurisdictions, there are certain rules around the divination services claiming to predict outcomes or guarantee results.
If your website language promises guaranteed results or life-changing predictions, then you must know that you are exposing yourself to both chargeback disputes and regulatory complaints. This type of combination, which is of subjective outcomes plus elevated chargeback risk plus regulatory sensitivity, makes recurring billing a compliance minefield for payment processors.
For perfect astrology subscriptions; it is important for you to structure both your merchant setup and customer experience in a careful manner. First, you need to get clear underwriting approval, specifically for recurring billing in the spiritual service category. Make sure that you do not try to hide what you do, or it will create problems for you.
Also, never try to misclassify yourself as a generic subscription service. You should work with a payment processor or an ISO that has experience in high-risk spiritual services industries, such as tarot card reading, astrology, numerology, psychic readings, fortune-telling, palmistry, mediumship, and clairvoyance.
You must also know that the mainstream processors generally terminate such accounts once they discover the true nature of the business. Second, you must implement chargeback prevention methods. You should send renewal reminders 3 to 5 days in advance before each billing cycle.
Reminder messages must have clear language, and they should inform the customers when the charge will happen, and they should also give the customers ways to cancel the transaction.
You should also use pre-dispute alert services. Some of the finest solutions available for this include Verifi and Ethoca. These help you to intercept chargebacks before they are officially filed. Third, you must set absolutely clear expectations on your website. You should specifically tell your customers what they are going to receive, that is, a daily horoscope email, a weekly tarot reading, and a monthly numerology report.
You should use simple, plain language about the speculative nature of the divination services, and you should always avoid guarantees or claims about accuracy or life outcomes. Further, you must also maintain a clean billing descriptor so that the charge name on the customer’s credit card statement absolutely matches their expectation of what they have bought.