Shopify subscriptions with Bancontact: how they work
Belgian shoppers pay with Bancontact, but Shopify hides it on subscription carts. Here is how to keep it, and which other Belgian methods work.
Table of Contents
Bancontact is how Belgium pays online. On a normal order it sits in your Shopify checkout like any other method. Add a subscription to the cart and it is gone.
Why Bancontact is hidden on a subscription cart
Shopify charges renewals itself, from a payment method it has saved, and that means a card through Shopify Payments. Bancontact is a single bank payment, so there is nothing to save and nothing to charge next month. Shopify drops it as soon as the cart holds a selling plan.
How a Bancontact subscription works
- The first order is paid with Bancontact, through your own Mollie account.
- That payment leaves a SEPA Direct Debit mandate behind.
- Every following order is collected from the same bank account, with the customer doing nothing.
The bank confirms the mandate first, and the subscription waits at "Pending mandate" until it does. After that renewals run on their own, always in euro.
Bancontact is not your only option in Belgium
The checkout button shows whichever methods your Mollie account has live and that can leave a mandate behind: Bancontact, KBC/CBC and Belfius, plus iDEAL for your Dutch customers. Cards and wallets stay out of that button, because they cannot start this kind of subscription.
What you set up once
- Mollie live in your Shopify checkout.
- SEPA Direct Debit switched on in your Mollie account. It is a manual review of up to three business days, and Mollie looks at your website, so have your plans live on a product page first.
- Mollie connected in the app, and the local payment block enabled in your theme.
Step by step, with screenshots: Accept iDEAL and Bancontact: connect Mollie.
Frequently asked questions
Does my customer notice anything unusual?
No. They pay with Bancontact the way they always do, and afterwards they manage the subscription in their account on your store: pause, skip a delivery or cancel.
What if someone would rather pay by card?
Then the app's second button sends them to your normal Shopify checkout with the subscription kept, and Shopify bills the card. Both options can sit next to each other.
Are these subscriptions euro only?
Yes. The direct debit behind them settles in euro, so a Mollie subscription is always in EUR.
Does this work in the Netherlands too?
Yes, with iDEAL, and it works exactly the same way. Read the iDEAL article.
The full picture of the app: Progus Subscriptions for Shopify.