Shopify subscriptions with iDEAL: how they work
iDEAL cannot be stored for a later charge, so Shopify drops it from subscription carts. Here is the setup that keeps Dutch customers subscribing.
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In the Netherlands, iDEAL is how people pay online, and a credit card is the exception. Put a subscription in the cart, though, and iDEAL is gone from the Shopify checkout. Most shoppers do not switch to a card. They leave.
Why iDEAL disappears on a subscription cart
A subscription has to be charged again later, without the customer being there. Shopify does that from a payment method it has stored, which in practice means a card through Shopify Payments. iDEAL is a one-off bank payment with nothing to store, so Shopify hides it the moment the cart holds a selling plan. No theme setting brings it back.
How an iDEAL subscription works with Progus
The first payment runs through your own Mollie account, and it does double duty.
- Your customer pays the first order with iDEAL, in your Mollie account.
- That payment leaves a SEPA Direct Debit mandate with their bank details behind.
- Every renewal is collected from that account automatically, and the customer re-enters nothing.
Everything else stays where your customers expect it: they pause, skip a delivery or cancel in their own account on your store. Mollie direct debit settles in euro, so these subscriptions are always in EUR.
What you set up once
- Mollie live in your Shopify checkout.
- SEPA Direct Debit switched on in your Mollie account. Mollie reviews the request by hand, up to three business days, and looks at your website while doing it, so put your subscription plans on a product page before you ask.
- Mollie connected inside the app, and the local payment block enabled in your theme. That is what puts the iDEAL button in front of the buyer.
The five steps with screenshots: Accept iDEAL and Bancontact: connect Mollie.
What is different from a card subscription
- A card cannot start this type of subscription. Card subscriptions are billed by Shopify instead, and the app can show both options side by side.
- Direct debit is euro only.
- A customer changing how they pay authorises a fresh mandate, because there is no stored card to swap.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Mollie account for subscriptions?
Only for iDEAL, Wero and Bancontact. Card subscriptions run on Shopify billing and never touch Mollie.
Can I offer iDEAL and cards side by side?
Yes. Next to the Mollie button the app can show a second button that sends the buyer to your normal Shopify checkout with the subscription kept, where Shopify bills the card.
What happens when a direct debit fails?
The app retries on the schedule you set and can email the customer to sort their details out, the same recovery it runs on card renewals. How Mollie subscriptions renew covers the details.
Does this work in Belgium too?
Yes, with Bancontact, and the mechanism is the same. Read the Bancontact article.
Want to see the rest of the app first? Progus Subscriptions for Shopify.