Peptide subscription models are increasingly popular — customers sign up for monthly shipments of research peptides, and merchants benefit from predictable recurring revenue. But recurring billing adds complexity to an already high-risk category, and getting it wrong can cost you your merchant account.
This guide covers how to set up peptide recurring billing correctly: underwriting requirements, checkout compliance, failed payment handling, dunning strategy, and chargeback prevention for subscription-based peptide businesses.
Why Recurring Billing Is Higher Risk for Peptide Merchants
Banks and processors evaluate subscription businesses differently than one-time purchase businesses. The reason is simple: recurring billing creates ongoing chargeback exposure.
With a one-time sale, the dispute window is limited. With a subscription, every renewal is a new opportunity for a dispute. If a customer forgets they subscribed, does not recognize the charge, or has an issue with a previous shipment, they may dispute the renewal rather than contacting you.
For peptide merchants — already classified as high-risk — adding subscription billing means underwriters need additional assurance that:
- Subscription terms are clearly disclosed before checkout
- Cancellation is easy and accessible
- Billing descriptors are recognizable
- Failed payment handling follows best practices
- Chargeback ratios remain controlled as the subscription base grows
Underwriting Requirements for Peptide Subscriptions
What processors evaluate
When you apply for a peptide merchant account with recurring billing, underwriters look at:
- Subscription terms visibility — are pricing, frequency, and cancellation clearly stated before the customer completes checkout?
- Cancellation process — can customers cancel easily without contacting support? Self-service cancellation reduces disputes.
- Trial-to-paid conversion — if you offer free or discounted trials, how clearly do you disclose the conversion to paid billing?
- Billing frequency — monthly billing is standard. Weekly or bi-weekly billing raises additional scrutiny.
- Average subscription lifetime — longer retention with low disputes signals a healthy subscription model.
Documentation to prepare
In addition to standard peptide merchant account requirements, subscription merchants should prepare:
- Subscription terms page — full disclosure of pricing, billing cycle, auto-renewal, and cancellation
- Checkout screenshots — showing subscription terms visibility before payment
- Cancellation flow documentation — demonstrating how customers cancel
- Sample renewal notification emails — showing what customers receive before each billing cycle
How to Set Up Peptide Subscription Checkout
Pre-checkout disclosure
Before a customer enters payment information, the checkout page must clearly display:
- The recurring price and billing frequency (e.g., "$79.99/month")
- What the subscription includes (products, quantities, shipping)
- When the first charge occurs
- When subsequent charges occur
- How to cancel (with a direct link to the cancellation process)
This is not optional. Processors review checkout flows during underwriting and during periodic account reviews. Missing or unclear disclosure is a common reason for account restrictions.
Checkout confirmation
The order confirmation page and confirmation email should reiterate:
- The subscription terms
- The next billing date
- Cancellation instructions
- Customer support contact information
Billing descriptor
Your billing descriptor must be immediately recognizable to the customer. For subscriptions, this is even more important than one-time sales because customers see the charge repeatedly. If they do not recognize it, they dispute it.
Use your brand name or store name — not a generic LLC name or abbreviation that customers will not associate with their peptide subscription.
Failed Payment Handling & Dunning Strategy
Failed payments are inevitable in subscription billing. Cards expire, funds run short, and banks occasionally decline recurring charges. How you handle these failures determines whether you retain the customer or lose them.
Why failed payments matter for peptide merchants
Every failed payment that is not recovered is lost revenue. But aggressive retry behavior can also trigger issues — repeatedly charging a declined card can generate complaints and disputes.
Best practice dunning schedule
A balanced dunning approach for peptide subscriptions:
- Day 0 (failure): Automatic retry + email notification to customer ("Your payment could not be processed. Please update your payment method.")
- Day 3: Second retry attempt + reminder email with direct link to update payment info
- Day 7: Third and final retry + email warning that the subscription will be paused if payment is not updated
- Day 10: Subscription paused. Final email with reactivation link.
Key dunning rules
- Never retry more than 3 times. Excessive retries can generate complaints and processor flags.
- Always notify the customer. Silent retries without communication increase dispute risk.
- Make payment updates easy. Provide a direct link to update card information — do not require customers to contact support.
- Pause, do not cancel. Pausing keeps the customer relationship intact. They can reactivate easily when ready.
Chargeback Prevention for Peptide Subscriptions
Subscriptions amplify all the chargeback risks that already exist for peptide merchants. Here is how to address the most common subscription dispute triggers.
1) "I didn't know I was subscribing"
Ensure subscription terms are visible before checkout. Use checkbox confirmations for recurring billing. Send a clear confirmation email after the first charge.
2) "I forgot I subscribed"
Send a renewal reminder email 3-5 days before each billing cycle. Include the charge amount, subscription details, and a cancellation link.
3) "I can't figure out how to cancel"
Provide self-service cancellation. A cancellation button in the customer portal is ideal. If cancellation requires contacting support, make support easy to reach and respond within 24 hours.
4) "I don't recognize this charge"
Use a clear, consistent billing descriptor that matches your brand. Consider including a customer support phone number in the descriptor.
5) "I had an issue with a previous order"
Unresolved fulfillment issues carry forward into renewal disputes. If a customer had a problem with a shipment, resolve it before the next billing cycle.
For a comprehensive approach to dispute prevention, see our guide on how to reduce chargebacks in a peptide ecommerce store. For tools that catch disputes before they become chargebacks, explore Unison's chargeback protection.
Strengthen your compliance foundation
LegitScript certification adds another layer of protection for subscription-based peptide businesses. Banks view LegitScript-certified merchants as lower risk, which translates to lower reserves and more favorable terms for recurring billing accounts. Unison is a LegitScript partner and helps merchants get certified at discounted rates.
Scaling a Peptide Subscription Business
Align growth with underwriting
As your subscriber base grows, your processing volume increases proportionally. Sudden jumps in monthly volume — even from organic subscription growth — can trigger automated risk reviews.
Communicate growth projections to your account manager. Unison works with you to align underwriting expectations with your subscription trajectory so growth does not trigger risk brakes.
Monitor subscription metrics weekly
Track these metrics to catch problems early:
- Chargeback ratio — must stay well below 0.9% (Visa) and 1.0% (Mastercard)
- Involuntary churn (failed payments) — rising failure rates may indicate card update issues
- Voluntary churn — high cancellation rates may signal product or expectation issues
- Dispute reason codes — identify patterns (billing confusion, fulfillment issues, fraud)
Consider payment method diversification
Offering ACH payment processing alongside credit cards for subscription renewals can reduce chargeback exposure. ACH disputes follow a different process than card chargebacks and are generally less frequent for legitimate recurring transactions.
Related Resources
- Peptide Payment Processing: Complete Guide
- How to Get Approved for a Peptide Merchant Account
- How to Reduce Chargebacks in a Peptide Ecommerce Store
- Rolling Reserves Explained for Peptide Merchant Accounts
- Chargeback Protection
- Peptide & Research Chemical Payment Processing
- Contact Unison for a Free Quote