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Card Account Updater

It's estimated that subscription businesses lose up to 5-10% of their revenue annually, most of it by accident. Before Account Updater, it was nearly impossible to minimize lost revenue tied to outdated card information.

  • Prevent Accidental Churn: Don't lose customers simply because they lost their card, their card expired, or updated their billing address.
  • Improve Customer Experience: No one wants to update their cards on file, and now businesses can manage this process more efficiently.
  • Immediate ROI: It's easy to see the revenue lift by comparing the increase in successful authorizations vs. Account Updater cost.

How to use Account Updater with Basis Theory​

Basis Theory Account Updater​

The moment you store credit cards with Basis Theory, you're able to request updates to keep those vaulted cards current, minimizing payment disruptions and maximizing authorization rates.

With two flexible options — Batch and Real-Time — you can choose how and when to refresh card details:

  • Batch Account Updater is ideal for routine maintenance of your entire vaulted portfolio. Submit a list of card tokens on your schedule, and we'll return updated card details across supported networks.

  • Real-Time Account Updater enables on-demand updates for individual cards. Whether you're preparing to process a payment or retrying after a decline, you’ll receive the latest card info instantly via API.

Together, these services give your team complete control over how you manage card freshness, ensuring more successful payments, fewer interruptions, and a better customer experience — all without touching sensitive data yourself.

Third Party Providers​

Basis Theory's allows organizations with new vendors, existing partnerships, or a processor's Account Updater to integrate directly with those APIs - for example, Pagos Loon, Cybersource, Chase Account Updater, Adyen, etc. In these cases, our Proxy and Reactors enable your team to keep your credit cards up to date with your vendor of choice. Reach out for a free session on how to design this!

Batch Account Updater
Enterprise
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Updating a list of cards on demand​

We recognize that payment organizations and fintech need to be in complete control over every detail of their payment processing flows, including how credit cards are updated. This control gives companies the ability to reduce subscription declines, and old credit cards on file while optimizing the cost of keeping all credit cards up to date.

Below is a flow diagram explaining how updating a list of card tokens works and find more on our Batch Account Updater Implementation Guide.

Updating List of Tokens Diagram

Batch Account Updater is ideal for specific merchant-driven scenarios:

  • Merchant-Initiated Transactions: Identify cards scheduled for charges in the next 7 to 14 days and submit a batch job to update them, ensuring successful transactions.
  • Cards Nearing Expiration: Target cards expiring within the next 30 days, where issuers are likely to have provided customers with new cards.
  • Cards with Recent Declines: Update cards that failed authorization in the last 30-60 days, addressing potential outdated details.
  • High-Value Subscriptions: Prioritize cards linked to recurring payments above a set threshold (e.g., $50/month) to protect key revenue streams.

FAQ​

What card networks do you support?​

Batch Account Updater supports Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Real-Time Account Updater supports Visa and Mastercard.

How long does it take for an update job to complete?​

We aggregate results from all the supported networks, which can take up to 7 days. You can optimize this by splitting your files by card network and get individual results as soon as they are available.

Can I update all cards in my vault on a regular schedule?​

You can update cards by querying your database for those needing updates—such as cards nearing expiration—and sending us a list of tokens whenever needed. For cost-effectiveness, it may be optimal to only update customer cards that are important to your business. Basis Theory will help you apply the necessary controls to create a successful update strategy.

Do all Basis Theory platform features work with other Account Updater vendors?​

Yes. Our platform features enable you to integrate with third-party vendors to keep both your Basis Theory and processors tokens up to date.

Do you support end-of-day / nightly batch Account Updater Reports?​

Yes. Some acquirers and payment processors have the ability to generate end-of-day transaction reports containing account updates. For such cases, Basis Theory can process the report, looking for updated card information.

Do you support Real-Time Account Updater?​

Yes. We provide a Real-Time Account Updater service. Refer to our implementation guide or API docs for more details.