Recurly has announced that it has raised $6 million in a Series A financing round led by BV Capital, and including Polaris Venture Partners, Harrison Metal Capital and FreeStyle Capital.

Recurly is in the business of helping subscription-based businesses eliminate the pain required to scale recurring billing operations by providing an easy, self-serve, pay-as-you-go platform. Recurly’s service automates many of the complexities involved with subscription billing management, such as customer upgrades and downgrades, credit card errors and declines, automated customer communications, and customer retention management.

On the web:

• Mobile Payments and the Demise of the Cash Register - Mobile Commerce Daily

On the wires:

• Thomas Industrial Network Selects Aria Systems for On-Demand Billing and Customer Mgmt
• mopay Launches First-of-Its-Kind Payments Platform for Online Dating Industry
• 3V Transaction Services Extends its Mobile Money Platform to Netherlands
• WageWorks Names Visa as Preferred Brand for Prepaid Employee Benefit Programs
• New Mercator Report on Small Business Credit Cards

On the web:

• Letter to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
• Citi Announces New Fees on Checking Accounts - CNNmoney.com
• Nine Ways To Avoid Debit Card Usage Fees - Fox Business
• Skrill, Born Moneybookers, Extends Rebranding Campaign - AuctionBytes
• Beggars Can be Choosers (Panhandlers Taking Plastic) - Dave Birsch Blog
• Coming Soon To A Store Near You: Tagtile, A Square-Like Mobile Loyalty Service - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Heartland Payment Systems Releases First Actual Durbin Impact Statistics
• Weather Underground Inc. Chooses Recurly for Subscription Billing Management
• NEBA Introduces SMS Text Messaging System for Credit and Debit Card Issuers
• Pandora One Gift Cards Now Available for the First Time
• Dynamics Inc. Announces Multiple Volume Launch Agreements for Next-Generation Magnetic Stripe Payment Cards
• PenFed Eliminates Foreign Transaction Fee From Remaining Credit Card Programs in Card Portfolio
• BluePay, a Leading Chicago Credit Card Processor, Announces Acquisition of Primax Merchant Portfolio

Aria Systems has announced Aria SubscriptionsPlus for PayPal, a new subscription management and recurring billing product designed for PayPal's global merchant base. Aria says its "SubscriptionsPlus for PayPal gives merchants robust, SaaS-based subscription billing capabilities, enabling them to develop or expand their recurring revenue streams." READ MORE »

Vindicia has expanded the number of payment methods available for online billing in its CashBox™ service. The company recently announced that it had added PayPal – both PayPal Express Checkout and PayPal’s enhanced recurring billing solution, known as “reference transactions” – to its payment method support. Specifically, Vindicia CashBox now supports: credit and debit cards (including JCB, Switch/Solo and Carte Bleu), Electronic Check (ACH in the United States), PayPal, Boleto Bancário – one of the most popular online payment methods in Brazil, and European Direct Debit, specifically ELV in Germany and Austria. READ MORE »

Noting that US consumers spend $1 Trillion annually on recurring transactions and installment billing, Litle & Co. says it believes that in order to remain competitive, merchants -- particularly online, membership and subscription services businesses -- must embrace and support these transaction types as part of their overall offering. The company has developed a list of "Recurring Transactions Best Practices" to hel merchants take advantage of recurring transactions to convert traffic into long-term customer relationships and to maximize revenue opportunities. READ MORE »