- Minna Technologies has launched a new solution to help merchants recover revenue and re-engage customers who recently canceled subscriptions.
- The new offering, Merchant Solutions, helps solve a pain point in which bank cards are often blocked during a subscription cancellation.
- Merchant Solutions tackles the new reality of subscription management in which customers are more proactive toward both signing up for and cancelling subscription-based services.
Sweden-based subscription management infrastructure company Minna Technologies unveiled its new Merchant Solutions late last week. The solution will enable subscription-based businesses to recover revenue from customers who have recently canceled their service and who manage their subscriptions via their retail bank app.
“We are thrilled to allow the 20% of consumers who cancel with Minna to more easily return to the subscription service when it suits them; and to enable subscription businesses to more personally retarget these consumers with suitable offers,” Minna Technologies Chief Product Officer Tiama Hanson-Drury said. “Not every cancellation is a desire to sever ties with the merchant – often it is a call for increased flexibility or personalization. By keeping the channel open, merchants have the chance to evolve the customer relationship and reacquire the consumer.”
Minna Technologies’ new solution also helps merchants deal with an unintended consequence of consumer protection efforts that require banks to support subscription payment management, especially with regard to unidentified or unintended payments. Sometimes, the subscription cancellation process results in the customer’s bank card being blocked to prevent future wrongful payments. Minna Technologies cited a study by Experian Insights that indicated that almost 80% of those who try to re-establish their subscriptions within three months after canceling have found that their bank cards have been blocked. This friction can be enough to cause the customer to abandon the attempt to resubscribe to the service.
To this end, Minna will offer a new “unblock” feature that facilitates communication between banks and subscription businesses to unblock bank cards in instances when banks have confidence that no wrongful payments will be reattempted by the business. This block removal service will help alleviate operational issues and the potential for poor customer service when payments are automatically blocked during subscription cancellation. Minna noted that the Unblock feature is one example of the kind of assistance the company is developing for subscription-based merchants with other solutions, including a way to prevent cancellations in the first place, to be offered in the near future.
Minna Technologies’ new offering also responds to the challenge of what Minna Technologies’ VP of Sales, Partnerships and Solutions Erica Katsambis referred to as the “rise of new subscription personas”. These personas reflect a growing assertiveness on the part of consumers who are more likely to be proactive in expressing their digital preferences than consumers of even a few years ago.
“From the ‘lost, confused, and angry’ who are disengaged and canceling via their bank, to the ‘savvy’ consumers switching subscriptions regularly or those consumers happy to try out many new subscriptions, they all demand more from their subscriptions,” Katsambis explained. “It is more important than ever to diversify and bolster digital channels and functionality to retain users, grow your customer base, and prevent unwanted churn.”
Minna Technologies made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2019. In the time since then, the company has forged partnerships with ING Belgium, Lloyds Bank, and Danske Bank; earned recognition as an Inclusive Fintech 50 member; and raised more than $23 million in funding. Late last year, Minna launched its “1-click” subscription management solution. Early this year, the company announced the appointment of new board chairwoman, Amanda Mesler.