Tools to automate the process to charge, collect and renew subscription fees for a small consumer su

There is a group of companies that do this sort of thing. Google "subscription billing" or the like. Zuora is one that I have heard of before. You essentially integrate your customer management system with theirs (or use their system altogether) and their system manages the recurring billing transactions for you and shovels the data into your accounting system (ideally). You can either use their merchant banks or intergrate with your own (check with the provider to see what they offer).

The things to look for are the same as with any vendor you integrate with: who are their customers, how long have they been around, how easy/not will the integration be, what kind of reporting and controls do they have available and, if you are using them as a processor, what are their fees, etc. Your engineering dept will want to be in on the integration discussion.