# Pay for Azure by invoice instead of credit card

With a credit card, you pay the list price and you are on your own: technical help from Microsoft means paying for a separate support plan. Through Intercept, you get a monthly invoice on account, a discount on your usage and support from specialists who know your environment. The switch is a technical migration to new subscriptions in your own tenant. Intercept handles that from start to finish; for us, it is routine.

Updated: 19 October 2026. Publisher: Intercept BV, the Netherlands. Page: https://azure.intercept.cloud/en/credit-card-to-invoice/

## How do you move from credit card to invoice?

### Through Microsoft

1. **Conditions**: You have been a customer for at least six months, have no outstanding balance and are above the usage threshold for your country.
2. **Request**: Through a support ticket with pay-as-you-go, in the Azure portal with an MCA.
3. **Review**: Microsoft may run a credit check and ask for annual accounts or a guarantee.
4. **Payment**: You pay by wire transfer, at the list price. After that, you cannot go back to a credit card as your default payment method.

Source: [Microsoft Learn: Pay for Azure subscriptions by wire transfer](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/pay-by-invoice) (version 26 August 2026, accessed 19 October 2026).

### Through Intercept, start to finish

1. **Technical check**: We map out which resources need to move and what depends on them.
2. **CSP subscriptions**: We set them up in your own tenant and configure permissions and policies as they are now.
3. **Migrate**: One resource group at a time. The resource groups are locked for changes for up to four hours; existing resources keep working. The technical check shows you in advance where downtime can occur.
4. **Invoice**: A monthly invoice from Intercept BV on account, with a discount on your usage.

Source: [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).

## With a credit card, you are on your own

Microsoft gives every Azure customer self-help resources. For technical help, you take out a paid support plan. With Intercept, support is included.

### By credit card with Microsoft

You get documentation, Azure Advisor and service health alerts. Help from an engineer by email, phone or chat is not included. For that, you take out a paid support plan.

Source: [Microsoft Azure: Compare support plans](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/) (accessed 19 October 2026).

### Through Intercept

Support is included. You have a regular point of contact with Azure specialists who know your environment, and we bring in Microsoft when needed. If you want 24/7 support, that is possible too.

## Microsoft or Intercept: the differences

|   | By invoice with Microsoft | CSP via Intercept |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Conditions | Six months as a customer, no outstanding balance, usage above the country threshold | From the first euro |
| Price | List price | Discount rising with your usage, up to 12% |
| Support | Self-help; technical help only with a paid support plan | Included, from specialists who know your environment; 24/7 available |
| Invoice from | Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd | Intercept BV, the Netherlands |
| Switch | Different payment method | Technical migration within your tenant, by Intercept |
| Questions about your invoice | Through a support ticket | With your regular contact person |
| Cost insight | Cost Management | Cost Management plus the customer portal |

## What happens in a technical migration?

There is no administrative migration from pay-as-you-go or an online MCA to CSP, not even for partners. So your resources move technically. This is what Microsoft says about it.

- Resources can only be migrated between subscriptions when both subscriptions are in the same Microsoft Entra tenant. Source: [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).
- During a migration, the source and target resource groups are locked for changes for up to four hours. Existing resources keep working. Source: [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).
- A migration changes the resource ID. Scripts, templates and dashboards that use the ID must be updated. Source: [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).
- Role assignments on a migrated resource do not move with it and must be recreated after the migration. Source: [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).
- Not all resource types can be migrated, and dependent resources must move together. Depending on the resources, a migration can cause downtime. Source: [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026); [Microsoft Learn: Transfer Azure subscriptions between subscribers and CSPs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/transfer-subscriptions-subscribers-csp) (version 17 August 2026, accessed 19 October 2026).
- When you move from an online MCA to CSP, reservations and savings plans do not move automatically. Source: [Microsoft Learn: Azure product transfer hub](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/subscription-transfer) (version 29 December 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).

You do not have to do this yourself. For Intercept this is routine work, from start to finish: technical check, a plan per resource group, migration, permissions, quotas and aftercare. You know in advance what it costs.

## Questions

### Can I pay Microsoft itself by invoice?

Yes, on certain conditions: you have been a customer for at least six months, have no outstanding balance and are above a usage threshold that differs per country. With pay-as-you-go, you request it through a support ticket; with an MCA, in the Azure portal. After that, you cannot go back to a credit card as your default payment method.

Source: [Microsoft Learn: Pay for Azure subscriptions by wire transfer](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/pay-by-invoice) (version 26 August 2026, accessed 19 October 2026).

### Can I move from credit card to CSP without a technical migration?

No. There is no administrative migration from pay-as-you-go or an MCA signed online to CSP, not even for partners. Your resources move to new CSP subscriptions in your own tenant. You do not have to do this yourself: Intercept handles the migration from start to finish, from the technical check to aftercare, one resource group at a time and at a moment that suits you.

Source: [Microsoft Learn: Transfer Azure product billing ownership to your Microsoft Partner Agreement](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/mpa-request-ownership) (version 21 August 2026, accessed 19 October 2026); [Microsoft Learn: Azure product transfer hub](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/subscription-transfer) (version 29 December 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).

### Does my support change?

Yes, and for the better. Your support plan with Microsoft does not move with you; after the transfer, Intercept as your CSP partner is responsible for your support. Below €50,000 a month, that support is included: a regular point of contact with specialists who know your environment, 24/7 if you want, and we bring in Microsoft where needed. From €50,000 a month, 24/7 CSP Enterprise Support is part of the programme, at a reduced rate.

Source: [Microsoft Learn: Transfer Azure product billing ownership to your Microsoft Partner Agreement](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/mpa-request-ownership) (version 21 August 2026, accessed 19 October 2026); [Microsoft Azure: Compare support plans](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/) (accessed 19 October 2026).

### Is there downtime during the switch?

Not with a transfer from a direct EA or MCA-E: Microsoft only changes the billing relationship and your services keep running. During a migration, the resource groups are temporarily locked for changes, while the resources themselves keep working. Depending on the resources, a migration can cause downtime. The technical check shows you in advance which resources this applies to.

Source: [Microsoft Learn: Transfer Azure product billing ownership to your Microsoft Partner Agreement](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cost-management-billing/manage/mpa-request-ownership) (version 21 August 2026, accessed 19 October 2026); [Microsoft Learn: Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/move-resource-group-and-subscription) (version 29 July 2025, accessed 19 October 2026).

### Does an invoice from Intercept make a difference for VAT?

No, not for a VAT-registered business in the EU. Microsoft Ireland and Intercept BV invoice business customers in other EU countries under the reverse charge, so you account for the VAT yourself. Dutch customers pay 21% VAT on Intercept's invoice, which they reclaim as input tax. On balance, it comes to the same. What does differ: you get a monthly invoice from Intercept, and the customer portal shows your costs per subscription, resource group and resource.

### How much discount do I get through Intercept?

Indicatively 5 to 12% on all your Azure usage, rising with your monthly usage. From €50,000 a month, the CSP Enterprise programme applies, with up to 12% discount. Your final percentage is in your calculation.

Source: [Intercept: CSP Enterprise-programma](https://intercept.cloud/nl-nl/oplossingen/csp-enterprise) (accessed 19 October 2026).

### Am I tied to Intercept afterwards?

No. Your tenant and subscriptions remain yours, and an Azure plan can move to another CSP partner later. Only the CSP Enterprise programme from €50,000 a month has a minimum term of twelve months.

Source: [Intercept: CSP Enterprise-programma](https://intercept.cloud/nl-nl/oplossingen/csp-enterprise) (accessed 19 October 2026).

**What difference does it make for you?** Send your situation and your latest Azure invoice. Within two working days of sending your invoice, you have a calculation based on your actual usage, with the alternatives alongside. [Calculate my route](https://azure.intercept.cloud/en/?via=creditcard#check)