diff --git a/cloud/__init__.py b/cloud/__init__.py
index d2e1367..13abe92 100644
--- a/cloud/__init__.py
+++ b/cloud/__init__.py
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ class CloudExtension(PillarExtension):
         # Just so that it registers the management commands.
         from . import cli
 
-        return {}
+        return {
+            'EXTERNAL_SUBSCRIPTIONS_MANAGEMENT_SERVER': 'https://store.blender.org/api/',
+            'EXTERNAL_SUBSCRIPTIONS_TIMEOUT_SECS': 10,
+        }
 
     def eve_settings(self):
         """Returns extensions to the Eve settings.
diff --git a/cloud/routes.py b/cloud/routes.py
index f23bdd9..5006896 100644
--- a/cloud/routes.py
+++ b/cloud/routes.py
@@ -340,6 +340,8 @@ def emails():
 def billing():
     """View the subscription status of a user
     """
+    from . import store
+
     if current_user.has_role('protected'):
         return abort(404)  # TODO: make this 403, handle template properly
     api = system_util.pillar_api()
@@ -350,7 +352,7 @@ def billing():
             group = Group.find(group_id, api=api)
             groups.append(group.name)
 
-    store_user = pillar.api.blender_cloud.subscription.fetch_subscription_info(user.email)
+    store_user = store.fetch_subscription_info(user.email)
 
     return render_template(
         'users/settings/billing.html',
diff --git a/cloud/store.py b/cloud/store.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca4750d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cloud/store.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+"""Blender Store interface."""
+
+import logging
+import typing
+
+from pillar import current_app
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def fetch_subscription_info(email: str) -> typing.Optional[dict]:
+    """Returns the user info dict from the external subscriptions management server.
+
+    :returns: the store user info, or None if the user can't be found or there
+        was an error communicating. A dict like this is returned:
+        {
+            "shop_id": 700,
+            "cloud_access": 1,
+            "paid_balance": 314.75,
+            "balance_currency": "EUR",
+            "start_date": "2014-08-25 17:05:46",
+            "expiration_date": "2016-08-24 13:38:45",
+            "subscription_status": "wc-active",
+            "expiration_date_approximate": true
+        }
+    """
+
+    from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
+    import requests.exceptions
+
+    external_subscriptions_server = current_app.config['EXTERNAL_SUBSCRIPTIONS_MANAGEMENT_SERVER']
+
+    if log.isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG):
+        import urllib.parse
+
+        log_email = urllib.parse.quote(email)
+        log.debug('Connecting to store at %s?blenderid=%s',
+                  external_subscriptions_server, log_email)
+
+    # Retry a few times when contacting the store.
+    s = requests.Session()
+    s.mount(external_subscriptions_server, HTTPAdapter(max_retries=5))
+
+    try:
+        r = s.get(external_subscriptions_server,
+                  params={'blenderid': email},
+                  verify=current_app.config['TLS_CERT_FILE'],
+                  timeout=current_app.config.get('EXTERNAL_SUBSCRIPTIONS_TIMEOUT_SECS', 10))
+    except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as ex:
+        log.error('Error connecting to %s: %s', external_subscriptions_server, ex)
+        return None
+    except requests.exceptions.Timeout as ex:
+        log.error('Timeout communicating with %s: %s', external_subscriptions_server, ex)
+        return None
+    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as ex:
+        log.error('Some error communicating with %s: %s', external_subscriptions_server, ex)
+        return None
+
+    if r.status_code != 200:
+        log.warning("Error communicating with %s, code=%i, unable to check "
+                    "subscription status of user %s",
+                    external_subscriptions_server, r.status_code, email)
+        return None
+
+    store_user = r.json()
+
+    if log.isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG):
+        import json
+        log.debug('Received JSON from store API: %s',
+                  json.dumps(store_user, sort_keys=False, indent=4))
+
+    return store_user
diff --git a/src/templates/users/settings/billing.pug b/src/templates/users/settings/billing.pug
index 1cb0069..e1e5959 100644
--- a/src/templates/users/settings/billing.pug
+++ b/src/templates/users/settings/billing.pug
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ style(type='text/css').
 
 			.settings-content
 
-				| {% if store_user['cloud_access'] %}
+				| {% if current_user.has_role('subscriber') %}
 				h3.subscription-active
 					i.pi-check
 					|  Your subscription is active