When a payment fails: when to retry, what to tell the customer, and when to cancel
Knows how to set up their payment processor to control how many times and when to retry a declined card, what message to send at each attempt, and at what point to cancel the customer instead of continuing to charge into thin air.
A customer's card gets declined and that month's payment doesn't go through. The question isn't just whether you retry: it's how many times, how many days apart, whether you give a heads-up before each attempt or let it happen quietly, and what you do with their access while the payment is still pending. Retrying without a plan burns out the card and annoys the customer; not retrying gives away service nobody's paying for.
This course walks through that decision attempt by attempt, so you can set it up in your payment processor, like Stripe. First, read the decline reason to know whether to retry or stop. Then, the four-attempt schedule over two weeks, with the notice right before the second-to-last attempt and a tone that ramps up gradually with each message. Finally, when to pause access without canceling yet, and how to close the case: a link to add a new card or cancel, with a deadline set.
This is for anyone already charging subscriptions or recurring payments who sees declined cards every month; if you charge only once per sale with no recurring billing, this course won't give you anything.
- Set the retry schedule in your payment processor: how many times and how many days apart, based on the decline reason.
- Write the text for each notice, with the tone that's right for its turn.
- Decide at which failed attempt to pause access without canceling the subscription.
- Close out each case with the link to add a new card that your payment processor gives you, or with a cancellation and a deadline.
It helps to already have recurring billing set up in your payment processor, with the customer's card on file.
The 6 lessons
In the order it makes the most sense to read them.
- 1
The decline reason decides whether you retry or let it go
Before retrying a declined payment, check the reason in your payment processor: if it points to the funds, you retry; if it points to the card, you stop and ask for another payment method.
4 min - 2
Four attempts in two weeks: the payment retry schedule
You'll walk away with the retry schedule set for your payment processor: how many times and how many days apart, depending on whether the decline is the kind that resolves itself or not.
4 min - 3
No heads-up on the first attempt, but there is on the second-to-last
You'll decide which payment retries in your payment processor happen silently and which one comes with a heads-up to the customer before the last attempt, with the notice text ready to use.
4 min - 4
The tone escalates one notch with each notice, never all at once
By the end you'll have the text written for each payment notice, with the exact tone that's right for its attempt: informative at first, urgent only on the last one.
4 min - 5
When you cut off access without canceling yet
You'll know which failed attempt triggers a pause on the customer's access, how to pause it in your payment processor without canceling their subscription, and what the notice explaining it says.
4 min - 6
After the last attempt: a card link or cancellation, don't leave it hanging
You decide whether the customer gets a link from your payment processor to add a new card, or gets canceled, and you set a deadline so the cycle never stays open.
4 min