🔄 Workaround: Updating a Customer’s Payment Method When Shop Pay Fails

If a customer’s payment is failing through Shop Pay, and they’re also unable to update their card within their Shop Pay wallet, there’s a helpful workaround you can use. By sending them a Quick Checkout Link tied to a $0 product, the customer can securely add a new payment method outside of Shop Pay.

Once added, either you or the customer can update their existing subscription to use the new payment method.

✅ Step 1: Create a “Free” Product in Shopify

If you don’t already have one, follow these steps:

Go to your Products section in Shopify and click “Add product”.
Name the product something like “Update Payment Info” or “Payment Method Collection”.
(This name appears at checkout, so make it clear to the customer.)
Set the price to $0.00.
Mark the product as non-physical to avoid shipping charges.

🔁 Step 2: Create a Subscription Plan in Appstle

Open the Appstle Subscriptions app.
Go to “Subscription Plans” and click “Create New Plan.”
Choose the free product you just created.
Set the plan to expire after the first cycle (so it doesn’t renew).
Add a visibility tag to keep this plan hidden from other customers on your storefront.

This plan won’t charge the customer. It’s only used to securely collect a new payment method.

🔗 Step 3: Generate a Quick Checkout Link

In Appstle, go to “More” > “Quick Checkout.”
Select the product and plan you created above.
(Optional) Select the customer to prefill their name and email.
Do not select Shop Pay as the payment gateway—we want them to use another available method.
Click “Generate Link” to create the checkout link.
Copy and share the link with your customer (email, WhatsApp, or any channel you prefer).

🔄 Step 4: Update the Subscription with the New Payment Method

Once the customer has submitted their new payment info, you can switch their old subscription to use the new payment method, either from the merchant portal or the customer portal.

From the Merchant Portal:

Go to Subscriptions > find the customer's original (failing) subscription.
Click the pencil icon next to payment info.
Select the new payment method from the dropdown.

From the Customer Portal:

Customer logs in and clicks “See Details” on their subscription.
Go to Payment Details and click “Edit.”
Choose “Select another payment method”.
Pick the new method from the dropdown.

Once updated, the subscription will charge the new method on the next renewal.

📬 Suggested Message to Send to Customers

Hi [Customer Name],

It looks like your current payment method is having trouble processing through Shop Pay.

Please use the secure link below to update your card. It only takes a minute, and you won’t be charged — this is just to refresh your payment details:

[Insert Quick Checkout Link]

Let us know if you run into any issues — we're here to help!

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