📘 Overview
When customers purchase a subscription using Shop Pay, their payment method is securely stored in their Shop Pay wallet (Shopify’s hosted wallet). The payment credentials stay in that wallet and are not stored or controlled by Appstle or any other subscription app.
This article explains:
how payment updates in the Shop Pay wallet affect subscriptions,
when those changes take effect, and
what merchants can and cannot do when a customer’s payment method is revoked or changed.
🔄 When a Customer Updates Their Card
If the customer updates their payment method in Shop Pay — for example:
switching from one card (e.g., Visa) to another (e.g., Mastercard),
changing the expiration date or billing address, or
re-adding the same card after it expired,
Shopify automatically applies the change to all active Shop Pay subscriptions that were using that card.
Appstle is notified via Shopify’s internal webhooks such as:
customer_update_payment_method→ when an existing card is updatedcustomer_create_payment_method→ when a new card is added
Once these webhooks are received:
If the subscription already has a valid payment method, no change is made.
If the existing payment method is revoked or invalid for a subscription, Appstle automatically updates it to the new one.
⚠️ When Payment Method Becomes Revoked
A payment method is marked as revoked when:
the card expires and is not updated,
the customer removes the card from Shop Pay, or
the issuing bank or Shopify disables it (for example, after a card is reported lost or stolen).
When this happens, future subscription renewals will fail until the customer updates their payment method.
Shopify automatically re-links the subscription to the new card once the customer adds or updates it in Shop Pay.
🧍♀️ What Merchants and Apps Cannot Do
For privacy and compliance reasons, no app — including Appstle — can directly change or replace a customer’s Shop Pay payment method.
📣 What Merchants Should Do
If you see a subscription marked as “Payment Method Revoked” in your Shopify Admin or Appstle Dashboard:
Contact the customer and ask them to update their payment method in their Shop Pay wallet.
You can share this message template:
“Hi [Customer Name],
Your subscription payment method has expired or been removed.
Please sign in to your Shop Pay account and update your card to continue your subscription.
Once you do, your subscription will automatically resume without any further action.”Once the customer updates their card, Shopify and Appstle handle the rest automatically.
🧠 Important Notes
If the subscription continues to fail after a card update, confirm that the new card is successfully saved in the customer’s Shop Pay account.
You can verify by checking the subscription’s payment method status in Shopify Admin.
🪄 Summary
Situation | Action by Customer | Result |
Card expired but still active | Update card details (same ID) | Subscription continues seamlessly |
Card removed or replaced | Add new card in Shop Pay | Shopify automatically associates new card |
Card still active | Adding new card won’t replace old one | Subscription stays linked to original |
Payment method revoked | Add or update card | New card automatically takes over |
🤝 Need Help?
Have questions or need assistance with any subscription settings?
Our experts are available 24×7×365 to help you.
📧 Email: support@appstle.com
💬 Live Chat: Message us anytime through the chat widget in our app.