"Failed" status means that the customers card on file was declined 3x in a row, so they reached the max billing attempts.
We have attempted to bill them 3x in a row, and each time the billing has failed due to an issue with the payment method on file.
After 3x, Ongoing will no longer attempt to bill the subscriber as there is an issue with their payment method that needs to be fixed.
Failed status does not mean "cancelled." Cancelled is different as it means the customer clicked "cancel" and no longer wants to continue their subscription.
Failed status is essentially still an active subscription in which billing has been paused until the customers fixes their payment method.
Once the customer fixes their payment method on file, they can click "reactivate subscription" on the Subscriber Portal to start the billing attempts again.