Check failed payments in Rechargly
Go to the Invoices page.
Open the Failed tab to see any unsuccessful charges.
Click an invoice to review the details and take action if needed.
Note: the Failed tab shows invoices from signed agreements that have not been processed.
Understanding why payments fail
Payments can fail for different reasons depending on the payment method:
Credit or debit card failures: usually caused by insufficient funds, expired cards, or the cardholder's bank declining the transaction. These are typically resolved by the client updating their card details.
Direct debit failures: direct debit (for example BECS in Australia) can also fail if the client's bank rejects the debit due to insufficient funds, a closed account, or an invalid BSB or account number. Direct debits take 3 to 5 business days to clear, so failures may not appear immediately. For detail, see Troubleshooting Failed Stripe Direct Debit Payments.
Checking why a specific payment failed
Rechargly shows the failure reason when Stripe provides one:
Go to the Agreements page.
Find the customer whose payment failed.
The failure reason is shown when available.
In some cases Stripe does not receive a specific reason from the bank, so the reason shows as generic or unavailable. If a payment is being blocked by the bank, ask the customer to contact their bank to authorise direct debits from Stripe.
Recommended process when a payment fails
When a payment fails, work through these steps in order:
Confirm it: check the Failed tab on the Invoices page.
Find the reason: open the invoice and check the failure reason on the Agreements page.
Fix the details: if the card or bank details are the problem, ask the client to update them.
Clear a bank block: if the bank is blocking a direct debit, ask the client to authorise debits from Stripe with their bank.
Retry: let Stripe's automatic retries run, or retry manually from the Stripe Dashboard.
Decide the fallback: if all retries fail, decide whether to reissue the invoice or switch the client to manual payment.
Talking to your client about a failed payment
Keep it factual and short. Tell the client the payment did not go through, the likely reason if you have it, and exactly what you need them to do: update their card, or authorise the direct debit with their bank. If you have turned on Stripe's failed-payment emails, the client may already have a link to update their details.
How to retry a failed payment
Log in to your Stripe Dashboard.
Go to the Customers tab and search for the client whose payment failed.
Open the customer's profile and find the invoice for the failed payment.
In the top right of the invoice, click Charge customer.
Stripe's automatic retry schedule
Stripe automatically retries failed payments using Smart Retries. By default it attempts the charge up to 4 times over about 3 weeks. You can change the schedule in your Stripe billing settings. If all retries fail, the invoice is marked as uncollectible.
Notify clients automatically with Stripe
In Stripe, go to the Revenue Recovery Emails settings.
Turn on send emails when card payments fail and send emails when bank debits fail.
Choose whether to link to a Stripe hosted page or a custom link.
Turn on send emails about expiring cards to remind clients before their card expires.
Once enabled, Stripe emails your clients directly if a payment fails or a card is expiring.
How to monitor failed and rejected payments
Check the Failed tab on the Invoices page as part of your monthly review, so rejected payments are caught early rather than building up. Turning on Stripe's failed-payment emails means clients are prompted to fix their details without you chasing each one.
Why is the failed payment link redirecting to my website?
When revenue recovery was set up, custom link was chosen instead of link to a Stripe hosted page. This is a configuration error. Search revenue recovery in Stripe, change the setting to a hosted page, and all future alerts will send the client to a page where they can update their billing information.