You can set up automatic payment retries for subscriptions when a payment fails. This gives you more control over failed payments and helps subscriptions renew smoothly.
Key benefits of failed payment retry configuration
Setting up failed payment retries gives you several advantages:
Customisable retry attempts – Set up to 3 retries to suit your business. You can choose a gap of 1, 3, 5 or 7 days between each retry.
Default retry setup – By default, the system tries 3 times with a 1-day gap between each try. You can change this whenever you like.
Applies to existing and new subscriptions – Changes to your retry settings apply to both new and existing subscriptions, so every transaction follows the same rules.
What happens when all retries fail – If every retry fails, you can either keep the subscription in an ‘Unpaid’ state or move it to a ‘Cancelled’ state automatically by ticking a checkbox in the settings.
How to configure failed payment retries
Setting up payment retries only takes a few steps:
Go to subscription settings – In your account, go to Payments > Settings > Subscription.
Choose the number of retries – Select how many retries you want (up to 3).
Set the retry gaps – Choose how long to wait between retries (1, 3, 5 or 7 days).
Changing existing settings – Any changes you make will apply to both new and ongoing subscription retries.
Choose what happens after the final failure – Turn on or off the option to move failed subscriptions to the ‘Cancelled’ state automatically.
Save your settings – Save your settings to apply the changes straight away.
Example scenario
Say a subscription is set to ‘3 retries with a gap of 3 days for each retry’, and one retry has already happened. Before the second retry, you change the settings to ‘2 retries with a gap of 3 and 5 days respectively’. In this case:
The second retry will happen after 5 days instead of 3.
There will be no third retry.
Supported payment providers
This feature works with the following payment providers:
NMI
Authorize.net
Square
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many retries can I set up for a failed payment?
A: You can set up to 3 retries, with a gap of 1, 3, 5 or 7 days between each retry.
Q: Will changes to my retry settings apply to existing subscriptions?
A: Yes. Changes apply to both new and ongoing subscriptions, including those already being retried.
Q: What happens if all retries fail?
A: You can either keep the subscription in the ‘Unpaid’ state or move it to the ‘Cancelled’ state automatically by choosing the right option in the settings.
Q: Where do I set up failed payment retries?
A: Go to Payments > Settings > Subscription to find the retry options.
Q: Which payment providers support this feature?
A: Right now, this feature works with NMI, Authorize.net and Square.
Q: Why wasn't my customer charged for their monthly subscription?
A: This usually happens when the product linked to the subscription is renamed or changed in Payments > Products. That can break the sync with Stripe. To fix it:
Go to Payments > Subscriptions.
Find the subscription, click the three dots, and select Update Subscription.
Add the updated product and remove the old one.
Save to restore future billing.
Note: Missed payments aren't charged automatically. To collect them, send a manual invoice or a one-time payment link.