[Advisors] Failed Payments

Failed payments are never fun, but it’s important to note that when it comes to transactions made with a credit or debit card, and especially with subscription billing, declines are normal. In fact, studies have shown that anywhere from 20% to 25% of all card transactions fail.

Credit/Debit Card Payment Failures

There are several things — including technical problems — that may go wrong after a transaction leaves AdvicePay, all of which could result in a decline. On the client’s side, exceeding the credit limit or daily withdrawal frequency, expired cards, and even missing credit card payments can stop the payment from going through.

The transaction may also get declined in the processing stages due to fraud prevention. First-time purchases to a new merchant, unusually large payment amounts, international transactions, and transactions from high fraud zip codes can also cause legitimate transactions to be declined.

ACH Payment Failures

When it comes to ACH (bank account) payments, the rate of failed payments is significantly reduced. Typically the only time a payment fails on ACH is because there are insufficient funds in the account or the client has mistakenly entered an incorrect routing/account number. On rare occasions, a client may close a bank account and forget to update their information for all of their auto-payments.

What Steps To Take Next

In cases of failed payments and card declines, we recommend that your client:

1). Review their payment information to make sure it's accurate

2). Check in with their credit card company or bank to receive more details and/or approve the charge

3). Provide Stripe's ID for payments from the bank as they may require this as a fraud protection measure. Stripe's ID information for making payments via ACH are: 4270465600 - Stripe Inc, and 1800948598 - Stripe Payments Company (provide both).

4). Thereafter, try to re-submit payment on their invoice or use a new payment method

📍Here are instructions for clients on how to fix a failed payment

What happens on AdvicePay when a payment fails?

We're designed to give your clients the ability to self service a failed payment! If a payment fails, your client is always notified immediately -- either in-app (for initial credit/debit card payments) or via if the Failed Payment reminder is enabled for subscription and ACH payments since these take time to process.

They can then go in to AdvicePay, add new account information and/or or check in with their bank/credit card company, and retry payment -- all without calling or emailing you. 

Credit Card Failures:

In instances where a credit card is associated with the subscription, the payment is automatically attempted every few days for a total of 3 times. Each time a retry attempt fails, your client will receive an additional email notification about the failure.

When all automatic attempts to retry payment are exhausted and the invoice remains unpaid, it will leave the client's subscription as-is and attempt to charge them as normal on the next scheduled bill date. Your client can attempt to retry the failed payment even after multiple billing periods have passed!

ACH Payment Failures:

ACH-based failures are not automatically retried. Additionally, subscriptions on ACH automatically cancel if the first payment fails. However, once the payment is retried and is successful it automatically re-activates the subscription. 

For example: if your client has an ACH payment for January 1 and it fails, but they never go back in and retry it, then their monthly subscription won’t bill on Feb 1, March 1, etc. However, if they do successfully retry payment, then the subscription gets created again and resumes billing as normal.

If any accounts are running into issues retrying and receiving continuous failures, Stripe may have blocked the payment due to their security and fraud prevention measures. Please reach out to support@advicepay.com and we can help take a look at the account and help get things back in order.

For more information on your failed payment situation, please see some of the common decline codes below:

approve_with_id

The payment cannot be authorized. The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, the customer needs to contact their card issuer.

call_issuer

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

card_not_supported

The card does not support this type of purchase. The customer needs to contact their card issuer to make sure their card can be used to make this type of purchase.

card_velocity_exceeded

The customer has exceeded the balance or credit limit available on their card. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

currency_not_supported

The card does not support the specified currency. The customer needs check with the issuer that the card can be used for the type of currency specified.

do_not_honor

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. With some card companies, this generic code is used when a card has reached its withdrawal frequency limit for the day. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

do_not_try_again

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

duplicate_transaction

A transaction with identical amount and credit card information was submitted very recently. Check to see if a recent payment already exists.

expired_card

The card has expired. The customer should use another card.

*fraudulent

The payment has been declined as Stripe suspects it is fraudulent. Do not report more detailed information to your customer. Instead, let the customer know they need to contact their card issuer for more information.

generic_decline

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

incorrect_number

The card number is incorrect. The customer should try again using the correct card number.

incorrect_cvc

The CVC number is incorrect. The customer should try again using the correct CVC.

incorrect_zip

The ZIP/postal code is incorrect. The customer should try again using the correct billing ZIP/postal code.

insufficient_funds

The account has insufficient funds to complete the purchase. The customer should use an alternative payment method.

invalid_account

The card, or account the card is connected to, is invalid. The customer needs to contact their card issuer to check that the card is working correctly.

invalid_amount

The payment amount is invalid, or exceeds the amount that is allowed. If the amount appears to be correct, the customer needs to check with their card issuer that they can make purchases of that amount.

invalid_cvc

The CVC number is incorrect. The customer should try again using the correct CVC.

invalid_expiry_year

The expiration year is invalid. The customer should try again using the correct expiration date.

invalid_number

The card number is incorrect. The customer should try again using the correct card number.

issuer_not_available

The card issuer could not be reached, so the payment could not be authorized. The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, the customer needs to contact their card issuer.

lost_card

The payment has declined because the card is reported lost. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

new_account_information_available

The card, or account the card is connected to, is invalid. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

no_action_taken

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

not_permitted

The payment is not permitted. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

pickup_card

The card cannot be used to make this payment. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

processing_error

An error occured while processing the card. The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, try again later.

reenter_transaction

The payment could not be processed by the issuer for an unknown reason. The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, the customer needs to contact their card issuer.

restricted_card

The card cannot be used to make this payment. The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.

revocation_of_all_authorizations

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

revocation_of_all_authorization

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

security_violation

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

service_not_allowed

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

*stolen_card

The payment has been declined because the card is reported stolen. Do not report more detailed information to your customer. Instead, let the customer know they need to contact their card issuer for more information.

stop_payment_order

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

testmode_decline

A Stripe test card number was used. A genuine card must be used to make a payment.

transaction_not_allowed

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. The customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

try_again_later

The card has been declined for an unknown reason. Ask the customer to attempt the payment again. If subsequent payments are declined, the customer should contact their card issuer for more information.

withdrawal_count_limit_exceeded

The customer has exceeded the balance or credit limit available on their card. The customer should use an alternative payment method.