What happens when a subscription payment fails

When we cannot charge your card for the Sliptree subscription, nothing is deleted and nothing stops on the first day. You get an email that says why the charge failed, we try the card again over the next two weeks, and you can pay at any point with the same card or another one. This article covers what you will see, what stops working after three days, and how to get the payment through.

The first email tells you why

On the day the charge fails, we email the address on your Billing page. The email names the amount, the card we tried, and the reason your bank gave us in plain words: the account did not have enough money, the card has expired or been replaced, or the bank blocked the payment.

Banks block online and recurring payments more often than people expect, especially on a new card or after a card is reissued. If the email says your bank blocked the charge and you know the card is fine, a call to the bank usually clears it. We cannot see more than the bank tells us.

The same email has a Pay invoice button and the date of our next automatic attempt. A warning also appears at the top of Sliptree for everyone who manages billing in the business.

Sometimes the bank does not decline the charge but asks you to confirm it first, the same check you see when shopping online. In that case the email says so and its button reads Confirm payment instead. Until you confirm, the payment does not go through, and everything below applies in the same way.

The first three days: everything works

For three days after the failed charge, Sliptree works as before. You can create and send invoices, and your recurring invoices go out on schedule. Use these days to pay or to update the card, and you will not notice anything else.

After three days: the account is limited

If the payment has still not gone through after three days, the account is limited until it does, and the warning at the top of Sliptree now shows for everyone in the business. While the account is limited you cannot create or send invoices, add new customers, invite team members, or activate recurring invoices.

Recurring invoices that are already running keep their schedule, but the invoices they generate are saved as drafts instead of being sent. Once you have paid, your confirmation email says how many drafts are waiting and links to them, and you send them yourself whenever you are ready.

Everything else keeps working. You can open and download existing invoices, record payments on them, work with estimates, and export your data. We email you when the account is limited, and again a week after the failed charge if the payment is still open.

Two weeks of attempts, then the subscription ends

We keep trying the card for about two weeks after the first failure. When the last attempt fails, we email you once more, and if the payment still does not go through, the subscription is cancelled and the business moves to the Free plan.

Nothing is deleted when that happens. Your invoices, customers and settings stay where they are, and you can start the subscription again from Billing whenever you want. The plan you were on is pre-selected, so getting back takes one click. See What happens when you cancel your subscription for what the Free plan includes.

How to get the payment through

The fastest way is the Pay invoice button in any of the emails. It opens a payment page that needs no login, so the person holding the card does not need a Sliptree account, and you can pay with the same card or enter a different one.

If you want to change the card for good, open Business settings → Billing and click Update payment method. When the new card is confirmed, we charge the open payment to it right away, without waiting for the next scheduled attempt.

As soon as the payment goes through, the limit is lifted, the warning disappears, and you receive a confirmation email. The invoice for the payment arrives by email as usual and is also listed under Billing history, so you do not need to ask us for it.