Failed payment recovery
A declined card is not a cancellation
When a payment fails, ACR tells the customer, finds out what is stopping it, and sends a secure link to fix it. Your billing tool posts the failure to a private trigger URL, and the agent never takes card numbers.
The channels this campaign can use
- Voice call
- SMS
- WhatsAppnot yet on
How a declined renewal gets fixed
Example: update link sent0:00 / 0:30
What a failed payment campaign needs
1 event
your billing tool posts each failed payment to a private trigger URL
1 link
the secure page where the customer updates their card, from your payment provider
0 cards
the agent's guardrails tell it never to ask for card numbers
How it is set up, not results.
- Still no order
- Inside the shopper's hours
- Consent on file
- Not on the suppression list
- Country allowed
- STOP and HELP first
- Hand-off not requested
- Cooldown passed
- Dispatch limit not reached
- State calling rules
The problem
A failed payment shouldn’t mean a lost customer
Most customers whose card declines did not decide to leave. The card expired, the bank flagged the charge, or the balance was low that day. Many don't know it happened until the order fails to arrive.
Retries clear the failures that fix themselves. Reminder emails reach the customers who open them. Everyone else drops out without anyone having spoken to them.
What it does
Turn a billing problem into a short conversation
Reaches them when it fails
A Custom API campaign starts from the failure event, then calls, texts or emails inside the hours and consent rules you set.Finds out what is stopping it
An old card, a bank block, a bad week or a change of mind each need something different. The agent asks, then follows your instructions for that answer.Makes it easy to fix
It sends the secure link you give it, by text or email, during the conversation. The customer enters new details on your payment provider's page.Shows what came back
Post payment/succeeded with the same unique_id to the campaign's trigger URL. The run stops, and Analytics credits the payment to the campaign when the customer used its code or engaged in the last 14 days.
The cost
What are failed payments costing you?
This month's missed charge is only part of it. If that subscriber doesn't come back, the renewals after it go too.
At risk this month
- 200 failed renewals
- $40 average order
$8,000
in revenue waiting on a payment, across the store
One subscriber kept
- $40 average order
- 6 more renewals
$240
in future revenue from one customer you keep
Made-up numbers to show the arithmetic, not a result or a forecast. Put in your own.
How it works
How ACR handles a declined payment
Step 1: A payment fails
Your billing tool's retries run out, or you choose an earlier point, and it posts the event to the trigger.Step 2: ACR reaches out
A call in your store's name. No answer, and the sequence moves on to a text or an email.Step 3: The agent sends the fix
A secure link for a new card, or your hand-off to a person for anything it cannot solve.Step 4: The payment goes through
Your system charges the card and posts the order. The run stops.
Where it fits
It runs next to your retries and reminder emails
Each tool fixes a different group. ACR is for the customers the others didn't reach.
Automatic retriesFrom your payment provider
What it does: Tries the charge again at a better time
What it can't do: Fix a dead card, or ask why
Card account updaterFrom the card networks
What it does: Pulls new details for reissued cards
What it can't do: Help when the bank has no new card on file
Reminder emailsFrom your billing tool
What it does: Remind the customer to update their card
What it can't do: Reach a customer who doesn't open them
ACRGrowth Dept ACRRuns after the rest
What it does: Calls and texts, asks what happened, sends the secure link
What it can't do: It doesn't replace your retries or charge anyone itself
By decline type
What happens for each kind of decline
Your brief tells the agent what to do with each. These are the instructions we start from.
Expired or replaced cardHard decline
Does a retry fix it?: No
What the agent does: Texts the secure link to add the new card
Low balanceInsufficient funds, soft decline
Does a retry fix it?: Sometimes, later
What the agent does: Asks when would suit, and notes it for your team or sends your reschedule page
Bank block“Do not honor”
Does a retry fix it?: Sometimes
What the agent does: Asks the customer to approve the charge with their bank, so your next retry can clear
Lost or stolen cardHard decline
Does a retry fix it?: No
What the agent does: Sends the secure link for a new card
Doesn't want this deliveryA change of plans
Does a retry fix it?: Risky
What the agent does: Sends your skip or pause page, or hands off to your team
From the people who built it
A customer with a declined card is still your customer. They should hear about it from someone polite, before they find out their order never shipped.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Something not covered here?
Ask us on a call, or read the full list of questions.
- 01
How does ACR recover a failed payment?
It tells the customer the payment didn’t go through and helps with what can be fixed: a link for a new card, or a request to approve the charge with their bank. Your system runs the charge. - 02
Does it work with subscription renewals?
Yes, if your billing or subscription tool can post the failure to a web address. There is no direct connector for a billing tool today, so this runs through a Custom API campaign. - 03
Does ACR collect card details?
No. The agent texts or emails a link from your payment provider, and the customer enters new details there. Its guardrails tell it never to ask for card numbers, passwords or one-time codes. - 04
Can we control when customers are contacted?
Yes. You decide when your system sends the event, and the campaign sets the delays, the channels and the schedule. The legal hours for each shopper apply on top. - 05
How do we measure recovered revenue?
Postpayment/succeeded(orcheckout/completed) with the sameunique_idto the campaign’s trigger URL. It is matched to the campaign by the rule ACR uses for every order, and shows up in Analytics and the order list.
Don’t let a failed payment end the relationship
Tell us which billing tool you use and when it gives up on a charge. We will look at how the events would reach ACR, and whether a campaign fits.
Want to see the pricing first? See how pricing works