Nav update: dunning / billing-retry settings now live under Retention → Payment recovery (was “Settings → Billing Management”). Old paths still redirect.
Managing Failed Subscription Payments Effectively with Payment Recovery (Billing Management) and Shopify
When a subscription payment fails, using the right tools and strategies can help rectify the issue swiftly and minimize subscription interruptions. This guide provides comprehensive steps to manage failed payments using Payment recovery (formerly “Billing Management”) in Subi and other related features available through Shopify.
Overview: Payment Responsibilities Between Shopify and Subi
Payment processing, including handling payment method verification and charge failures, is managed by Shopify. Third-party apps like Subi have limited access to Shopify's payment settings, which means certain troubleshooting actions, such as detailed payment error fixes, might need to be carried out directly within your Shopify admin. Subi provides a range of tools to address payment failures and retry mechanisms, outlined below.
Handling Failed Subscription Payments
1. Automatic Retry Settings with Payment Recovery (Billing Management)
Subi's Payment recovery tool (previously called “Billing Management”) provides a convenient way to set up automatic retries for failed payments. Follow these steps to enable it:
Navigate to your Subi app panel.
Go to Retention > Payment recovery (formerly Settings > Billing Management).
Enable the feature.
Important Notes:
Payment recovery automatically retries payment failures only for payments that fail after the setting has been enabled. Payments that failed before enabling Payment recovery will need to be manually managed.
This feature is available exclusively for users on the Subi plan and above.
2. Resolving Payment Failures Prior to Enabling Payment Recovery
For payments that failed before Payment recovery was activated, you can manually reschedule them. To do this:
Change the next order date to the soonest available day in your Subi app.
The system will attempt the payment again on the specified date.
After the payment is successfully processed, you can update the next order date if necessary.
3. Manual Customer Notifications
In cases where customer action is required, such as updating their payment method, Subi provides a "Send link to update card" option. Clicking this in the subscriber's contract automatically sends an email to the customer with steps to update their payment information.
4. Addressing ZIP Code Mismatches
If payments fail due to a ZIP code mismatch, the following approaches can help:
Use Payment recovery to automatically retry payment attempts after relevant corrections.
Manually reschedule order dates to retry payments following the steps described earlier.
For immediate resolution, either: - Ask the customer to ensure their ZIP code on file matches the one their card issuer has. - Modify ZIP code verification settings in Shopify by navigating to Settings > Payments and unchecking ZIP code verification under fraud prevention settings.
When to Contact Shopify
Some payment failures, such as processing errors or fraud-related issues, may require you to consult Shopify's detailed error documentation or contact their support team, as Subi cannot access these settings.
FAQs
Why doesn’t Payment recovery apply to earlier failed payments?
Payment recovery only automates retries for payments that fail after the feature is enabled.
Can I avoid emailing customers manually for payment updates?
Yes. The "Send link to update card" feature triggers an automated email to the customer to update their payment method.
Is Payment recovery available for all Subi customers?
No, this feature is exclusive to users on Subi’s paid plans.
Understanding and leveraging these elements effectively can streamline the management of failed subscription payments, ensuring continuity for your customers while reducing administrative burdens.