What Happens If a Payment Fails

When a customer's card payment fails, here is what happens and what to do next.

Automatic Notifications

When a payment fails, Stripe sends an email notification to you (at the email address on your Stripe account) describing what went wrong. Common failure reasons include:

• Insufficient funds — Customer's account does not have enough balance
• Card declined — The customer's bank declined the transaction (could be fraud protection, daily limit, etc.)
• Expired card — The card used has passed its expiration date
• Incorrect card details — Wrong CVV, billing address, or card number entered
• Do not honor — Generic decline from the customer's bank

The Invoice Status

A failed payment attempt does not change the invoice status — it remains "Sent" and the customer can try again using the same payment link.

Retrying the Payment

The customer can simply open the invoice link again and try a different card. They do not need a new link.

What to Tell Your Customer

"The link still works — try a different card or check with your bank." Most payment failures are resolved by the customer trying again with a different payment method.

If Payment Keeps Failing

For persistent failures, consider accepting payment via bank transfer instead. Share your bank details by going to Settings → Payments → Bank Info and resending the invoice with those details visible.

Partial Payments

If a customer pays less than the full amount, the invoice status updates to "Partial." The remaining balance is shown on the invoice and can be paid via the same link.