Recover failed subscription payments.

A declined card gets the right next step (a retry, a new card or a person), and recovery stops the moment the invoice is paid.

Start with a retention review How it works

Failed Care Kit chargesOctober · 50 failed

Temporary declinesFunds, bank holds31Retried
Needs a new cardExpired or replaced14Asked
Won’t work on a retryClosed account, lost card5To your team

Recovery is measured against all 50

Every failed charge for the month, sorted by what it needs, and all of them counted.

Sound familiar?

One failed-card email goes out, and nothing follows.
A customer who updated their card still gets the recovery emails.
Nobody knows how many failed charges were ever recoverable.

These are customers who still wanted the next order, and lost it because a card expired.

What changes.

TodayWith the engine

Retries: One fixed schedule for every failureThe processor’s retries for temporary declines
Cards that need replacing: More retries that can’t workOne clear card-update message
Messages: A dunning series that runs on after paymentRecovery stops the moment they pay
Reporting: Recovered revenueInvoices recovered, out of every failure

How it works. 6 steps, 4 stages.

AI1
Rules and automation3
Your team2
Approval

1Sort
1. Rules and automation
  Sort each failure
  Declines that can be retried are separated from ones that need a new card.
  - Stripe Billing
  - Recharge
2Retry
1. Rules and automation
  Let the processor retry
  Retries run on the processor’s policy, inside the limits you set.
  - Stripe Billing
  - Recharge
3Ask
1. Your teamApproval
  Set the limits
  Your team decides how many retries, how long to wait and when a person steps in.
2. AI
  Write the card-update message
  A short note in your voice, naming the product at risk, with a secure link to update the card.
4Close
1. Rules and automation
  Stop on payment or cancel
  The case closes when the invoice is paid, or when the customer cancels.
  - Klaviyo
2. Your team
  Own what’s left
  Failures after the last retry go to one named person, with the history attached.

Each outcome tunes the retry limits

What you get. Real work, every week.

Fernway OutfittersDec 18

Your Care Kit is waiting on your card.

Your card was declined on December 16, so we haven’t shipped your Care Kit yet. Update it and we’ll get it on its way.

Care KitCanvas wash and wax bar · every 90 daysUpdate card

Stops the moment the invoice is paid

The one message a customer gets when a card needs replacing.

Recovery rules

Failure	Retries	Then
Temporary decline	Processor’s policy	Card-update message
Expired or replaced card	None	Card-update message
Won’t work on a retry	None	Your team

The recovery policy your team signs off, by type of failure.

How you’ll know it’s working.

Invoices recovered, of all that failed
Counted against every failed invoice, including the ones that were never recoverable.
Days from failure to paid
Shows whether recovery is quick enough to catch customers who still want the order.
Recovery beyond the processor’s own retries
What our follow-up added over the native settings, after discounts and fees.

Baselines agreed before we build.

Works with what you have.

Payments

Stripe Billing

Commerce

Recharge
Stay
Shopify

Email & SMS

Klaviyo

Support

Gorgias

We configure first: Stripe’s retries and the recovery settings in Recharge or Stay handle a lot. We tune those first and measure what they recover.
We build when: Failures need different handling by decline type, or recovery messages keep going after the customer has paid.

What a first build includes.

Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start.

1Design
2Build
3Run it, or hand it over

Start with a review Scope this build

We build

Sorting of failures into retryable and needs-action
Card-update messages with a secure link
Recovery that stops on payment or cancel
A recovery ledger that counts every failure

We start from

Billing and subscription data
Past failed-payment history
Klaviyo and Stripe or subscription-platform access

From your team

Owner: Head of lifecycle or retention, with finance
Involves: Lifecycle
Finance
Customer service

Questions teams ask.

Is this the same as stopping people from canceling?

No, and we keep them apart. A failed payment is usually a customer who still wants the order. A cancellation is a choice. They have different owners and different numbers, so we measure them separately.

Doesn’t Stripe already retry failed payments?

It does, and for many failures that’s enough. We start there and measure what it recovers. Our work covers what retries can’t fix, like a card that needs replacing, and making sure the new card reaches the subscription itself as well as the customer’s default.

Who owns it once it’s running?

You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your head of lifecycle or retention, with finance. We can keep running it with you, or step back.

How do we start?

Usually with a retention review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly.