Your payment failed: how to fix it

Fix it now#

1. 1In the sidebar, click Settings, then the Billing Details tab. You can also click Update Payment on the red banner at the top of the page.
2. 2On the card marked Payment Failed, click Update Payment Method.
3. 3In Update Your Card, enter the card you want to use. A credit card is the safest choice.
4. 4Click Save Card and Pay. If your bank asks you to approve the payment, approve it in your bank app or by text.
5. 5When you see Payment went through, you are done. The banner disappears and your agents carry on.

Prefer not to sign in? The payment email has a Pay {amount} securely button. It opens a secure Stripe page where you can pay with another card or approve the charge with your bank.

If your first payment after the trial failed#

When the first payment after your trial is declined, SEOmatic opens a screen called Your first payment didn’t go through. It shows what your bank said and every way to fix it:

• Try {amount} on this card again, or Pay {amount} now and approve with my bank when your bank needs to confirm it.
• Pay with another card.
• Switch to {plan} and pay {amount}, when a smaller plan exists. Your plan changes now and your trial fee is still credited. You can move back up any time.
• Or pay on the secure Stripe page.
• Cancel instead, without being charged. You pay nothing, and your account moves to the Free plan now with everything you built.

Why a card can pass the $1 trial fee and then fail#

The $1 trial fee is small. Your plan's first payment is larger and repeats every month, and some cards refuse that. The cards that fail most often are:

• Debit and prepaid cards, when the balance or the card's limit is lower than the plan price.
• Cards that need bank approval for larger or recurring payments. Many Indian banks work this way. The payment fails if the approval request is not accepted in time.
• Cards that were declined before.

In the last 3 days of a trial, if your card looks likely to fail, a box appears on the dashboard with the exact amount and date. Click Use another card to add a credit card, or Pay {amount} now (ends the trial today) to pay while you are on the screen and can approve it. Keep this card hides the box. If your bank sends an approval request, the box shows the deadline: approve it in your bank app before then.

What happens, day by day#

This is the timeline when a payment fails and nobody fixes it. Paying at any point stops it and brings everything back.

If you cannot pay right now#

• Cancel instead. Cancel Subscription still works while a payment is failing. It cancels the open payment, so the retries stop. If it was your first payment after the trial, you are not charged and your account moves to the Free plan right away. See cancel your subscription.
• Plan changes and pauses wait. You cannot change plan or pause while a payment is failing (the first-payment screen's Switch to offer is the exception). Fix the payment first.
• Credit packs and extra workspaces cannot be bought until the payment goes through.

Is anything deleted when a payment fails?

No. Your plan, pages, tasks and data stay exactly where they are, and every change on your site stays live.

My bank asked me to confirm the payment. Did it fail?

No. A bank confirmation request is not a decline. You get an email with a link to confirm it. Your account is not marked as failed while it waits.

My card expires soon. What should I do?

SEOmatic emails the owner before a charge if the card expires first. Add the new card in Settings > Billing Details and click Set as Primary. See update your card.