When a payment fails
What happens when a renewal payment is declined, how retries and the 14-day grace period work, and how to pay and restore access.
ForAdmins
On this page
If your card is declined when your subscription renews, you keep your paid features for a grace period while you sort it out. This page explains what happens and how to fix it.
What you’ll see
Admins see a banner at the top of the dashboard: “Your last payment failed. Please update your payment details to keep your subscription active.” It has a Manage Billing button that opens the Subscription page.
In Billing History, the renewal shows the status Failed.
What happens next
- CloudCard retries automatically. A failed renewal is retried up to 3 times, at least an hour apart. Retries you start yourself count towards the same 3.
- You keep access for 14 days. Your plan stays active for 14 days after the renewal date while the payment is outstanding.
- After 14 days, paid features are switched off. Your organisation moves to the Free plan. Locked features show “Feature temporarily unavailable” and “These features have been disabled due to non-payment, please pay to have them reactivated.”
The Subscription page then shows “Downgraded due to non-payment”, with your original paid plan. Your billing dates stay on the original cycle. Your features are restored as soon as the payment is confirmed.
Fix it
- Check the card with your bank. Common causes are an expired card, insufficient funds or a block on online or recurring payments.
- If you need to use a different card, click Subscription in the left menu, then click Manage card in the Payment Method panel and update the card on PayFast’s page.
- In Billing History, find the failed row and click Retry Payment.
You’ll see “Retry submitted. The transaction is pending PayFast confirmation.” The status changes to Paid once PayFast confirms it, and you’ll get a payment confirmation email.
If Retry Payment doesn’t work
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| “We recently attempted this renewal and are waiting to confirm the outcome with PayFast. Please try again in a little while.” | Renewal attempts must be at least an hour apart. Try again later. |
| “We could not confirm the outcome of the last payment attempt with PayFast. Please wait a short while before retrying.” | PayFast didn’t respond. Wait 30 minutes so you aren’t charged twice. |
| “Retry already requested. Please wait a few seconds before trying again.” | You clicked twice. Wait a moment. |
| “This transaction has reached the maximum retry limit. Start a new payment request.” | All 3 retries are used. Contact support to arrange payment. |
| “This billing cycle has already been paid, so no retry is needed.” | Another attempt already succeeded. Refresh the page. |
| “Link a PayFast card before retrying this transaction.” | No card is linked. Use Setup payment method first. |
If a payment fails when you first sign up
If your card is declined on your first checkout, no plan is started. Go back to the Choose Your Plan page, choose your plan again and pay with a different card. A payment that PayFast doesn’t confirm within 48 hours is marked as failed.
On EFT
EFT payments aren’t retried automatically. If your invoice is unpaid, contact support.
Still stuck? Contact support.
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