The Soft declines strategy handles payments the bank declined temporarily, usually because of low funds or a spending limit. These declines often clear within days, so the strategy retries quietly every day for two weeks and emails the subscriber only if the payment still hasn't gone through.
Who this strategy targets
This strategy targets subscribers whose payment failed for a reason that can resolve on its own, such as an account that is short on funds until payday. Most of these subscribers still want their order and don't need to change their card.
Navigate to Loop admin > Retain > Payment recovery > Recovery strategies, then click Soft declines under Advanced recovery strategy. To build it from scratch, click Create strategy and select the failure reasons below.
Failure reasons: Card declined, Do not honor, Insufficient funds, Transaction limit exceeded
Conditions: None
When to use it
Use this strategy when insufficient funds and generic bank declines make up a large share of your failed payments. Check payment analytics for your most common failure reasons before you activate it.
How to set it up
The defaults below are a starting point. Each brand decides how many retries to run, when to email, and how much to offer.
Setting | Default | Why it helps |
Retries | 25 retries over 47 days | Daily retries for the first 15 days catch the day funds arrive, such as payday. Later retries are spaced further apart. |
Emails | 11 emails, starting at retry 15 | The first two weeks are silent, so subscribers whose payment recovers on its own never get an email. |
Discounts | None for retries 1 to 5, then 5% to 20% | Early recoveries don't need an offer. The discount applies automatically when the subscription reaches that retry. |
After all retries | Pause the subscription | A paused subscription can be resumed later without the subscriber signing up again. |
Default retry schedule
Retries | Gap before each retry | Days after the failed payment | Discount | Email to subscriber |
1 to 5 | 1 day | 1 to 5 | None | No |
6 to 10 | 1 day | 6 to 10 | 5% | No |
11 to 13 | 1 day | 11 to 13 | 10% | No |
14 | 1 day | 14 | 15% | No |
15 | 1 day | 15 | 15% | Payment failed |
16 to 20 | 2 days | 17 to 25 | 10% | Payment failed |
21 to 23 | 4 days | 29 to 37 | 15% | Payment failed |
24 | 5 days | 42 | 20% | Last billing attempt left |
25 | 5 days | 47 | 20% | Payment failed and subscription paused |
Note: Only the current retry's discount is active. When the subscription reaches the next retry with a discount, the earlier discount is replaced.
Example
A protein powder subscriber renews on the 27th, but the payment fails with Insufficient funds. Loop retries quietly each day, and the retry on the 1st succeeds after payday.
The order ships at full price, and the subscriber never receives a payment failed email.
Need help?
No worries - we're here for you!
If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to email us at [email protected] or chat with us using the support beacon at the bottom right of your screen.
Regards,
Loop subscriptions team 🙂