How are recurring charges recovered when they fail?
A failed recurring charge first follows the routing and fallback logic already configured for the merchant account, and the SCA exemption rules in place cover merchant-initiated charges. If it still fails, a Retry policy takes over: up to 8 scheduled attempts, then the subscription is left past due, paused or canceled. A Retry matrix per merchant account picks the right policy, or no retry at all, based on result code, payment method, scheme, BIN, amount or Offer.
In detail
Recovery runs in two layers, so a failed recurring charge gets every reasonable chance before the subscription changes state.
First layer: routing and fallback
A failed recurring charge first follows the routing and fallback logic already configured for the merchant account. A retry can go to the same provider or another one, depending on the return code. The SCA exemption rules in place cover merchant-initiated charges, so recurring payments are not blocked by authentication steps the customer cannot complete.
Second layer: Retry policies
If the charge still fails, a Retry policy takes over. It schedules up to 8 attempts over time, then leaves the subscription past due, paused or canceled, according to its rules.
A Retry matrix on each merchant account picks the right policy, or no retry at all, based on:
- Result code.
- Payment method.
- Scheme.
- BIN.
- Amount.
- Offer.
That lets a merchant treat an insufficient funds decline differently from a lost card, or a high-value Offer differently from a low-value one.
Keeping the card current
Network tokens reduce failures before they happen. When a card is reissued, the scheme updates the token, and charges keep running on it. Together, these layers limit involuntary churn without manual work from your merchants' teams.