Why did my renewal payment fail?

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Why did my renewal payment fail?

Last updated February 23, 2023 14:14

Potential reasons your subscription didn't renew and how you can fix the billing issue.

If your renewal payment fails, we'll email the address listed on the account. Follow this guide to learn what may have happened, and what to do next.

Note: If there's an error when you try to purchase a new subscription, visit Why was my card declined at checkout?

Reasons for a failed payment and how to fix them

Possible reasons for a failed payment	How to fix it
Your bank declined the charge	If your card hasn’t expired, and your account has enough funds, contact your bank to learn more about the failed charges. After resolving any issues with your bank, try the payment again. We can’t help directly with declined charges.
Your card expired	If your card expires before your subscription renewal date, the payment fails. To fix this, and submit the payment, update your payment method. After you update your payment method, we automatically charge you for past due payments. If you’re trying to change your billing plan, you can’t if there’s an unpaid invoice on your account. Visit My site is past due to learn more.
Your bank account has insufficient funds	If you’re using a debit card to pay, and your account balance is too low at the time of your renewal, the payment fails. We'll keep trying to charge the card over the next several days. You can fix the issue by adding funds to the account as soon as possible.
Failed SEPA payments	If you purchased a subscription using direct bank transfers through the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA), and we can’t renew your subscription on the first try, our system won’t try to process your payment a second time. To learn more visit Troubleshooting SEPA payments.
A policy change from the Reserve Bank of India	If your bank is located in India and your subscription renewal payment has failed, you may need to update your payment method. You'll need to do this for every renewal payment failure. If re-entering your card information doesn't resolve the issue, contact your bank to ensure there are no blocks in place from their end.

What happens to my subscription after the renewal payment fails?

If a renewal payment fails, the subscription will remain active during a grace period while we repeatedly try to charge the payment method on file. The following table provides more detail for each type of subscription:

Type of subscription	After the renewal payment fails…
Website	Your site becomes “past due.” If we’re still unable to process the payment after the 15-day grace period, the site will expire.
Domain	The domain remains active, but if we’re still unable to process the payment after the 15-day grace period, the domain will expire and no longer connect to your site. You’ll have 30 more days to renew your domain through Squarespace, after which we will release it to our registrar.
Email campaigns	Your subscription becomes “past due.” If we still can’t process the payment after the 15-day grace period, your subscription will expire and you’ll need to resubscribe.
Google Workspace	Your Google Workspace account becomes “past due.” If we still can’t process the payment after the 14-day grace period, your Google Workspace account will be suspended. Your inbox will no longer be accessible. You’ll have 40 more days to renew the account through Squarespace, after which we’ll transfer it to Google.
Scheduling	Your subscription becomes “past due.” If we’re still unable to process the payment after the 15-day grace period, the subscription expires and your clients can’t book appointments.

Emails about failed payments

We’ll send an email to your account email address when a payment fails for any of your site’s subscriptions. Look for one of these subject lines, depending on the payment that failed:

Subscription type	Subject line
Website Email Campaigns Squarespace Scheduling	Credit card billing failure
Domain	We were unable to process payment for your domain
Google Workspace	Credit card billing failure - Google Workspace

FAQ

I have a new card to use. How do I add it?

To add a new billing credit card, follow these steps. It's only possible to keep one credit card on file per website.

I updated my credit card. Did the payment go through?

After you update your billing credit card, we automatically charge it for past due payments. In some cases, you may need to reactivate your site, domain, or Google Workspace account manually.

How long does the renewal payment cover?

Websites

Depending on the subscription, this payment covers the next year or month. To learn which one applies to your subscription, visit Checking your billing subscriptions. To switch to a monthly or annual plan, update your billing credit card, then change your billing cycle.

Domains, Email Campaigns, and Google Workspace

Domain subscriptions renew annually, while Email Campaigns and Google Workspace subscriptions renew on the billing cycle you selected when signing up.

I received a billing failure email, but I already canceled my subscription

If you receive a billing failure email even though you canceled a subscription previously, you may still have other active subscriptions on your account. To check this, go to your account dashboard and find your expired site. It displays the other active subscriptions remaining.

Because all Squarespace subscriptions are independent from each other, you need to cancel each one individually. For example, if you cancel a website with a Squarespace domain connected, the domain subscription remains active, even after the website ends. You need to cancel the domain subscription separately. Similarly, if you have multiple website subscriptions on your account, you need to cancel each individually.

To learn more, visit Checking your billing subscriptions.

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