The do’s and do nots of communicating payment issues to a customer

When a customer payment fails—whether due to a technical issue or a decline—it is just as frustrating for merchants as it is annoying for customers. 

As a merchant, you obviously want to salvage the payment while the customer is still in session. This raises the question: Should you tell the customer about the issue and instruct them on what to do next? 

Of course, in an ideal world, the answer would be yes. Unfortunately, this isn’t an ideal world. 

Nefarious actors continually try to dupe the system by testing stolen card credentials or trying thousands of generated card numbers until one works (otherwise known as a BIN attack) and engaging in other illicit activities.

By providing insight into why the payment was unsuccessful, a merchant could inadvertently offer critical information fraudsters.

Let’s take the example of a fraudster attempting to use stolen card credentials they acquired on the dark web. They try to purchase an item for $100 but are unsuccessful due to the account linked to the card having insufficient funds. They receive a message at the checkout that says, ‘Insufficient funds: try another card.’

Now they know the card details are valid. They just need to wait for the account to be funded before stealing the card holder's money. 

It’s precisely for this reason that, as consumers, all we typically see when a payment is unsuccessful is a generic message such as ‘try again’ or ‘payment failed.’ 

Optimally communicating payment issues

Merchants must tread a fine line when handling payment errors. 

On the one hand, they need to protect revenue streams and discourage cart abandonment; on the other, they don’t want to provide a valuable steer to cyber-criminal gangs, regardless of whether or not they have viable card credentials. 

It’s a tricky but not insurmountable task, but there are several areas where businesses can do this with just a little thought. And there are several smart strategies businesses can employ.

Here are a few examples

Dealing with technical payment glitches

An obvious example is when a failure is due to a system going down or perhaps a failure with the customer’s Wi-Fi connection. It is a good idea to apologize for a temporary outage and ask politely for the person to try again. This lets the person know it is not something they have done and there is no problem with their card, but it also does not give any clues to criminals.

Handling insufficient funds

If a merchant has a problem processing a card due to insufficient funds, there’s no need to be explicit in the messaging. Instead, they can suggest that there has been a problem with that card or alternative payment method and that they could try another option. This again encourages customers to keep shopping without signaling to fraudsters that the card details are valid and just need a little topping up.

Promoting 3D Secure

Sometimes, payments fail because the customer has disabled 3D Secure or hasn’t set it up correctly. Letting them know, ‘Please enable 3D Secure to complete your payment,’ is helpful and secure. It assists legitimate customers in ensuring their transactions are protected without giving criminals any additional information.

Checking the customer’s validity

A merchant may block a suspicious payment—for example, when a first-time user tries to make a $10,000 transaction. Communicating this at checkout without context isn’t a smart approach, but losing a big sale is also undesirable. A better approach is to set alerts for blocked payments (we allow you to do this easily in Primer Workflows) like these and, if customer details are available, reach out to understand the purchase. If it’s fraud, the merchant will know; if it’s legitimate, there’s a chance to recover the transaction.

Data-led payment messaging

As with any aspect of payments, the best advice for merchants is to look at the data and understand where the unsuccessful payments and drop-offs are coming from. 

If they have a platform that gives them access to detailed decline codes, they can investigate the most common reasons for incomplete payments and use this evidence to demonstrate how improvements can be made, such as payment choice and orchestration.

They can also delve into the unavoidable payment failures to decide if patterns need addressing. It is here where some helpful on-screen messages that inform the customer how to remedy the situation rather than give a precise diagnosis that might help fraudsters. 

Navigating the complexities of payment processing is a delicate dance between helping customers and deterring fraudsters. By leveraging data, crafting clever messages, and continuously refining your approach, you can enhance sales revenue and retain loyal customers. It’s a balancing act that, with a bit of finesse, pays off immediately and keeps your business thriving.

Learn how Primer Fallbacks can help recover failed payments.