The Payment Action Center

Stay on top of failed transactions and expiring credit cards.

Kim Fortin avatar
Written by Kim Fortin
Updated over a week ago

In the Payment Action Center, you can re-try or dismiss any failed transactions and keeps tabs on expiring credit cards that are linked to planned payments. An entry appears in the PAC when:

  • An online credit card refund fails

  • An eCheck payment fails

  • An installment payment (credit card or eCheck) fails

  • A subscription payment (credit card or eCheck) fails

  • A saved credit card linked to planned payments is expiring the next month.

How will I know a transaction has failed?

Your billing contact is sent a 'Transaction Failure Notification' email that lists failed transactions from the last 24 hours; with details such as the account owner, transaction amount, transaction type, and payment ID. Other admins can receive failed payment notifications by opting in via the Account>Email preferences subtab.

From this email, click "Manage failed transactions" for any of the account owners and you'll be directed to the Payment Action Center.

You can also access the PAC in SmartRec from the Accounting and finance tab.


How do I retry a failed transaction?

Click the blue circular arrow to re-try the transaction. The icon changes to an orange clock while the transaction is retried and pending.

  • If it's successful, the transaction disappears from the PAC. In the client's billing, the new payment is reconciled to the appropriate invoice item(s).

  • If the retry fails, the transaction remains in the PAC until the retry is successful or you remove the failed transaction record by clicking the X icon.


Can I update the payment method before retrying the transaction?

You can edit the transaction's payment method if it's tied to an installment or subscription payment.

  • Click the ✏️ icon to the right of the transaction. This redirects you to the Upcoming payments subtab in the client's account where you can edit the payment method tied to the installment or subscription.

  • There's no ✏️ icon available for failed credit card refunds. When you refund a credit card transaction in the client's billing, the process is almost instantaneous and you would be notified immediately if it failed, in which case you could Record a refund with updated payment details while in the client's account.

    • If a failed credit card refund appears in the PAC, it's most likely as a result of not having enough funds in your merchant account to supply the refund.


Who appears in the 'Expiring credit cards with planned payments'?

Account owners will appear in this section when:

  • The credit card tied to the upcoming installment or subscription payment (i.e., planned payments) expires the following month; and

  • The credit card is saved in the client's Wallet in their personal account. If it isn't, the card won't appear in this section even it's about to expire.

Clients are sent a notification a month before their credit card expires. As an admin, you may click on an account owner's name to jump to their account in the Clients tab. You may want to remind them to update their credit card information if it isn't already done.


* Last updated in February 2023

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