What happens if a payment doesn’t go through
A missed payment doesn't cancel your trip on the spot. The payment shows as past due, and you can catch up from Make a Payment whenever you have the funds, all at once or a little at a time.
We know a failed payment can be worrying, especially with a trip ahead of you. You can sort it out yourself, right from your trip page. Here's what happens and what you can do.
What you'll see
Open Trips and tap your trip. While a payment is past due:
- Your trip shows a past-due banner. It stays there until the missed payment is paid.
- The missed amount stays due. We may try your card again for it in the meantime.
- Make a Payment puts it first. When you open Make a Payment, the past-due amount comes first. The other ways to pay open up once it's cleared.
Why a payment might not go through
Payments can fail for everyday reasons:
- the card has expired or been replaced;
- there wasn't enough available on the card that day;
- the bank stopped the charge, or wanted you to approve it first;
- it's a prepaid card, including gift and stored-value cards, which aren't accepted on installment plans.
A prepaid card decline doesn't always say why. Why was my card declined? goes through each reason and what to do about it.
How to catch up
You can do this yourself, any time. Here's how:
- Open your trip. Go to Trips and tap the trip.
- Tap Make a Payment. It's in the Payment Schedule section, where you manage your payments.
- Choose how much to pay. On the Past due tab, enter any amount from $5. It goes toward your oldest missed payment.
- Pick a card and confirm. Use your card on file, which is the card your payments are normally charged to, or add a new card.
You don't have to clear it all at once. For example, if a $90 payment was missed and you can pay $50 today, enter $50. The other $40 stays past due until you pay it.
Once nothing is past due, your plan picks up again on its normal schedule. On some older Defera Installments plans, Make a Payment opens a separate payment page instead, and you can clear a past-due payment there too.
What if the card is the problem?
If your card expired, was replaced, or isn't the one you want to use anymore, swap it with Update Card. It's in the same Payment Schedule section, right next to Make a Payment.
- Enter the whole card again. It asks for the card number, expiration date, CVC and ZIP code. Saved cards can't be edited in place, so this is also how you add a new expiration date.
- It's used from then on. Once you save, the new card is used for all your future payments.
If a card update doesn't go through, nothing changes on your plan: the card already on file keeps being charged on schedule. Once your new card is saved, catch up on the past-due amount from Make a Payment.
What if money is tight right now?
If the problem is money rather than the card, there are options for your upcoming payments too, on plans that show them:
- Skip Payment makes your next payment $0 for a $20 fee. It isn't available while a payment is past due, but it's there again once you've caught up.
- Change Schedule switches you from bi-weekly to smaller weekly payments, with no fee.
I can't make my next payment. What are my options? walks through each one.
What if a payment stays past due?
If a payment stays past due for a long time, your plan can pause. That's recoverable: your trip shows a Restart Plan option that gets your payments going again.
If payments fall far enough behind, a trip can default, which means its payment plan ends. What happens if my trip defaults? explains what that means and the possible ways forward.
Need a hand?
Chat with the Defera Concierge, our AI concierge, any time. It can look at your trip with you, go through your options and point you to the right button.
If you need more time to pay than these options give you, tell the concierge what's going on and when you expect to be able to pay. It can send a request to our team. Your request shows as a card on your trip page, and the answer posts there and comes by email, usually within 24 hours.