How to Detect Insufficient Funds Errors

Detecting insufficient funds errors follows a similar process to identifying other payment issues:

  • General Approach: Look for error codes related to insufficient funds in your payment processor logs or your internal BI platform.
  • In Slicker: Use the Payments Analytics feature to identify patterns and monitor transactions failing due to insufficient funds. Learn more on the Analytics & Reporting page.

What Is the Impact?

Insufficient funds errors are classified as “soft errors,” meaning they can often be recovered eventually. However, there are risks:

  • Revenue at Risk: Repeated failures may lead to involuntary churn or delay in cash flow.
  • Churn Impact: Failed payments that aren’t recovered result in lost revenue and potentially lost customers.

Understanding and addressing these errors quickly can minimize their impact on your business.

What Can Be Done?

Dunning Emails

Sending follow-up emails to notify customers about failed payments can prompt them to resolve the issue. However, this approach depends on the customer taking action and is not always reliable.

Retries

Retries can be highly effective for insufficient funds errors, provided they are timed correctly. Success often depends on factors such as:

  • Country: In the United Kingdom, for example, consumer debit cards might succeed when retried on the last working day of the month (typical pay day).
  • Amount: Larger amounts may require a different retry cadence compared to smaller transactions.
  • Card Type: Prepaid, debit, and credit cards may have varying retry success windows.
  • Customer Behavior: Past payment patterns can inform the optimal retry schedule.

How Slicker Helps

At Slicker, we ingest payment data, analyze customer behavior, and consider factors like country-specific trends, card types, and transaction history. Using this data, we make intelligent retry decisions that maximize the likelihood of recovery and help you recover more revenue efficiently.

By automating the process and leveraging smart algorithms, Slicker ensures you stay ahead of insufficient funds challenges.