How Autopay Works
Autopay charges each student's saved payment method automatically, on the schedule set in their membership. This article covers what happens when a payment fails, how to handle failed card and bank account (ACH) payments, and when you need to update a membership's autopay yourself.
Autopay is tied to the membership
Autopay is set up as part of a student's membership. When the membership ends, autopay stops automatically. You don't need to cancel it separately.
When a payment fails
For both card and bank account (ACH) payments, NextKick does three things after every failed charge:
Notifies the student or parent by email, SMS text and push notification. Each one includes a secure payment update link they can use to enter a new credit/debit card or bank account.
Notifies your school. School admins get an email for each student whose payment failed.
Flags the student. A "!" appears next to the student's name in Accounts → Profiles, so you can see at a glance who has a payment problem.
Failed-payment texts are sent for every school and don't use your SMS credits. NextKick covers the cost.
What happens next depends on the payment type:
| Credit / Debit Card | Bank Account (ACH) |
Automatic retries | Yes, every 2 days, 8 attempts in total | No |
If the payment keeps failing | Membership becomes inactive after the 8th failed attempt | Membership stays active |
What you need to do | Nothing, retries run on their own. If the card is replaced, click Pay Now on the overdue invoice. | Process the payment manually each time it fails |
Card payments: automatic retries
If a credit/debit card charge fails, NextKick tries again every 2 days, 7 more times. That's 8 attempts over about two weeks, counting the original charge. If all 8 attempts fail, the membership becomes inactive. To get it charging again, see How to Fix a Failed Payment.
If the family gives you a new card, retries don't collect the missed payment for you. Apply the new card to their memberships, then go to Home → Overdue Invoices, click the invoice and click Pay Now.
⚠️ ACH payments: process manually
NextKick does not automatically retry failed ACH payments, because each failed bank payment may incur a fee. The membership stays active, and an admin has to process the payment again manually every time it fails.
To process a failed ACH payment:
Go to Home and find the Overdue Invoices section
Click the invoice you want to process
Click Pay Now
Before you click Pay Now, check with the parent that the account has enough funds or that they've updated their bank details. Otherwise the payment may fail again and incur another fee.
About the payment update link
Each link is personal. It's tied to one student's account, so it shouldn't be forwarded or shared with anyone else.
Autopay updates itself. When a student or parent updates their payment information through the link, the new payment method is applied to their membership autopay automatically. You don't need to do anything. To collect the payment that already failed, click Pay Now on the overdue invoice.
You can send the link yourself. Go to Accounts → Profiles, select the student, open the Membership tab, and click Actions → Copy payment update link. Then send the link to the student or parent.
Finding failed and overdue payments
Accounts → Profiles: students with a failed payment have a "!" next to their name
Home → Overdue Invoices
Payments → Invoices, then filter by Overdue status
Payments → Transaction Errors: every failed charge, with the reason it failed. See How to Fix a Failed Payment.
When you need to update autopay yourself
Whether the new payment method is used for autopay depends on how it was added:
How the payment information was updated | Used for autopay? |
Student/parent used the payment update link | ✅ Yes, automatically |
An admin added it in NextKick | ✅ If you choose to. Set it as the default and click Apply to Memberships. |
Student/parent added it in the NextKick student app | ✅ If they choose to. A pop-up asks whether to use it for their autopay too. |
The student app pop-up appears when Let students update membership payment cards is turned on in Settings → System & Security → Student app. Memberships paid by cash, check, In-House Credit Card or store credit don't change.
To use a card or bank account you added for all of a student's active memberships at once:
Go to Accounts → Profiles, open the student and click Payment Info.
Click ⋮ next to the card, then click Set Default.
Click Confirm.
In the Set Default Payment Method window, click Apply to Memberships.
To change the payment method on one membership:
Go to Accounts → Profiles and select the student
Open the Membership tab
On the membership, click Actions → Change payment method
Choose the new card or bank account (or switch to Cash/Check)
Repeat these steps for each of the student's active memberships. Until you do, autopay keeps charging the old payment method.
Tip: When a payment fails, sending the payment update link is usually easiest. The parent enters their own details, and autopay updates on its own.
Common questions
Does autopay keep charging after a membership ends?
No. Autopay stops when the membership ends.
How many times does NextKick retry a declined card payment?
NextKick makes 8 attempts in total: the original charge, then a retry every 2 days, 7 more times (about two weeks). After the last failed attempt, the membership becomes inactive.
Are failed bank account (ACH) payments retried automatically?
No. Each failed ACH payment may incur a fee, so NextKick doesn't retry it, and the membership stays active. To charge it again, go to Home → Overdue Invoices, click the invoice, and click Pay Now.
How can I see which students have a failed payment?
Look for the "!" next to student names in Accounts → Profiles, or check Home → Overdue Invoices.
Will the parent get a message every time a charge fails?
Yes. After each failed attempt, for both card and ACH payments, they get an email, an SMS text and a push notification with the payment update link.
Do failed-payment texts use our SMS credits?
No. NextKick covers the cost of these texts.
A parent updated their card, but autopay is still charging the old one. Why?
They may have added the card in the student app and chosen not to use it for autopay. Go to Accounts → Profiles → the student → Membership → Actions → Change payment method and select the new card. Or open their Payment Info, click ⋮ next to the new card, click Set Default, and then Apply to Memberships.