When a membership charge fails, NextKick tells the family and retries card payments on its own. This guide shows where to see failed charges, how to get a working card or bank account on file, and how to collect the missed payment. For what NextKick does automatically, see How Autopay Works & What Happens When a Payment Fails.
Before you start
You need access to Payments and to member profiles. See Staff Permissions: What Each Access Control Setting Covers.
If your school uses a payment PIN, NextKick asks for it when you open Transaction Errors. See How to Lock Payment Pages with a 4-Digit PIN.
Step 1: Find failed charges
In the left sidebar, click Payments → Transaction Errors.
The Payment Error History page lists every failed charge, with the Name, Membership, Last 4 Digits of the card, Error Reason and Error Date.
Use Error Date to choose a date range, or Search Member to find one student. Click Export to download the list.
Each failed attempt is listed separately, so a card that NextKick retries can appear more than once. You can also spot problems from the "!" next to a student's name in Accounts → Profiles, or in Home → Overdue Invoices.
Failed charges don't appear in Payments → Transactions. That page lists payments that are Paid, Processing, Refunded, Partial Refund or Voided.
Step 2: Check the error reason
The Error Reason tells you what to ask the family for. Common reasons:
Error reason | What to do |
Expired Card. | Ask the family for a new card. |
Invalid card information., Invalid card number., CVV code does not match. or Invalid expiration date. | The card details on file are wrong. Ask the family to enter the card again. |
The card was declined. or The card limit was exceeded. | Ask the family to check with their bank or use another card. |
Declined by the card issuer. or declined this payment as suspected fraud | The family needs to call the bank that issued the card. |
This card has been closed. or No account exists for this card. | Ask the family for a different card. |
The cardholder stopped recurring payments. | The family blocked automatic charges with their bank. Ask them to allow them again or use another card. |
Invalid bank account information. or Invalid routing number. | The bank account details are wrong. Ask the family to enter them again. See Accept Bank Account (ACH) Payments. |
Step 3: Get a working card or bank account
Option A (easiest): send the payment update link. The family enters their own card or bank account, and their autopay switches to it automatically.
Go to Accounts → Profiles and open the student.
Click Payment Info.
Click Share payment update link, or click Payment Update URL to copy the link and send it yourself.
See Send a Payment Update Link. Families can also add a card in the student app. See How Families Update Their Card in the Student App.
Option B: add the card yourself. If the family gives you new card details, for example at the front desk:
Open the student's profile and click Payment Info.
Click Add New Credit Card or Add new bank account.
Enter the details and click Save.
Go on to Step 4. A card you add yourself isn't used for autopay until you apply it.
Step 4: Make the new card the default and apply it to memberships
In Payment Info, click ⋮ next to the new card, then click Set Default.
Click Confirm.
In the Set Default Payment Method window, click Apply to Memberships.
NextKick shows The payment method has been applied to all active memberships. If you click Cancel instead, the card becomes the default, but the student's memberships keep charging the old one.
Tip: Switching autopay between a card and a bank account resets the convenience fee to your school's current rate.
Step 5: Collect the missed payment
After the family updates their card or bank account, or you apply a new one, charge the missed payment yourself. NextKick doesn't charge it to the new card on its own.
Go to Home → Overdue Invoices.
Click the invoice.
Click Pay Now.
Before you click Pay Now on a bank payment, check with the family that the account has enough funds. A failed bank payment may cost a fee.
If you don't change anything, NextKick retries a failed card every 2 days, up to 8 attempts in total (about two weeks). Failed bank (ACH) payments aren't retried.
If the membership became inactive
If all 8 attempts fail, the membership becomes inactive and autopay stops. The student's profile can still show Active, so check the membership itself. To get it charging again:
Add a working card or bank account and apply it to the student's memberships (Steps 3 and 4).
Open the student's profile, click the Membership tab, and click Actions → Activate membership on the inactive membership.
Set the next payment date. Pick a future date. The day you pick becomes the monthly billing day from then on.
Check the payment method and Remaining payments. Entering 0 activates the membership without charging the remaining payments.
Click Activate.
Members who share a family membership are set back to active too. Collect the payment that failed with Pay Now on the overdue invoice (Step 5).
FAQ
A parent updated their card, but autopay still charges the old one. Why?
The new card may not be applied to their memberships. Open their Payment Info, click ⋮ next to the new card, click Set Default, and then Apply to Memberships. Then charge the missed payment with Pay Now (Step 5).
Why does the same student appear many times in Transaction Errors?
Every failed attempt is listed, including NextKick's retries of a card every 2 days.
Can I stop the automatic retries?
Yes. On the membership, click Actions → Stop retrying failed payment. This stops the automatic attempts for that billing cycle only. Autopay stays on for future payments, and you need to collect that payment yourself.
Does the family know their payment failed?
Yes. After each failed charge, NextKick sends the family an email, a text and a push notification with a payment update link. See How Autopay Works & What Happens When a Payment Fails.