Why payments can fail – and why that is normal

This article explains why payments or donations can fail in RaiseNow Hub. It helps you understand common causes, where failures occur, and how to reduce them.

Overview

Failed payments are a normal part of online payments and digital fundraising. Even when everything appears correct, transactions can fail due to factors outside your control.

Processing a payment involves multiple systems and participants. Because of this complexity, a certain level of failure is expected across the entire payment industry.

Understanding why payments fail helps you interpret transaction statuses correctly and improve your payment setup over time.

Key points

• Failed payments are common and unavoidable
• Most failures happen on the supporter’s side
• Payment processing involves multiple external systems
• Error messages are often limited due to security and data protection
• RaiseNow supports you in identifying and reducing failures

What is a failed payment?

A payment is marked as failed when a transaction cannot be completed successfully. This can happen at different stages of the payment process and for many different reasons.

Why payments fail

Payments involve multiple parties

A single payment involves several participants:

• The supporter
• The supporter’s bank or card issuer
• Card networks (e.g. Visa or Mastercard)
• Authentication systems (e.g. 3D Secure / SCA)
• Payment providers and gateways
• RaiseNow and its integrations

Failures can occur at any point in this chain.

Common reasons for failed payments

Supporter-side issues

Most failed payments are caused by issues on the supporter’s side.

Incorrect or outdated payment details

• Incorrect card number, expiry date, or CVV
• Expired or replaced cards
• Outdated stored payment details in recurring donations

This is especially common for recurring donations, as payments run automatically and supporter data may not be updated.

Authentication not completed

Some payments require additional verification, such as:

• One-time codes
• Banking app approval
• Biometric confirmation

If this step is not completed in time, the payment fails for security reasons.

Fraud detection and false positives

Banks and payment providers use fraud detection systems to protect supporters.

Payments may be blocked if:

• The transaction comes from an unusual location
• Spending behaviour changes suddenly
• The transaction is flagged as suspicious

These false positives are outside the control of RaiseNow or the organisation.

Financial limitations

Payments can also fail due to:

• Insufficient funds
• Exceeded credit limits
• Bank-imposed restrictions

Each failed payment includes a decline code from the issuing bank (e.g. “insufficient funds” or “expired card”). These codes are not standardised and may be displayed in a simplified or generic way.

Technical reasons

Technical issues are less common but can still occur.

Examples include:

• Incorrect payment configuration
• Temporary gateway errors or time-outs
• Payment provider outages
• High traffic or capacity limits

These issues may occur within RaiseNow, at a payment provider, or within external systems.

How RaiseNow supports you

RaiseNow provides tools and support to help you manage failed payments:

• Clear visibility of transaction statuses in RaiseNow Hub
• Monitoring of unusual failure patterns
• Continuous improvements to payment transparency
• Support in optimising your payment setup

Because multiple systems are involved, there is not always a single clear reason for a failure. However, RaiseNow works with you to identify patterns and improve performance.