Payment failures happen — card declined, network timeout, insufficient funds. Here's how to handle them smoothly.
Common reasons payments fail
- Insufficient funds — the customer doesn't have enough money on their card
- Card not enabled for online — many Nigerian bank cards need online transactions enabled via the bank's app
- Network timeout — the payment processor or bank didn't respond in time
- Expired card — the customer's card has expired
- Transaction limit — the amount exceeds the customer's daily or per-transaction limit
What to tell your customer
If a customer reaches out about a failed payment, suggest they:
- Check their bank app to ensure online transactions are enabled
- Try a different card
- Use bank transfer instead of card payment
- Try again in a few minutes (if it was a timeout)
Offer Pay on Delivery
If online payment keeps failing, suggest Pay on Delivery as a fallback — or create a manual order for them. No wahala, just get the sale done.
Check the order status
Sometimes a payment fails but the customer's money is debited. This is usually a bank-side issue that reverses within 24 hours. Check the order in your dashboard — if the payment status shows Pending or Declined, the money hasn't reached you.