When a recurring payment fails, Solidgate automatically attempts to recover it rather than cancelling the subscription immediately. This revenue recovery process is built around the retry mechanism and the redemption period, which is the window during which recovery attempts take place.

What is redemption period

The redemption period is the time between a failed payment and either a successful recovery or subscription cancellation. During this period:

  • The subscription status changes to redemption .
  • Solidgate retries the payment according to the configured retry mode.
  • You decide whether customers retain access to the product while retries are in progress.

The redemption period ends when:

  • A retry succeeds, and the subscription returns to the active state.
  • All retries are exhausted, and the subscription becomes cancelled.
  • A non-retryable decline code is returned, retries stop, and the subscription is cancelled.

Redemption and billing period

The redemption period can either be included in or excluded from the billing period. This setting controls whether the next renewal date shifts after a successful recovery.

The redemption period is not included in the billing period if the next scheduled retry falls after the billing period ends.

By default, the redemption period is excluded from the next billing period. To change this, enable Redemption period included in next billing period in Billing settings.

Redemption period included in billing period

The redemption period counts as part of the current billing period. The next charge stays aligned with the original subscription start date. The billing period does not shift.

Example

  • Subscription start date: January 1
  • Renewal date: February 1
  • Payment fails, recovered 5 days later: February 6
  • Next renewal date: March 1 (unchanged)
Use this option when you want predictable, fixed billing dates regardless of payment recovery delays. The customer's billing schedule remains consistent.

Redemption period excluded from billing period

The redemption period is not counted as part of the billing period, so the cycle extends by the duration of the recovery. The next renewal date shifts accordingly.

Example

  • Subscription start date: January 1
  • Renewal date: February 1
  • Payment fails, recovered 5 days later: February 6
  • Next renewal date: March 6 (shifted by 5 days)
Use this option when you want customers to receive the full billing period they paid for. The billing schedule shifts to reflect the actual recovery date.

Redemption period exceeding billing period

The redemption period can extend beyond the current billing period if the next scheduled retry falls after the billing period ends. When this happens, Solidgate cancels the subscription to avoid charging for a period the customer has already used without payment.

This is more likely with longer retry intervals or shorter billing periods (for example, weekly subscriptions with multi-day retry gaps).

Recovery modes

Solidgate offers two retry modes to recover failed payments. You configure the retry mode per product.

Smart retries Retry strategies
Available in Billing 1.0 and Billing 2.0 Billing 1.0
How it works Smart, data-driven scheduling based on payment history, decline type, and customer behavior Predefined schedule with configurable intervals and optional discounts per attempt
Retry target Invoice Subscription
Default retries 4 attempts within 4 weeks 4 attempts

Smart retries

Smart retries use an intelligent, data-driven algorithm that automatically selects the best time to retry a payment. The algorithm considers product pricing, billing period, customer behavior, payment history, location, account age, subscription patterns, payment method, decline type, and timing indicators.

In Billing 2.0, smart retries are the only retry mode. In Billing 1.0, smart retries are available alongside retry strategies.

  • Adaptive timing
    Retry timing adjusts automatically based on each transaction's context rather than following a predefined schedule.
  • Configurable limits
    Set the number of retry attempts and the timeframe in Billing settings. Default: 4 retries within 4 weeks.
  • Optional discounts (only in Billing 1.0)
    Add discounts to retry attempts to improve recovery rates for insufficient funds declines. When a retry fails with error 3.02, the discounted retry runs 30 minutes after the failed attempt.

Retry strategies

Retry strategies follow a predefined schedule of retry intervals and optional discounts. Each strategy defines the timing and discount percentage for up to four retry attempts. Retry strategies are available in Billing 1.0.

  • Fixed schedule
    Retry intervals are predefined and do not change based on transaction data.
  • Strategy selection
    Choose from default strategies (weekly or monthly) or create a custom strategy.
  • Discount support
    Attach percentage discounts to specific retry attempts to help recover payments declined due to insufficient funds.

Prepaid cards

Both retry modes check the reloadable prepaid indicator on prepaid cards. When a retry is declined for insufficient funds, the system stops scheduling further attempts and cancels the subscription. This reduces processing costs on attempts that cannot succeed. When the indicator is unavailable, retries continue on the configured schedule.