How to handle payment failure without losing any money

(Last Updated On: November 4, 2022)

We are in the technology era. The online payments makes our work easier and more convenient to handle. But have you imagined if your payment procedure shows gateway issues? The thought of a payment failure gives us goosebumps.

Each time I clicked “pay now” and saw a “your payment is being processed” screen, I would cross my fingers. The anxiety would subside only after seeing a success screen with notifications from the merchant and the bank.

Why does payment failure affect the payer?

So, if online payments are convenient then why do we get anxious each time? There could be several reasons.

Payment failure can cause anxiety

Firstly, it is money! Your real money is involved. Anything to do with money is important and cannot be dismissed as a light matter. Hence, your natural response to any activity that shows a loss of money is, worry!

Online failed payments take longer to process and refund

Secondly, there is no instant gratification. Making payments in stores is an easier experience. You know you can hold the shopkeeper responsible if something goes wrong.

Whatever amount you give him, you receive an item immediately. We carry this particular behavior while making an online transaction. Hence, if for any reason you do not receive the email notification, you certainly worry.

According to research, 60% -70% of consumers who encounter payment difficulties during a transaction won’t go back to the same website to attempt again.

We tend to have this notion even while making online payments and when we do not receive a confirmation, we flip!

Customers lose trust in online payments

Believe me, it plays a major role. In this age of the internet where good and bad content co-exists, trusting a platform for transactions has become increasingly difficult.

Due to the above reasons, we panic if there are certain errors or failures in payments. If your payment is successful, you will receive a notification from the payment gateway platform (e.g. Instamojo) and from your bank.

When payment failure occurs, it could be because:

1. Your amount is not debited – You might receive a message from your bank that the payment could not be processed. You will also see the payment failure screen.

2. Your amount is debited – In this case, you will be left wondering why you did not see any kind of notification. You should send an email to the payments platform and check the status of that payment. 

Nevertheless, let me list down a few reasons for payment failure and why you should not worry about your money.

Why do online payments fail?

1. Bad internet connection

A stable internet connection is absolutely necessary for a transaction to go through successfully. If the internet speed fluctuates heavily then it could affect the transaction. Also, closing the tab or window will result in a payment failure or incomplete payment.

2. Authorization failure

Authorization failure takes place when the payments platform cannot connect with your bank. Such cases do happen frequently. Banks, at times, do not authorize these payments and hence you will see a failure. This goes beyond the control of the payments platform. If your money is deducted then you can check with the bank and the platform.

3. Authentication failure – wrong details entered

Authentication failure happens when:

• The wrong card details are entered
• OTP cannot be verified
• The 3D secure password was not entered correctly

In such cases, you receive messages from the bank that the payment could not be processed. Usually, money is not debited and you can try another transaction after a few minutes.

4. Delayed notification

Whenever a person makes the transaction, he/she receives notifications from the bank and the payments platform. A buyer should receive an email about the success of payment. But there could be times when emails are not delivered and SMSs don’t reach buyers. There could be several reasons why these notifications are delayed. You can wait for a few hours and if you do not receive any acknowledgement, then contact the seller or the payment platform.

5. Payment gateway failure

This happens occasionally with all payment gateways. Payment gateway failure is purely an infrastructural issue. And when there are issues at the gateway level, such fixes are done by the payment platforms quickly. Your money is either debited or not debited, but it is safe.

In all the above cases it is only but natural to worry. You may contact the company or send them an email about the issue. One thing you need to know is that your money is not going anywhere and is safe.

How Instamojo handles payment failures?

While a majority of payments occur smoothly, there are a small number of situations in which you’ll see a change in the status of the payment.

Hey, nobody’s perfect!

During the payment process, there are a number of redirects (or “hops” as they are referred to in the industry) between various entities.

We have a reconciliation process for everyday settlement, which we receive from our banking partners.

Depending on the point in the reconciliation process, the funds are either credited back into the buyer’s account automatically by their bank or settled to us.

If the funds for a given transaction are settled to us- and the status of the transaction per our records is incomplete or unsuccessful, we update the status to reflect it as successful.

Instamojo is the safest and easiest way to collect and make payments online. Have you experienced Instamojo yet?

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