What's happening
A client is trying to make a payment through creavio but the transaction is failing. They may see an error message at checkout, or the payment appears stuck in a processing state.
Common causes
- Your Stripe account isn't fully set up or has restrictions
- The client's credit or debit card was declined by their bank
- Currency mismatch between your account and the client's payment method
- The payment amount exceeds the client's card limit
- Stripe is experiencing a temporary service disruption
How to fix it
1. Verify your Stripe account status
Go to Account & Settings > Payments and confirm your Stripe account is Connected and fully verified. Log into your Stripe Dashboard directly and check for any alerts, pending verification steps, or account restrictions. Stripe requires identity verification and bank account details before you can accept live payments.
2. Ask the client about the error message
Have your client share the exact error message they see during checkout. Common decline messages include:
- "Card declined" — The client's bank rejected the charge. They should contact their bank or try a different card.
- "Insufficient funds" — The card doesn't have enough balance. The client needs to use a different payment method.
- "Incorrect card details" — Card number, expiration, or CVC was entered wrong. Have them re-enter carefully.
3. Check currency settings
Make sure your invoices and pricing are set in a currency that matches your Stripe account's default. If you're billing in a currency your Stripe account doesn't support, payments will fail. Check your currency settings under Account & Settings > Payments.
4. Try a smaller test amount
If large payments are failing, the issue may be the client's card limit or bank fraud protection. Ask the client to try a smaller payment first to confirm the connection works. If small amounts succeed, the client may need to authorize the larger transaction with their bank.
5. Check Stripe system status
Visit status.stripe.com to check if Stripe is experiencing any outages or degraded performance. If there's an active incident, you'll need to wait until it's resolved before payments can process normally.
Still not working?
If payments continue to fail, contact creavio support with the invoice number, approximate time of the failed payment, and any error messages. We can trace the transaction in our logs and work with Stripe to identify the issue.