Payment Declined Update email template

A clear declined card email for a subscription app: what happened, a green button to fix it, what to do next and the account details in a short list.

Light shows the email as designed. Dark and Gmail show how email apps can change its colors.

Industry
SaaS
Type
Transactional
Size
10.8 KB, 600 px wide

Adapted from Waypoint responsive transactional email templates (saas payment declined) by usewaypoint, MIT license.

About this template

A failed payment email for a subscription or license based software product. It explains the problem calmly and gives one clear way to fix it.

A serif wordmark sits top left above a bold headline that says the card was declined. A short paragraph explains what to check, with a link to the billing center, and a green button with an arrow opens the payment details.

Two short lines cover the usual follow ups: talk to the bank if it keeps happening, and ignore the message if the bill is already paid. A green link points to a help article.

Below a thin line, Account information lists the organization, payment method, plan, start and expiry dates and number of licenses, so the reader knows exactly which account is affected.

Use it in your email tool

  1. Click Copy HTML, or download the .html file.
  2. In Mailchimp, Brevo, HubSpot or Klaviyo, start a new email with the custom HTML or code editor and paste it in.
  3. Change the text, links and images. Map merge tags such as {{first_name}} and {{unsubscribe_url}} to the tags of your tool.
  4. Send a test to yourself on desktop and phone before you send it to your list.

Sections in this email

  1. Wordmark
  2. Headline
  3. What happened
  4. Update button
  5. Next steps
  6. Help link
  7. Account information
  8. Footer

Subject line ideas

  • Your card was declined
  • Action needed: update your payment method
  • {{first_name}}, we could not charge your card

Preview text idea

Please update your payment method to avoid any interruption.

All receipt templates

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