A guest's payment failed

What the common card failures mean, and which ones you can do something about.

Declined by the bank

The commonest outcome by far, and it is between the guest and their bank — we are told the payment was declined and nothing more. Ask the guest to try a different card, or to call their bank, which can usually clear it immediately.

Expired card

The card is past its expiry date. The guest needs to use another card.

Amount too small

Stripe will not process a payment below a minimum — around 30p in the UK. This shows up on very small extras or deposits. Raise the amount, or take it as part of a larger payment.

A processing error

Something went wrong at Stripe's end. Ask the guest to try again in a few minutes. If it keeps happening, tell us — we record every one of these against your park and can see whether it is affecting more than one booking.

Every failure is kept

Failed payments are recorded against your park so there is a history to look at rather than a guess. If a pattern builds up, we are alerted as well.

Check it for yourself

Open Settings in your park admin and press Test my payments. It asks Stripe directly and lists anything still outstanding. It changes nothing, so run it as often as you like.