MenuStart a projectStart

Payments & finance

Failed Direct Debit recovery automation

Failed Direct Debit recovery responds to a payment failure with a planned sequence of retries and customer messages. It keeps the customer record up to date, offers a secure way to fix the problem and only pauses the service once the agreed attempts are used.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

From a failed payment to a settled account.

  1. Step 01

    Failure received

    GoCardless reports the failed payment and its reason, and the event is matched to the customer in HubSpot.

  2. Step 02

    Retry scheduled

    Choose a retry date that suits the reason, such as just after a typical payday, within the scheme’s notice rules.

  3. Step 03

    Customer texted

    Send a short Twilio text explaining what happened, with a secure link to update their bank details if needed.

  4. Step 04

    Record updated

    Log each attempt, message and outcome on the HubSpot contact so the team sees the same history.

  5. Step 05

    Final step taken

    If the last retry fails, pause the service and create a task for a person to call, rather than cancelling outright.

The result

Recovered revenue, handled kindly.

A successful payment cancels every pending message and retry. Bank details are only ever entered on the payment provider’s secure page, never by text or in the CRM.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful for memberships, subscriptions and service plans collected by Direct Debit, where failures are noticed late or chased by hand. A sensible first version handles one common failure reason well, such as insufficient funds, and sends everything else to a person.

What we need to connect

  1. 01GoCardless payment and mandate events, delivered to a webhook whose signature can be verified.
  2. 02A HubSpot contact or deal that links each mandate to a customer and the service they receive.
  3. 03Approved text wording, a Twilio sender, a retry limit and the rule for pausing a service.

What needs careful handling

Failure reasons matter: a cancelled mandate cannot be retried like a temporary shortfall, and a disputed payment needs a person, not a reminder. Retries must respect Direct Debit notice rules, and the same event can arrive more than once. A payment made another way, such as by card or bank transfer, must stop the sequence straight away.

Questions people ask.

Won’t automatic texts about money feel pushy?

They don’t have to. The first message can simply explain that a payment didn’t go through and what happens next. The wording, the number of messages and the quiet hours are yours to set.

Doesn’t GoCardless already retry payments?

GoCardless offers its own retry features on some plans. This workflow can sit alongside them, adding the customer message, the CRM history and the decision about the service, without retrying the same payment twice.

Invoice overdue → Owner alerted
Automation 37

Automated overdue invoice reminders

Payout sent → Mismatches flagged
Automation 36

Stripe to Xero payout reconciliation

All automation examples