Dunning
Dunning software that wins failed payments back
Dunning software is the system that recovers subscription payments after a card is declined. It retries the charge at well chosen moments, asks the customer to update their card, and sends a timed series of email, SMS and in-app reminders until the invoice is paid or the subscription is closed. RevRescue does all three on Stripe, Shopify, Chargebee and Paddle.
What dunning actually does after a card is declined
The word dunning comes from old debt collection, but in a subscription business it means something narrower and more mechanical. A renewal charge fails, the invoice moves to past due, and a clock starts. During that window the dunning process has to do three jobs at once. It has to retry the payment when it is most likely to succeed, it has to reach the customer with a clear way to fix the card, and it has to decide what happens to access if nothing works.
Most failed payments are not customers who want to leave. They are expired cards, insufficient funds a few days before payday, issuer fraud checks and bank outages. That is why industry estimates put involuntary churn at a large share of total churn for many subscription companies, often somewhere between a fifth and two fifths. Good dunning turns most of that loss back into revenue without anyone on your team touching it.
The four parts of a working dunning setup
- Retries timed per decline. RevRescue reads the decline code, card type, issuer, likely payday and the customer time zone, then picks the next attempt. Soft declines get retried, hard declines go straight to a card update request. See smart payment retries.
- A card update page. One click from the email or SMS opens a hosted page where the customer enters a new card. No login, no password reset, no support ticket.
- Pre-expiry reminders. Cards that expire before the next renewal get a short note a few weeks ahead, so the charge never fails in the first place. More on the card updater page.
- Messages on three channels. Email for everyone, SMS only to your own customers who gave consent (with opt-out in every message), and an in-app banner shown to logged-in users while the invoice is past due.
A typical dunning sequence over 21 days
The schedule below is a sensible default for a monthly B2B plan. RevRescue moves individual retries earlier or later per account, and it never exceeds the retry limits the card networks set, which protects your merchant standing.
| Day | Action | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Charge fails, decline code classified, first retry scheduled | None, silent |
| 1 | Friendly notice with card update link | |
| 3 to 5 | Retry timed near the likely payday or local morning | Payment |
| 5 | Second reminder, banner appears for logged-in users | Email, in-app |
| 8 | Short text with the update link, if consent exists | SMS |
| 10 to 14 | Final retries within network limits | Payment |
| 14 | High-value accounts handed to a person on your team | Task in CRM |
| 21 | Last notice, then your chosen action (pause, downgrade or cancel) |
Why built-in billing reminders are rarely enough
Stripe, Chargebee and Paddle all ship basic retry rules and reminder emails, and they are a reasonable starting point. The gaps show up as you grow. Built-in rules tend to use one schedule for every decline, so an insufficient funds decline is retried on the same day of the week as a lost card. Reminder emails are usually generic, sent from a no-reply address and not tied to what the customer actually sees in your product. Nobody is told when a 4,000 USD a month account has been past due for ten days.
RevRescue sits on top of your billing system rather than replacing it. Your invoices, prices and tax setup stay where they are. It reads payment events, decides the next step and writes results back, and the Revenue at Risk dashboard shows every open failed payment, its value and the next scheduled action.
Flat pricing, never a cut of what you recover
Some dunning tools charge a percentage of recovered revenue, which means your bill rises exactly when the tool is working. RevRescue charges a flat monthly fee based on your MRR band. Starter is 99 USD a month for MRR up to 50,000 USD, Growth is 299 USD up to 250,000 USD, Scale is 799 USD up to 1,000,000 USD, and Enterprise is 1,999 USD above that. Paying yearly halves each price. Full details are on the pricing page.
Setup takes about ten minutes with a Stripe restricted key, and there is a free one-time recovery estimate on the homepage if you want to see the likely number before you sign up.
Frequently asked questions
What is dunning in SaaS?
Dunning is the process of recovering a subscription payment after it fails. It combines payment retries, card update requests and reminder messages over a set window, usually two to four weeks.
How many times should a failed payment be retried?
Most teams retry three to six times over two to three weeks. The right number depends on the decline code, and card networks limit how often the same card can be retried, so hard declines should not be retried at all.
Does dunning software replace my billing system?
No. RevRescue connects to Stripe, Shopify, Chargebee or Paddle and works on top of the invoices and subscriptions you already have.
Is it legal to send dunning texts?
SMS should only go to your own customers who agreed to receive texts, and every message needs a way to opt out. RevRescue sends SMS only where consent exists and includes opt-out in each message.
How long does setup take?
About ten minutes. You create a restricted key in Stripe (or connect your other billing system), choose your sequence and brand the emails.
See how much your dunning is leaving behind
Enter your MRR and failed payment rate. The estimate takes under a minute and needs no signup.