---
title: Dunning: what it is and why failed payments leak revenue | MorePaying
description: Dunning is the whole path after a failed payment: retries, notices, grace periods, and what happens to access. Here is what to configure, and the part it still misses.
url: /dunning.md
canonical: /dunning
locale: en
site: MorePaying
---

> HTML version: /dunning
> Site index for agents: /llms.txt

# What is dunning, and why does it decide your churn?

Dunning is the sequence a subscription business runs after a payment fails. It is not one email and it is not a setting you switch on once: it is the retry schedule, the notices, the grace period, the access decision, and the final state the account ends up in.

Almost every dunning setup is judged by one number, recovered revenue. That number hides the interesting part: a card can be recharged successfully and the customer can still be gone next month.

## What dunning actually includes

- Retry logic — when a failed charge is attempted again, how many times, and on what schedule.
- Customer notices — the email or in-app message about the failed payment.
- Grace period — how long access continues while the payment is unresolved.
- Terminal state — downgrade, pause, or deletion when recovery fails.

## Why failed payments leak money quietly

Failed payments are boring, which is why they leak. Nobody files a bug for a declined card, and the customer rarely tells you either. An expired card is the common case; a bank rule is the frustrating one.

## The part most dunning configuration misses

Dunning answers "did we get the money?" It does not answer "was the payment the reason this customer was leaving anyway?" MorePaying asks one question at the pricing exit and at the moment a payment fails, then joins the answer to the blocked amount.

## Checklist for a Stripe subscription

1. Turn on automatic retries with a schedule spanning a normal pay cycle.
2. Make the failed-payment email carry one action: update the card.
3. Keep access through the grace window and say when it ends.
4. Track recovery separately from new signups.
5. Record why the customer said they were leaving at that moment.

Contact: contact@morepaying.com