How Stripe Smart Retry Works

🏫 For schools using Onespot with Stripe, it’s important to understand how failed payments are handled—and how Stripe helps automatically try again.

Stripe uses a feature called Smart Retries, which helps recover failed card payments (like when a family’s credit card is declined). Bank (ACH) payments use a separate retry setting, covered below.

🔎 What is Stripe Smart Retry?

Smart Retry is an automated feature that tries to collect payment again after a failed attempt. Instead of retrying on a fixed schedule, Stripe uses machine learning to pick the best day and time to try again, based on signals like:

How often the payment method has been used recently
Time-of-day success rates
Card network processing patterns

This helps increase the chances of success and reduces admin work for your team.

How Smart Retry Works with Onespot

Smart Retry only applies to invoices set to Charge Automatically (autopay). When an autopay payment fails, Stripe tries again at the best times within the window you choose, and the family is notified of the next attempt date.

Invoices set to Send Invoice, where families pay on their own, aren’t retried automatically. If one of those payments fails, the family can pay again from the invoice in the app.

Billing Plans: installments are only retried if the plan is set to Charge Automatically.

📌 Important: Smart Retry needs to be turned on in your Stripe account. Stripe has two separate retry settings, and each one covers different payments:

One-off invoice setting: one-time invoices and Billing Plan installments
Subscription setting: recurring payments (Advanced)

How to Turn On Smart Retry (Stripe)

1. Retries for one-off invoices (one-time invoices and Billing Plan installments)

Go to Settings (⚙️) > Billing > Invoices, then scroll down to Retries.

Card payments: Click Manage, turn on Cards, and select Smart Retries. Then choose how many times and over what period Stripe should retry (Retry up to __ times within __). Stripe recommends 8 times within 2 weeks.
Local payment methods (ACH): Click Manage and turn on ACH Direct Debit. ACH payments are only retried for insufficient funds, up to 2 times within 40 days.
Invoice status: Choose what happens to the invoice if all retries fail, such as leaving it past due.

Stripe Retries settings for one-off invoices

2. Retries for subscriptions (recurring payments)

In the left menu, go to Billing > Revenue recovery > Retries, and select the Smart Retry policy the same way.

We recommend using the same settings on both pages, so failed payments are handled the same way across all of your invoices.

What Stripe won’t retry

Invoices set to Send Invoice
Hard declines, like a lost or stolen card
Payments with no payment method on file

📊 Where to See Failed or Retried Payments

In Stripe, go to the Payments tab and filter by “Failed” or “Retrying”

🔍 Why This Matters for Schools

Reduces involuntary churn: Smart Retry recovers lost tuition due to temporary payment issues
Less manual follow-up: Eliminates the need for staff to manually retry failed charges.
Works with Onespot autopay: If an autopay payment fails, Smart Retry tries again automatically.

📝 Summary

Stripe Smart Retry automatically retries failed autopay payments at the best times, helping schools recover tuition with less manual follow-up. Make sure it’s turned on in both retry settings in your Stripe account.