Your card just had its first failure
From: you@yourcompany.com
Subject: Quick heads-up about your subscription
Preheader: Your last payment didn't go through — here's a one-click fix.
Hi {{customer_name}},
Quick heads-up: your last payment for {{plan_name}} didn't go through ({{decline_reason}}).
Banks decline for all kinds of reasons — sometimes it's a fraud check, sometimes it's a temporary hold. We'll automatically retry in a couple of days.
If you'd rather just fix it now, takes 30 seconds:
👉 {{update_card_url}}
Either way, your service stays active. Thanks for being with us.
— {{company_name}}Variables to replace
- {{customer_name}}
- {{plan_name}}
- {{decline_reason}}
- {{update_card_url}}
- {{company_name}}
Why this works
First-failure tone matters. Most failures are involuntary, so attacking them with urgency or threat hurts retention. Friendly + low-friction update link recovers ~30-40% on day 1.
Want to see what this looks like on your Stripe?
See which of these templates would actually go out for your real failures — and how much you'd recover. Free 3-min audit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this template commercially?+
Yes — copy, paste, modify, ship. No attribution required.
What variables should I replace?+
This template uses: {{customer_name}}, {{plan_name}}, {{decline_reason}}, {{update_card_url}}, {{company_name}}. Replace each with the corresponding customer/payment data from your system.
When should I send this email?+
On retry attempt 1. Combine with smart retry timing (e.g. day 1, 3, 7) for best results.
What recovery rate should I expect from this template?+
Single emails recover modestly (~5-15%). Combined with smart retry timing, save offers, and proper sequencing, full systems lift recovery to 40-65% — vs ~30% for Stripe Smart Retries alone.
Does Rechurn use these templates?+
Yes — Rechurn ships with versions of these as defaults, AI-rewrites them per customer/failure context, and runs them through smart retry timing automatically.