Troubleshooting: A Member’s Payment Keeps Getting Declined
A member reports that their payment attempt keeps failing when trying to process through Yardi or the Studio payment portal.
Why This Happens (Root Cause)
Most payment failures occur on the bank’s side, not within Yardi. Common causes include declined transactions due to fraud protection, expired or inactive cards, insufficient funds, or blocks placed by the bank for security reasons. Occasionally, an error may stem from incorrect payment information or a temporary issue with the payment gateway.
Common Symptoms
• “The member says their payment won’t go through.”
• “Yardi shows a declined message when processing a payment.”
• “The member’s autopay didn’t run, and they got a payment failed email.”
• “The member says their bank confirmed the charge didn’t go through, but Yardi isn’t showing why.”
How to Fix It (Action Steps)
First, advise the member that most payment issues are bank-related, not system errors. Ask them to contact their bank to confirm whether the payment was declined or blocked for security or authorization reasons.
If the bank confirms that no restrictions or holds exist, gather additional information before escalating:
• A screenshot of the error message or failure notice, if available.
• Any transaction failure emails or alerts the member received.
• A short description of what happened (e.g., “screen froze,” “error said payment not authorized,” etc.).
Once you have this information, submit a support ticket and attach the screenshot or details. The Studio Support team will review the transaction logs and coordinate with Yardi if needed to resolve the issue.
Quick Summary
• Root Cause: Payment declines usually originate from the member’s bank, not Yardi.
• Fix: Ask the member to contact their bank first. If the issue persists, collect a screenshot or details of the failure and submit a ticket for review.
• System Behavior: Yardi will show the decline but cannot override bank restrictions or authorization holds.
Tags
payments, declined transaction, Yardi Kube, autopay, billing, bank issue, payment failure, invoice, refund