Decline-aware retry schedules
Flo distinguishes retryable outcomes from hard stops, then applies a protected schedule for the normalized decline category instead of treating every failure alike.
Automated Subscription Recovery
Recover failed rebills automatically. Keep every subscription honest.
Flo responds to each decline with the right retry window, the freshest available credential, and the best configured payment path.
Recover recurring revenue without inventing a successful renewal before payment clears.
The Problem
A failed rebill is lost lifetime value, not one lost payment
A card decline at renewal can silently end a healthy customer relationship. Static retries often repeat the same request without accounting for why it failed, when the next billing cycle begins, or whether a better credential is available.
Flo keeps the relationship recoverable while keeping the subscription state true.
What It Is
A recovery campaign that understands the decline and the subscription
Automated Subscription Recovery is a decline-aware campaign for failed Flo-managed renewals. It decides whether another attempt is safe, schedules eligible retries inside the current billing cycle, and sends each attempt through the best available credential and gateway path.
Throughout the campaign, Flo reports the subscription as it really is. No renewal is claimed until the payment succeeds, and no campaign continues after success or exhaustion.
Built for Recovery
Every decision protects revenue and lifecycle integrity
Interval-aware windows
Weekly, monthly, and annual subscriptions each get a recovery window that stays inside the current billing cycle.
Fresh credentials and cascade
Every attempt uses the freshest eligible saved credential and follows your established gateway cascade, without asking the customer to start over.
An honest lifecycle
Failed attempts never create paid-through drift. Success renews once, while exhaustion expires once and stops the campaign.
Recovery attribution
Recovered rebills remain visible as an additive subset of existing rebill sales and revenue in reporting and the Dashboard.
Evidence-based timing
New campaigns can use measured recovery evidence when it is strong and current, with a safe return to the approved default when it is not.
How It Works
From failed renewal to one clear outcome
A renewal fails
When a failed Flo-managed renewal is eligible for another attempt, Flo opens a recovery campaign. A non-retryable outcome does not schedule another charge.
Flo classifies the decline
The normalized decline category selects the protected retry policy, attempt limit, and stop conditions.
The campaign chooses its window
Subscription cadence and measured recovery evidence shape timing without crossing the next billing boundary.
Each attempt uses the best available path
Flo checks credential freshness, uses the current eligible payment method, and cascades through configured gateways.
The lifecycle resolves once
Payment either succeeds and renews the subscription, or the protected policy exhausts and expires it. Duplicate events and paid-through drift are prevented.
Honest Lifecycle
One campaign. One truthful resolution.
While recovery runs
Failed attempts do not advance entitlement. The paid-through date never moves, and Flo does not emit a renewal event.
When payment succeeds
Flo advances the subscription exactly once, ends the campaign, and emits one subscription.renewed event.
When attempts are exhausted
Flo stops charging, expires the subscription once, and emits one subscription.expired event.
Works With Your Stack
Recovery is part of the Flo payment layer
Card Vault
Use the freshest eligible credential
Vault-backed payment methods keep saved credentials portable for retries and configured gateway cascade.
Explore Flo VaultChargeback PreventionProtect what recovery retains
Recovery preserves the relationship after a decline. Chargeback Prevention helps reduce avoidable disputes after a successful payment.
Explore Chargeback PreventionWebhooksKeep your systems synchronized
Payment and subscription events let your application follow each campaign through renewal or expiry.
Review webhook eventsSubscriptions and recurringModel the renewal Flo recovers
The subscription guide covers recurring products, pricing, and trial behavior that define each renewal before recovery begins.
Read the subscription guideFor Developers
Integrate once, then follow the events you already trust
Flo runs the campaign behind the same subscription, payment, vault, and reporting interfaces your integration already uses. Webhooks carry the lifecycle outcome, while reporting exposes recovery as part of existing rebill totals.
- Payment events for each rebill attempt
- One renewal event when recovery succeeds
- One expiry event when the campaign exhausts
- Recovery attribution in reporting and the Dashboard
FAQ
Questions merchants ask
What starts a recovery campaign?
A definitive failed Flo-managed rebill starts a campaign when its normalized decline outcome is eligible for another attempt. Checkout failures, manual payments, and non-retryable outcomes do not begin a retry schedule.
Does every decline get retried?
No. Flo separates retryable declines from outcomes that should stop immediately. This avoids repeating charges that cannot succeed and keeps every attempt inside platform safety rules.
Does recovery extend access before payment succeeds?
No. The subscription remains past due while recovery runs, and the paid-through date never moves after a failed attempt. Access decisions can follow the accurate lifecycle state in your own systems.
Can we set our own retry policy?
Flo-managed defaults protect every campaign today. Client-scoped policy overrides are planned, with platform safety limits and honest lifecycle rules remaining mandatory.
Where can our team see recovered revenue?
Recovery attribution appears in reporting and in the Dashboard’s Rebill Sales and Rebill Revenue views. It is a recovered subset of your existing rebill totals, not a separate sale counted twice.
Ready to recover more than the next payment?
Put failed rebills on a decline-aware path that protects the customer relationship and keeps every subscription state honest.
Recover revenue. Preserve trust.