• Transaction failure from the User’s side. Such as incorrect bank details, poor connection, insufficient funds etc.
• An issue with the Payment Provider (Stripe). In this case, an error message will be displayed for Users indicating the nature of the problem (for example, an expired card).

To find out where the problem is and try to fix it, you can review the following steps and advise the user accordingly.

Actions to recreate when Users are unable to pay an Invoice

BROWSER/OPERATING SYSTEM CHECKING

The first useful thing to do is to check both the browser and the operating system compatibility. Please note that Nucleus only supports up to date browsers and operating systems. For a full list review here.

1. Ask the user to update their browser to the latest version
2. If it’s still not working, ask the user for their browser and operating system
3. Submit a Support Ticket with this information and, if possible, upload a screenshot of what they see

MAKE A TEST PAYMENT

To test the Payment setup, you can use a credit card and refund it right after. This process is useful to see whether there are any issues with the transaction.

1. Log in to the Entrant Interface
2. Create a test entry and submit
3. Log in to the Admin Interface
4. Go to Award>View Entries
5. Search for the new entry and click Edit from the entry Actions Menu
6. Scroll to Invoice Option
7. Enter a Discount Reason, suggested Testing
8. Enter a numeric value in Discount Amount that reduces the invoice to £1. If an entry costs £100 then enter £99.
9. Click Save and Close
10. Go to the Entrant Dashboard in the Entrant Interface
11. Click on Submitted Entries
12. Click on the Proceed to Payment button under submitted entries
13. On the Invoice Preview Screen click on Continue to Payment
14. On the Lightbox type I AM SURE and then Proceed to generate the invoice
15. On the following page click Pay Online
16. Enter your card details and complete payment
17. If you experienced any issues with this process, please submit a Support Ticket. If possible, upload a screenshot of what you see. This will help us to investigate in detail the problem.

Note – Read this article to see how to refund the test payment

CHECK THE PAYMENT HISTORY ON THE INVOICE LIST

Checking the payment history is another useful action you can take. One of the most common reasons for unsuccessful card payments is that the bank has declined them. With only a few steps, you will be able to see if any errors occurred.

1. Go to Award>Overview>Invoices
2. Select the Invoice ID you wish to check
3. Go to Actions > Details
4. Scroll down and click on the History button
5. The payment history will appear
6. If the card payment has been declined, please action as follows:

• Advise Users to ask for clarification from their Bank
• If you’re using Stripe, reach out to Stripe Customer Service and investigate the issue with them

ADVISE USERS TO TRY A DIFFERENT CARD

Sometimes credit card transactions could fail and the reasons for such failure may be the use of a wrong card number or the card limit has been reached, etc. If none of the fixes you tried to apply seem to work, please advise the user to try using a different card.

CONSIDER THE USER’S LOCATION

Another thing you might want to check is where the payment has been processed, and which type of credit card has been used. For example, sometimes trying to pay with a US card when in the UK may not always work. Please make sure to check the user’s location and, if necessary, advise them to check payment restrictions with their Bank.