Sometimes payments don't go as planned. It's important to stay on top of these failed payments and follow up quickly to make sure your program gets paid for the services provided.
Common causes of failed payments
Payments can fail for various reasons, such as if the payer has insufficient funds, incorrect payment information, an expired credit/debit card, or the payment is being blocked by the payer's financial institution.
The reason for the failed payment is provided by the payer's financial institution, not brightwheel. If no reason is given or they disagree with the reason, the payer should contact their financial institution for further clarification.
What happens when a payment fails
If a payment made against a balance fails, brightwheel will immediately alert both the program administrator and the payer via email or SMS.
If the payers financial institution has shared a failure reason, that reason will be included in the email.
A notification of the failed payment will also be provided to administrators on the Billing Dashboard. Failed payments will also be visible within the student's billing profile, under All transactions.
Steps to resolve a failed payment
To resolve a failed payment, the payer must resubmit the payment online.
We recommend contacting the payer directly and ask them to follow our specific steps here to do so: Make a payment. We also recommend they check their payment details are up-to-date and they contact their financial institution to identify and fix the root issue so it does not happen again.
Once the payment is successfully submitted, the failed payment will be marked as resolved. For offline payments (via cash, check, or third-party), you will need to log this as an offline payment in brightwheel and manually apply it to the unpaid invoice.
Who can payers contact if they need assistance
We recommend the payer reach out to their financial institution to fix any issues on their end, or contact the brightwheel Support Team for assistance at help@mybrightwheel.com.
Payers who would like to discuss charges, payments, credits, refunds, or payment plans should reach out to their provider directly. Each program is responsible for managing charges and refunds, and providers will be the most knowledgeable about student charges.
For more info, see Who should payers contact with billing questions?
FAQs
Once the failed payment is fixed, will the system automatically retry the payment?
Once the failed payment is fixed, will the system automatically retry the payment?
No, the payer must resubmit the payment manually.
If autopay is enabled, the payment will not be automatically attempted again until the next invoice on the account becomes due. The payer must log a payment manually through their brightwheel account if they wish for the payment to be initiated prior to the next invoice due date.