Why a buyer's payment can fail
The four ways a payment goes wrong, what each one looks like in your dashboard, and what to do.
Most failed payments fail on the buyer's side, before any money moves. This article covers the four things that actually go wrong, newest-first in how often shops ask about them.
1. Nothing ever arrives — the buyer stopped or was declined
If the buyer closes the checkout page before paying, or their card is declined by the card payment provider offered at checkout, no money moves at all. Card payment providers run their own checks on the buyer — card issuer approval, their own risk and regional rules — and a decline there is between the buyer and that provider. Nothing about it reaches Zoyn or your dashboard.
What you see: nothing. The payment link simply has no new payment against it.
What to do: ask the buyer to try again with the same link. A different payment method at checkout routes around most declines — paying from a wallet instead of by card, or by card where the link offers it (card payment is available on links paid in digital dollars). The link itself is not consumed by a failed attempt.
A card payment can also stop at the card company's own limit. Who sets those limits and fees is covered in paying by card: limits and fees.
2. Less than the full amount arrives
If the buyer pays from their own wallet and sends less than the link amount, the payment shows as Paid less than asked in your dashboard instead of Paid. The shortfall and what happens next — including the buyer completing the remainder — are covered in what "underpaid" means and what your options are.
What you see: the payment appears with a Paid less than asked status and shows exactly how much arrived.
3. The payment is taking longer than usual
A payment that shows Arriving has not failed. We can see the buyer's payment and are waiting for the network to make it final; the payment's own page shows how far along it is. A busy network, or extra processing time on the buyer's side when the buyer pays by card, stretches that wait. Nothing has settled yet — a payment at this stage can still be rejected — and there is nothing for you to do while we wait.
What you see: Pending, then Arriving, then Paid once the network accepts it. If the network rejects it instead, the payment shows as Did not go through and tells you the money never moved; the buyer can pay again using the same link.
4. Money arrives outside the checkout entirely
A buyer who copies your payment contract's address and transfers directly — instead of paying through the checkout page — creates an unmatched transfer, not a payment. That case has its own article: when a buyer pays the contract address directly.
When to contact support
If the buyer says they paid, and after the settling window nothing shows against the link, contact support with the payment link and — if the buyer can provide it — the transaction ID of their transfer. Never include private keys or seed phrases in a support message.