Auto Rescue for Cards

Auto Rescue for Cards applies specialized recovery strategies for failed card payments. By analyzing decline codes and issuer behavior, Plexy determines the optimal retry timing and approach to maximize recovery rates.

Card Decline Categories

Card declines fall into three categories, each with different recovery strategies:

Soft Declines

Temporary issues that often resolve with time or after card updates.

Decline Code	Description	Recovery Strategy
`insufficient_funds`	Card has insufficient balance	Retry after typical payday (1-3 days)
`exceeds_limit`	Over daily/monthly spending limit	Retry after limit reset (1-7 days)
`try_again_later`	Issuer requests retry	Retry in 24-48 hours
`do_not_honor`	Generic soft decline	Retry with Account Updater check
`card_velocity_exceeded`	Too many transactions	Retry after 24-72 hours
`processing_error`	Temporary processing issue	Retry in 1-4 hours

Technical Errors

Infrastructure issues requiring immediate retry.

Error Code	Description	Recovery Strategy
`network_timeout`	Connection timed out	Immediate retry (3x)
`gateway_error`	Payment gateway issue	Immediate retry
`issuer_unavailable`	Issuer system down	Retry every 15-30 minutes
`system_error`	Plexy system issue	Automatic failover

Hard Declines

Permanent issues that should not be retried.

Decline Code	Description	Action
`stolen_card`	Card reported stolen	Stop, deactivate payment method
`lost_card`	Card reported lost	Stop, deactivate payment method
`fraudulent`	Suspected fraud	Stop, flag for review
`pickup_card`	Issuer requests card retrieval	Stop, deactivate payment method
`invalid_account`	Account doesn't exist	Stop, contact customer
`expired_card`	Card has expired	Check Account Updater, then stop if no update
`restricted_card`	Card is restricted	Stop, contact customer

Never retry hard declines. Doing so can damage your relationship with issuers, increase your fraud rate, and may violate card network rules.

Retry Schedules

Default ML-Optimized Schedule

Plexy's machine learning model optimizes retry timing based on:

Historical recovery patterns
Decline code analysis
Issuer-specific behavior
Day of week and time of month patterns

Typical ML-optimized schedule for insufficient_funds:

Retry	Timing	Rationale
1	Day 1-2	Quick follow-up
2	Day 3-5	After initial payday window
3	Day 7-10	Mid-month window
4	Day 14-15	Second payday window

Custom Schedule Configuration

Override the default schedule for specific needs:

curl -X POST https://api.plexypay.com/v2/payments \
  -H "x-api-key: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 9900,
    "currency": "USD",
    "customer": "cus_abc123",
    "payment_method": "pm_card_visa_abc123",
    "off_session": true,
    "auto_rescue": {
      "enabled": true,
      "retry_schedule": "custom",
      "custom_schedule_days": [1, 3, 7, 14],
      "max_retries": 4,
      "retry_window_days": 14
    }
  }'

const payment = await plexy.payments.create({
  amount: 9900,
  currency: 'USD',
  customer: 'cus_abc123',
  payment_method: 'pm_card_visa_abc123',
  off_session: true,
  auto_rescue: {
    enabled: true,
    retry_schedule: 'custom',
    custom_schedule_days: [1, 3, 7, 14],
    max_retries: 4,
    retry_window_days: 14,
  },
});

payment = plexy.payments.create(
    amount=9900,
    currency='USD',
    customer='cus_abc123',
    payment_method='pm_card_visa_abc123',
    off_session=True,
    auto_rescue={
        'enabled': True,
        'retry_schedule': 'custom',
        'custom_schedule_days': [1, 3, 7, 14],
        'max_retries': 4,
        'retry_window_days': 14,
    },
)

Decline-Specific Schedules

Configure different schedules based on decline type:

const payment = await plexy.payments.create({
  amount: 9900,
  currency: 'USD',
  customer: 'cus_abc123',
  payment_method: 'pm_card_visa_abc123',
  off_session: true,
  auto_rescue: {
    enabled: true,
    decline_strategies: {
      insufficient_funds: {
        schedule_days: [1, 3, 7, 15], // Align with paydays
        max_retries: 4,
      },
      try_again_later: {
        schedule_hours: [4, 12, 24], // Shorter intervals
        max_retries: 3,
      },
      do_not_honor: {
        schedule_days: [1, 3], // Limited retries
        max_retries: 2,
        check_account_updater: true, // Always check for updates
      },
    },
  },
});

Integration with Account Updater

Auto Rescue automatically checks Account Updater before each retry attempt:

Response with Account Updater

{
  "id": "pay_xyz789",
  "status": "succeeded",
  "auto_rescue": {
    "status": "recovered",
    "attempts_made": 2,
    "recovered_at": "2026-03-27T10:30:00Z"
  },
  "rescue_history": [
    {
      "attempt": 1,
      "attempted_at": "2026-03-25T10:30:00Z",
      "result": "failed",
      "failure_code": "expired_card",
      "account_updater_checked": true,
      "card_was_updated": false
    },
    {
      "attempt": 2,
      "attempted_at": "2026-03-27T10:30:00Z",
      "result": "succeeded",
      "account_updater_checked": true,
      "card_was_updated": true,
      "update_type": "new_expiry"
    }
  ]
}

Network Token Priority

When a card has an active network token, Auto Rescue uses it for retries:

Scenario	Behavior
Network token active	Use network token for all retries
Network token updated	Use updated token credentials
Network token inactive	Fall back to stored PAN

{
  "rescue_history": [
    {
      "attempt": 2,
      "result": "succeeded",
      "network_token_used": true,
      "network_token_status": "active"
    }
  ]
}

Webhook Events

payment.rescue_retry (Cards)

{
  "id": "evt_abc123",
  "type": "payment.rescue_retry",
  "created_at": "2026-03-26T10:30:00Z",
  "data": {
    "payment": "pay_xyz789",
    "customer": "cus_abc123",
    "payment_method": "pm_card_visa_abc123",
    "retry_number": 1,
    "previous_decline_code": "insufficient_funds",
    "account_updater_checked": true,
    "card_was_updated": false,
    "network_token_used": true,
    "retry_strategy": {
      "decline_category": "soft_decline",
      "timing_reason": "payday_alignment"
    }
  }
}

payment.rescue_succeeded (Cards)

{
  "id": "evt_def456",
  "type": "payment.rescue_succeeded",
  "created_at": "2026-03-28T14:15:00Z",
  "data": {
    "payment": "pay_xyz789",
    "customer": "cus_abc123",
    "amount": 9900,
    "currency": "USD",
    "retry_number": 2,
    "total_attempts": 3,
    "days_to_recover": 3,
    "recovery_factors": {
      "card_was_updated": true,
      "update_type": "new_expiry",
      "network_token_used": true
    }
  }
}

Handling Specific Decline Codes

Insufficient Funds

The most common soft decline, often recovering after payday.

// Configure payday-optimized retries
const payment = await plexy.payments.create({
  amount: 9900,
  currency: 'USD',
  customer: 'cus_abc123',
  payment_method: 'pm_card_visa_abc123',
  off_session: true,
  auto_rescue: {
    enabled: true,
    decline_strategies: {
      insufficient_funds: {
        // Retry around typical paydays (1st, 15th, Fridays)
        schedule_days: [1, 3, 7, 15, 16],
        max_retries: 5,
        notify_customer_after_attempt: 2, // Email after 2nd failure
      },
    },
  },
});

Expired Card

First check Account Updater, then contact customer if no update found.

app.post('/webhooks/plexy', async (req, res) => {
  const event = verifyWebhook(req);

  if (event.type === 'payment.rescue_retry') {
    const { previous_decline_code, card_was_updated } = event.data;

    if (previous_decline_code === 'expired_card' && !card_was_updated) {
      // No update found for expired card - contact customer
      await sendEmail(event.data.customer, 'card_expired_update_needed', {
        update_url: 'https://yoursite.com/update-payment',
      });
    }
  }

  res.status(200).send('OK');
});

Do Not Honor

A catch-all decline that may indicate various issues.

// Limited retries for "do not honor" - may be semi-hard decline
const payment = await plexy.payments.create({
  amount: 9900,
  currency: 'USD',
  customer: 'cus_abc123',
  payment_method: 'pm_card_visa_abc123',
  off_session: true,
  auto_rescue: {
    enabled: true,
    decline_strategies: {
      do_not_honor: {
        schedule_days: [1, 3],
        max_retries: 2,
        check_account_updater: true, // May be outdated card
        try_alternate_payment_method: true, // Try backup if available
      },
    },
  },
});

Card Brand-Specific Behavior

Different card networks have unique characteristics:

Network	Notes
Visa	Most predictable retry behavior
Mastercard	Strong Account Updater support
American Express	May require shorter retry windows
Discover	Limited Account Updater coverage

Configure by Card Brand

const payment = await plexy.payments.create({
  amount: 9900,
  currency: 'USD',
  customer: 'cus_abc123',
  payment_method: 'pm_card_visa_abc123',
  off_session: true,
  auto_rescue: {
    enabled: true,
    card_brand_strategies: {
      visa: {
        max_retries: 4,
        schedule_days: [1, 3, 7, 14],
      },
      mastercard: {
        max_retries: 4,
        schedule_days: [1, 3, 7, 14],
      },
      amex: {
        max_retries: 3,
        schedule_days: [1, 3, 7], // Shorter window for Amex
      },
    },
  },
});

Best Practices

Monitor by Decline Code

Track recovery rates by decline code to optimize your strategy:

// Fetch Auto Rescue analytics
const analytics = await plexy.autoRescue.getAnalytics({
  start_date: '2026-03-01',
  end_date: '2026-03-31',
  group_by: 'decline_code',
});

// Example response
// {
//   "insufficient_funds": { "attempts": 1234, "recovered": 456, "rate": 0.37 },
//   "do_not_honor": { "attempts": 567, "recovered": 89, "rate": 0.16 },
//   "expired_card": { "attempts": 234, "recovered": 167, "rate": 0.71 }
// }

Combine with Dunning

Coordinate Auto Rescue with customer communications:

Retry Attempt	Customer Communication
Initial failure	Optional: "Payment failed, we'll retry"
After 2nd failure	"Payment still failing, please check card"
After 3rd failure	"Urgent: Update payment method"
Final failure	"Service will be suspended"

Avoid Over-Retrying

Too many retries can:

Annoy customers
Damage issuer relationships
Increase fraud flags

Recommended limits:

Payment Type	Max Retries	Window
Subscription (< $50)	4	14 days
Subscription (> $50)	3	10 days
One-time purchase	2	7 days

Next Steps

Auto Rescue for SEPA - SEPA Direct Debit retries
Auto Rescue Overview - General Auto Rescue concepts
Account Updater - Keep cards current

Auto Rescue for Cards

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