The Consequences of Expired Payment Info (and the best ecommerce payment solutions to fix it)

Ecommerce businesses lose $18 billion in sales revenue every year due to cart abandonment. 30 percent of shoppers will abandon their cart if they have to re-enter their credit card details.  

Since most credit cards expire after three to five years, the need to update payment information is inevitable. Cards expire to protect against wear-and-tear, fraud, and ensure cardholders use the most up-to-date payment technology. While this is good for customers, ecommerce businesses can suffer when they lose revenue and business due to outdated payment information. In this article, we’ll discuss the consequences of expired card information and some recommended payment solutions to address this ecommerce payment challenge. 

Quick Hits:

• Credit cards expire after three to five years, a standard to protect against fraud and wear and tear. 
• Outdated card information can cause several consequences for ecommerce businesses, from revenue loss to brand reputation harm. 
• Luckily, there are ecommerce payment solutions to prevent these common payment issues, such as Account Updater. 

Expired Credit Card Consequences

When credit cards expire, this can affect an ecommerce merchant in several ways, from increasing churn and cart abandonment to losing recurring revenue. Churn rate measures the number of customers that stop doing business with a company over a specified time. Cart abandonment is when someone starts a checkout process but leaves before completing the transaction. Ideally, it’s best to have low churn and cart abandonment rates. 

Outdated cards can result in the following: 

• Product and service interruptions.
• Recurring payments are canceled.
• Repeat customers may not want to deal with updating their card information.
• Customers may decide to do business elsewhere or cancel subscription services.
• Brand reputation is harmed due to one or more payment declines.
• Revenue loss.

Depending on the type and size of your company, expired card information can significantly impact your revenue and business growth. If recurring or subscription payments make up a big chunk of your revenue streams, failed payments can eat away at your profits. Repeat customers will not enjoy interruptions from their favorite products and services. After a few failed attempts to complete a purchase, they may give up and use a competitor instead. It is estimated that 20 to 40 percent of overall churn is involuntary due to payment issues and that only 5 percent of these customers will return. 

How to Update Credit Card Expiration Dates

Are you tired of failed payments due to expired cards? What about losing revenue and customers? Account Updater is the solution that your ecommerce platform needs. This payment solution can update expired, lost, or stolen card information stored on file. To update cards, a merchant sends us a file, and we send an updated file back to the merchant that they can use to continue processing payments.

Maximize Your Profits

False declines are unpleasant for customers and your business – customers can’t complete their purchases, and you lose sales. Account Updater can update expired cards and prevent payment declines before they occur. That way, you can provide seamless recurring transactions that maximize your profits. For example, if you update your customers’ cards a few months prior to them expiring, your business can benefit from uninterrupted billing, while your customers can enjoy uninterrupted products and services.

Improve Your Customer Experience

No one enjoys it when their product or services are canceled. Customers will likely feel frustrated and may lose their trust in your brand. Account Updater can help improve your customer experience by ensuring customers continue receiving their products or subscriptions as expected. 

Update Cards Without Introducing PCI Scope

PCI DSS compliance is a requirement for businesses that accept, handle, and process card data, such as those in the ecommerce industry. Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and legal issues. However, third-party providers like TokenEx can update sensitive cardholder data outside your internal environment. This means you can refresh payment information without introducing PCI scope. It’s a two-for-one solution!

The TokenEx Account Updater Solution

The TokenEx Account Updater solution helps our clients reduce cart abandonment and churn rates. Failed payments due to expired card details do not have to be the status quo for your business. This ecommerce solution can help you maintain a steady flow of subscription and recurring payments, recover revenue from failed transactions, and update outdated cards before payments fail. Additionally, a more consistent payment flow will improve customer experience and build trust with new and existing customers. Visit our product page to learn more about this ecommerce solution that can help you achieve your online payment needs.

How does TokenEx Account Updater work?