Can payments fail?
The most common reason for a payment to fail is if the payer has insufficient funds in their account at the time the monies are debited from their chosen account (3 to 5 working days after the payment is completed in School Gateway).
The return code we receive for failed payments is “refer_to_payer”. This is the generic response from the bank and can occur for a number of reasons including but not limited to insufficient funds. However, the parent would need to contact their bank for confirmation of what is causing the One-Click payments to fail.
Some bank account types do not accept the One-Click payment facility.
How do you know if a payment has failed?
- If a payment does ‘fail’ you will be notified via email from the School Gateway team. The email will be sent to the schools Schoolcomms main reply to email.
- The payer will also receive an email asking them to make the payment again.
- No monies will be debited from the payer’s account.
- Failed payments are visible in Schoolcomms, within your Payment Reports.
In the meantime, the parent also has the option to make payments by debit or credit card.