My payment failed — what now?
Don't panic. Failed payments are common (expired cards, daily limits, address mismatches) and easy to fix.
Haven't finished checkout yet?
If you started your LLC or EIN application but never actually submitted a payment, this article isn't about you — nothing has been charged and no filing has been submitted. Your progress is saved automatically for 30 days, so you can come back and pick up right where you left off whenever you're ready. Keep reading if you tried to pay and the charge was declined.
Why payments fail
The most common reasons, in order of frequency:
Expired card: your card expired since you last used it
Incorrect billing address: your card issuer's "Address Verification Service" rejected the address you entered
Daily/transaction limit: your card has a daily limit lower than the charge
Insufficient funds: not enough in the account
Fraud-prevention hold: your bank flagged the FormationHub charge as suspicious (call your bank — usually fixable in 60 seconds)
Card not authorized for international: relevant if you're a non-US customer
Our payment processor gives us a specific decline reason code; we usually email you the human-readable explanation within minutes.
How to retry the payment
Sign in at https://www.formationhub.com/member/login
Go to Settings → Billing
Update your payment method, then contact us — our support team can reprocess a stuck one-time charge (formation, EIN, etc.) right away
For a Registered Agent renewal, no need to contact us: once your new card is on file, the next automatic retry will use it
Updating your payment method
Sign in at https://www.formationhub.com/member/login
Go to Settings → Billing
Add a new card and set it as your default payment method
Any future charge — including the next Registered Agent renewal retry — will use the new card automatically
We accept credit/debit cards and Apple Pay at checkout.
Trouble logging in to retry or update payment?
If you're stuck logging in, go to https://www.formationhub.com/member/login and request a login link yourself — it's valid for 1 hour and you can request a fresh one anytime. If you'd rather have our support team send one, contact us and we'll email you a secure login link valid for 7 days.
What if I want to use a different card just for this one charge?
Currently we use your default payment method on file. We don't yet support multiple cards or per-charge selection. Workaround: update your default method to the card you want to use for this charge, retry, then update back.
How long do I have to fix it?
Depends on the charge type:
One-time service fees (formation, EIN, etc.)
The order stays in pending-payment status
No filing happens until payment clears
Cancel anytime with no penalty
Subscription renewals (Registered Agent)
Registered Agent renews at $192/year, which works out to about $16/month prepaid. If a renewal charge is declined, we email you right away, our payment processor automatically attempts a few retries on the same card, and you have a short grace period to update your payment method before the subscription lapses. If it lapses, we resign as your Registered Agent and notify the state.
You can always recover by updating your payment method before the grace period ends.
Special situations
My card works for other purchases but FormationHub fails
Two possibilities:
Fraud-prevention block: call your bank, say "I'm authorizing FormationHub charges on my account." This unblocks future attempts.
Card type restriction: some prepaid debit cards or virtual cards can't be used for recurring subscriptions. Use a regular credit/debit card for the Registered Agent service.
My business credit card is rejected
Some business cards have a lower daily transaction limit than personal cards (call the issuer to raise it), a category-spend block on "professional services" (call to remove), or a restricted geography on the card (relevant if it was issued in a different country than where you live).
My card is fine but the address verification keeps failing
The billing address on the card must match what your card-issuing bank has on file — including spelling, abbreviations, and apartment numbers ("123 Main Street" vs. "123 Main St", "Apt 4B" vs. "Unit 4B"). Recently moved? Update with your bank first.
Not sure what the charge is for?
If the amount on your statement doesn't look familiar, here's what each of our charges corresponds to:
Standard LLC formation service fee: $149 (1-4 business days)
Expedited processing: $199 (same business day)
EIN service: $79
Operating Agreement: $40
Certified Copy: $50 + your state's filing fee
Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report: $99
S-corp election: $99
Registered Agent renewal: $192/year (about $16/month, prepaid annually)
Each of these is separate from your state's own filing fee, which is set by your state government and passed through to you at cost. Still don't recognize a charge? Contact us with the email on your account and the amount and date — we'll help track it down.
Refund a failed payment
If a payment shows as declined on your statement, that's a temporary "authorization hold" that your bank usually releases within 5-7 business days. We don't process refunds for declined payments because we never captured the funds in the first place.
If you see a charge that completed AND a failed attempt for the same item, contact us — that could mean you were double-charged. We'll investigate right away and, if confirmed, refund the duplicate: decisions within 3 business days, with funds typically posting back 5-10 business days after that.
For other approved refunds, we make the refund decision within 3 business days, and funds typically post back 5-10 business days after that. See our Refund policy for full details.
When to call us vs. your bank
Our toll-free line is +1 (888) 695-5281. Chat and phone are answered live, and email replies typically go out within 1 hour.
Call your bank first if: you don't see the charge on our side at all, the decline reason mentions fraud or security, or you suspect the charge is fraudulent.
Open a FormationHub chat if: you can see the failed charge in your portal, you've already updated your payment method but the next retry didn't process, or the amount looks wrong.
I dispute this charge
Open a chat with us BEFORE filing a chargeback with your bank. We resolve most billing disputes quickly, and a chargeback complicates the relationship for both sides (your account may be flagged for fraud review).
Next steps
Update your payment method: sign in at https://www.formationhub.com/member/login, then go to Settings → Billing
See the full price list: How our pricing works (no surprises)
Questions or help: chat or call us — support is answered live
Related: Refund policy — what's refundable, when, and how fast.