Stripe Invoice Pay

Prerequisites

• Stripe account with API access (secret key)
• An open (unpaid) invoice to act on

Attempt Payment on an Open Invoice

Trigger an immediate payment attempt on an open invoice (useful after a customer updates their payment method):

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/in_XXXXX/pay \
  -u sk_live_YOUR_KEY: \
  -X POST

Optional: specify a different payment method than the one on file:

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/in_XXXXX/pay \
  -u sk_live_YOUR_KEY: \
  -d payment_method="pm_XXXXX"

Response on success:

{
  "id": "in_XXXXX",
  "status": "paid",
  "amount_paid": 4900,
  "paid": true
}

Response on failure:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "card_declined",
    "message": "Your card was declined.",
    "type": "card_error"
  }
}

Void an Invoice (cancel without collecting)

Use when you decide to forgive the charge (e.g., goodwill gesture for a long-time customer):

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/in_XXXXX/void \
  -u sk_live_YOUR_KEY: \
  -X POST

Voiding removes the payment obligation. The subscription continues without interruption. Use sparingly -- it reduces revenue.

Mark Invoice Uncollectible

Use when all recovery attempts have failed and you want to write off the amount:

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices/in_XXXXX/mark_uncollectible \
  -u sk_live_YOUR_KEY: \
  -X POST

This moves the invoice to uncollectible status. The subscription may be canceled depending on your Stripe settings.

List All Open Invoices (recovery targets)

curl "https://api.stripe.com/v1/invoices?status=open&limit=100" \
  -u sk_live_YOUR_KEY:

Each open invoice is a potential recovery target. Sort by amount_due descending to prioritize high-value recoveries.

Error Handling

• invoice_not_open: the invoice was already paid, voided, or uncollectible
• card_declined: the payment method still does not work -- route to payment method update flow
• authentication_required: the card requires 3D Secure; send the customer to the hosted invoice page instead
• Rate limit: payment attempts are rate-limited; do not retry more than once per hour per invoice

Alternative Tools

| Tool | Pay/Void Mechanism | Documentation | |------|-------------------|---------------| | Stripe | POST /v1/invoices/:id/pay | stripe.com/docs/api/invoices/pay | | Paddle | Transaction retry via API | developer.paddle.com | | Chargebee | POST /invoices/:id/collect_payment | apidocs.chargebee.com | | Recurly | PUT /invoices/:id/collect | docs.recurly.com | | Braintree | Transaction retry | developer.paypal.com/braintree |