Soft Fail vs Hard Fail Explained

When a payment fails, Tutonomi categorises it into one of three states depending on what went wrong.

No Card Provided

The pupil hasn't completed the sign-up process, so no card is on file. No payment attempt has been made. The lesson will appear in the Failed Payments table with a status of No Attempt. Until the pupil adds their card details, no payment can be collected.

Card Needs Updating (soft fail)

The pupil's card is no longer valid — it may have expired, been cancelled, or the account may have been closed. Tutonomi has already sent the pupil a reminder to update their details. In the Pending Payments table, the failure is labelled Payment Declined while the system continues to prompt the pupil.

Payment Failed (hard fail)

Payment was attempted and declined by the pupil's bank, typically due to insufficient funds or a temporary account issue. Tutonomi retries automatically. If all retries are exhausted without success, the failure moves from the Pending Payments table to the Failed Payments table, where the label updates to Payment Failed and tutor intervention is required.

Good to know

• While a payment shows as Payment Declined in the Pending Payments table, the system is still working on it and no action is needed from you yet.

• Once it moves to Failed Payments and shows as Payment Failed, that's your signal to step in.

• For next steps on each failure type, see the guide on what happens when a payment fails.