Ensuring Proper Subscription Cancellation for Pending SEPA Payments

Stay in control of your SEPA billing—no more unwanted charges or manual refunds. With this update, ThriveCart ensures that all SEPA-based subscriptions are properly cancelled at Stripe, even while payments are still pending. This enhancement gives you greater confidence that your customers won’t be billed after you’ve processed a cancellation.

When a customer pays for a subscription using SEPA Direct Debit, Stripe initially marks the payment as pending. It can take several days for the transaction to settle.
Previously, if a merchant cancelled the subscription while the SEPA payment was still pending, a cancellation request was not sent to Stripe for the pending payment – meaning the subscription could remain active and continue charging customers.

This update ensures that pending SEPA payments are properly handled, and subscriptions are cancelled correctly at Stripe.

The Problem

• SEPA subscriptions in a pending state were not being cancelled correctly at Stripe.
• The system couldn’t retrieve the subscription ID from the payment intent during this stage.
• This caused unwanted future charges, requiring merchants to manually refund payments—adding workload and risk of disputes.

The Solution

ThriveCart now:

• Retrieves the subscription ID from the payment intent even when SEPA payments are pending.
• Sends a cancellation request to Stripe immediately when you cancel the subscription.
• Ensures no future or pending charges are attempted once cancellation is requested.
• Displays an informational message to customers explaining that SEPA payments may still appear as “processing” for a few days, even though the subscription is cancelled.

How It Works

1. Customer purchase → Customer buys a subscription using SEPA; Stripe marks the payment as pending.
2. Merchant cancels → You cancel the subscription while payment is still pending.
3. System update → ThriveCart retrieves the subscription ID from the payment intent.
4. Cancellation triggered → A proper cancellation request is sent to Stripe.
5. Stripe confirmation → Stripe marks the subscription as cancelled.
6. No further charges → Pending or future charges are stopped.

Key Takeaway

Merchants can now confidently cancel SEPA subscriptions without worrying about pending charges being processed later. This update ensures accurate Stripe cancellations, reduces manual intervention, and protects both you and your customers from billing errors.