The dunning letter format that gets paid
A dunning letter is a reminder that a payment is overdue. For a subscription paid by card, the “letter” is an email, and its job isn't to scold: it's to make paying the easiest thing to do.
The five parts of every letter
- A subject that says what happened. “Your Acme payment didn't go through” beats “Action required”.
- The amount and what it's for. One line: $49 for Acme Pro.
- Why, in words the customer understands. “The card on file has expired”, not a decline code. Never “your card was reported stolen” (Stripe advises presenting those as a generic decline).
- One action, one button. The hosted invoice page Stripe generates for each invoice lets the customer pay or change card without logging in.
- What happens next. On the last letter only: when access will be paused.
The four steps
| Day | Tone | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Friendly, matter-of-fact | Inform. Most customers didn't know. |
| 1 | Short reminder | Catch the ones who meant to do it later. |
| 3 | Clear | Restate what to do; mention the retry if there was one. |
| 5 | Final notice | Give a date. Still polite: they're your customer. |
Example: day 0, expired card
Subject: Your Acme payment didn't go through
Hi Maya,
We tried to collect $49 for Acme Pro, but the card on file has expired. It happens to everyone.
Adding your new card takes under a minute.
[Add my new card]
Example: day 5, insufficient funds
Subject: Keeping your Acme account open
Hi Tom,
This is our last reminder about $29 for Acme. We'd hate to pause your access over a card problem.
We'll try again in a few days, or you can pay now with any card.
[Keep my account]
The format for paper or B2B invoices
For invoices paid by transfer, a formal dunning letter adds the invoice number and date, the due date, the payment details, and a reference to your terms. That's a different process from card-based subscriptions: SaveMyMRR only handles invoices that Stripe tried to charge automatically.
Want to see all four letters rewritten for your own product? Try the live demo: change the reason, the amount or the tone and watch each letter rewrite itself.