Dunning

What dunning means on mobile

Dunning covers any touchpoint that prompts a subscriber to update their payment method after a charge fails. Email, push notifications, banners inside your app, and in some markets SMS.

On mobile, your dunning competes with App Store and Play Store retry logic. Your job is to reach the subscriber faster and more clearly than a generic store receipt.

Timing beats volume

One well-timed email on day 0 outperforms five emails spread over two weeks. The subscriber still remembers they subscribed. After 7 days without contact, recovery rates drop sharply.

Build your sequence around the grace period length for your product. If Apple gives 16 days, your last-chance message should land before day 14, not after access has already stopped.

• Day 0: payment failed, here is how to fix it (immediate)
• Day 1: reminder that access may stop soon
• Day 3: one-tap link to update card or open billing settings
• Day 7: final reminder before grace period ends

Email and in-app together

Email reaches subscribers who have not opened your app in days. In-app dunning reaches subscribers who ignore email but still open the product daily.

Run email on day 0. Show an in-app banner on the next app open. Send a follow-up email on day 3 if the card is still broken. This stack consistently outperforms either channel alone.

Writing copy that converts

Lead with what they lose, not what failed technically. Weak: Your payment was declined. Strong: Your premium access stops in 3 days unless you update your card.

Use their plan name and price so they recognize the charge immediately. One clear call to action. Link directly to billing settings or an in-app card update sheet. Do not make them hunt through menus.

• Keep email subject lines under 50 characters
• Send from your domain, not a generic no-reply address
• Match tone to your app brand, not a collections agency
• Track opens, taps, and card updates per step

Common mistakes

Waiting too long. By the time you manually export a failed payment list from RevenueCat, half those subscribers have already churned.

Sending only one email and giving up. One touch is rarely enough, but five touches over three weeks is too many.

Using in-app only with no email fallback. You miss subscribers who stopped opening the app but would respond to email.

Burying the fix behind three screens of settings. Every extra tap kills recovery rate.

Automate from day one

Manual dunning does not scale and always arrives too late. Configure your sequence once, trigger it from every billing issue event, and measure recovered MRR monthly.

Redchurn runs dunning automatically from RevenueCat webhooks. You set copy and timing in the dashboard. Email goes through your Resend domain. In-app dunning appears through the SDK on the next open.