DunningKit

← All decline codes · Articles

Stripe decline code: processing_error

Processing error — Stripe-side or network-side transient error during processing.

Common cause

Usually transient — Stripe couldn't reach the issuer cleanly.

Recovery strategy

Retry strategy	Retry up to twice
Customer-facing action	No customer action needed
Recovery rate (retry only)	~80%
Recovery rate (with customer flow)	~85%

What to do, in order

Retry within ~1 hour. Most recoveries happen on the first retry. If still failing, treat as generic_decline.

Code example

The recommended Stripe Customer Portal session for the recovery flow:

session = stripe.billing_portal.Session.create(
    customer=customer_id,
    return_url="https://yourapp.com/billing/thanks",
    flow_data={"type": "payment_method_update"},
)
update_link = session.url

Where this fits in the bigger picture

processing_error is one of dozens of decline codes Stripe returns; recovery rates vary by code by 5x or more. The recovery-rate reference covers the full set; the card-update flow article covers the customer-facing side; dunning emails covers how to write the messages.

DunningKit's open-source CLI parses your Stripe failed-charges CSV and gives you the breakdown by code, with recoverable-revenue estimates. pip install dunningkit.