Learn how to fix failed payments on Upwork by verifying billing details, contacting your bank, retrying payments, or adding an alternate payment method.
If your payment fails on Upwork, we recommend trying the following:
Verify your payment method
- Ensure your billing method is valid, active, and has sufficient funds
- Check that the details you provided in your Upwork account (card/account number, expiration date, billing address) match what your bank or payment provider has on file
Contact your payment provider
- If the payment is declined repeatedly, reach out to your bank or payment provider to ensure there are no blocks or restrictions on your bank account
- Payments can be declined for reasons such as credit limit issues or other flags by the bank. If this happens, please contact your bank to resolve the issue. Once resolved, you can retry making the payment
Retry the payment
- Go to Account settings (desktop) or Settings (mobile app) > Billing & Payments
- Scroll to "Billing methods" (client) or "Manage billing methods" (freelancer), then select Edit next to the payment method you'd like to retry
- Check the details and correct if needed, re-enter the CVV/Security code, and select Save changes
- The card is now ready to be retried to make a payment
Use a different payment method
- Add an alternate billing method and try completing the payment with that
Note: We always recommend having an additional billing method in case your primary card expires or other payment issues occur. When payment issues happen, your account is at risk of suspension. You may be required to have an additional billing method on file if you use your bank account as your primary billing method.
Check for Upwork issues
- Check if there’s a system-wide issue by visiting the Upwork Status page
Clear cache and cookies
- Sometimes, clearing your browser’s cache and cookies or switching browsers can resolve technical issues