Sidekick's What Just Shipped

HubSpot lets you send a buyer a link to update the payment method on a subscription, by copying it from the Subscriptions index page or emailing it from the subscription preview.

Show Notes

HubSpot lets you send a buyer a link to update the payment method on a subscription, by copying it from the Subscriptions index page or emailing it from the subscription preview. We cover where to find it, the conditions that decide whether it appears, what the buyer sees, how failed payments and retries work, the Payment Method Expiry Date workflow, and the billing portal. First thing to try: add the Update payment method column to your Subscriptions index page.

Who it's for: RevOps, billing, and customer success teams running subscriptions in HubSpot (all products and plans for subscriptions; workflows need Professional or Enterprise; the billing portal needs Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise).

Our research first covered this on October 20, 2026. Here's where it stands as of our Oct 31, 2026 check. Our write-up said the link is available at all times; HubSpot's help article (updated Oct 19, 2026) says the option is available only after an initial payment has been made, and only for subscriptions where payment collection is automated. The update uses the payment methods allowed on the original checkout, a fee-bearing method can only be swapped for the same type, and past-due balances are charged to the new method automatically. Failed card payments are retried up to 4 times within 30 days; bank debit payments are not retried. We couldn't confirm the write-up's point that subscriptions created from a contract are excluded; HubSpot's subscriptions article does not mention contracts, and contract records have their own payment method options.

In this episode
  • 00:00:00 Links, plans, and where to find them
  • 00:02:08 Buyer view, limits, and failed payments
  • 00:04:15 Expiry workflows, contracts, and a plan
Sources
More HubSpot updates
Every HubSpot update we cover lives at Sidekick Strategies HubSpot Updates.

AI disclosure: Rob and Dana are AI hosts with AI-generated voices. The narrator and music are AI-generated. The mid-roll from George B. Thomas uses an AI clone of his voice, made with his consent. Reviewed by humans before release.
This episode includes a short message from Sidekick Strategies, the show's presenter and a HubSpot Solutions Partner.

Sidekick's What Just Shipped is independent of HubSpot, Inc., and is not authorized by, endorsed by, sponsored by, affiliated with, or otherwise approved by HubSpot, Inc.

What is Sidekick's What Just Shipped?

Sidekick's What Just Shipped is the fast, friendly way to keep up with HubSpot without reading every release note yourself. Each episode, AI hosts Rob and Dana take one feature HubSpot shipped and tell you where it stands right now: what changed, how it got here, who it's for, and what to do on Monday. Rob explains. Dana pushes back. Nobody pretends.

Every episode starts from Sidekick Strategies research on the HubSpot Updates page at sidekickstrategies.com and is checked against official HubSpot sources. If something isn't confirmed, the hosts say so out loud. Episodes run six to eight minutes, and new ones arrive five a week while we catch up on recent releases.

Presented by Sidekick Strategies, a HubSpot solutions partner.

AI disclosure: Rob and Dana are AI hosts with AI-generated voices. The narrator voice and the music are AI-generated. The mid-episode message from Sidekick Strategies founder George B. Thomas uses an AI clone of his own voice, made with his consent. Scripts are researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by humans before release.

Sidekick's What Just Shipped is independent of HubSpot, Inc., and is not authorized by, endorsed by, sponsored by, affiliated with, or otherwise approved by HubSpot, Inc. HubSpot is a trademark of HubSpot, Inc.

Dana (AI host): Your customer's card is about to expire, and the first anyone hears of it is a failed charge.
Rob (AI host): HubSpot lets you send that buyer a payment update link before anything fails.
Dana (AI host): Stick around for the conditions that decide whether the option even shows up.
Narrator (AI voice): This is Sidekick's What Just Shipped, presented by Sidekick Strategies.
Narrator (AI voice): Your hosts, Rob and Dana, are AI.
Narrator (AI voice): The voices are synthetic, the research is real, and humans check every claim before it reaches you.
Dana (AI host): Hey, it's Dana, joined by Rob, and we're both AI hosts.
Dana (AI host): Today: updating a subscription's payment method with a link, from HubSpot's help article, updated in October.
Rob (AI host): Switching roles: today I'm playing a hypothetical customer success lead who runs renewals for monthly subscribers.
Dana (AI host): Perfect fit.
Dana (AI host): Why it matters: once HubSpot's card retries run out, only the buyer can fix the payment method.
Dana (AI host): Getting the link out early heads that off.
Rob (AI host): So what can I actually do now?
Dana (AI host): You can copy a link and send it however you like, or have HubSpot email the buyer for you.
Dana (AI host): Either way, they swap the payment method on the subscription.
Rob (AI host): Is this tied to a particular plan?
Dana (AI host): HubSpot lists all products and plans for its subscriptions article.
Dana (AI host): To manage and edit subscriptions, you need Super Admin, or edit permissions for subscriptions.
Rob (AI host): Can I send it for any subscription?
Dana (AI host): Not quite. The option appears only after an initial payment has been made on the subscription.
Rob (AI host): And if we bill automatically but collect payment by hand?
Dana (AI host): Then no.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot says the payment method can be updated only for subscriptions where payment collection is automated.
Rob (AI host): Tighter than I assumed.
Dana (AI host): Here's the copy path. Click More, then Revenue, then Subscriptions.
Dana (AI host): If More doesn't appear, go straight to Revenue, then Subscriptions.
Rob (AI host): Then what?
Dana (AI host): Add the Update payment method column to the index page.
Dana (AI host): Click the cell with the URL, then click the copy icon.
Rob (AI host): And that's what I paste into a chat or a renewal email.
Dana (AI host): Right. Now the email path. Hover over a subscription and click Preview.
Dana (AI host): In the right panel, click Actions, then Update payment method.
Rob (AI host): Who receives it?
Dana (AI host): Review the dialog box and click Send link.
Dana (AI host): It goes to the email address of the subscription's associated contact.
Rob (AI host): So I check that contact first. And what does the buyer actually see?
Dana (AI host): They land on the checkout page, review the subscription, and enter a new payment method.
Dana (AI host): A confirmation page follows, and the new method is used for all future automatic payments.
Rob (AI host): Can they pick any payment method they want?
Dana (AI host): No.
Dana (AI host): It uses the payment methods defined on the original checkout, like the invoice, payment link, or quote.
Dana (AI host): If that invoice only allowed ACH bank debit, that's all the buyer gets on the update page.
Rob (AI host): What about payment fees?
Dana (AI host): If the buyer first paid with a method that carried a fee, they can only switch to the same type.
Dana (AI host): So a card can be swapped for a different card, but not for bank debit.
Rob (AI host): That would surprise a buyer.
Dana (AI host): And once the method is updated, any past-due subscription balances are charged to it automatically.
Rob (AI host): Good to know for anyone who's behind. So where would I spot a payment that failed?
Dana (AI host): On the payments index page, the Status column shows Failed.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot uses that status only for bank debit payments, like ACH, and subscription payments.
Rob (AI host): Got it, that's my first stop.
Dana (AI host): Failed payments run on their own track.
Dana (AI host): When a subscription payment fails, HubSpot automatically emails the customer a link with an Update payment method button.
Rob (AI host): Is that email optional?
Dana (AI host): Yes, you can turn it off in settings.
Dana (AI host): Meanwhile, HubSpot retries the payment on a set schedule.
Rob (AI host): What schedule?
Dana (AI host): For cards, HubSpot retries up to four times within a thirty-day window.
Dana (AI host): After that, the buyer has to update it.
Rob (AI host): And bank debit?
Dana (AI host): Bank debit, like ACH, is not retried at all.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot says to contact the buyer, or open the payment record and choose Request new payment method under Actions.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Hey, it's George B. Thomas from Sidekick Strategies.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Full honesty, this is my AI voice clone, made with my permission.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): When billing, renewals, and support each keep their own records, a failed payment can slip past everyone.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Sidekick's RevOps and integration work maps your revenue process from first touch to renewal, with handoff points and clear ownership.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Get every team reading from the same source.
George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): RevOps and Integration is listed with our services at Sidekick Strategies dot com.
Rob (AI host): Can a workflow warn a buyer before the card expires?
Dana (AI host): Yes.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot documents a workflow built on the Payment Method Expiry Date subscription property, to notify buyers when their payment method is due to expire.
Rob (AI host): What does that need?
Dana (AI host): Workflows need a Professional or Enterprise subscription, plus edit permissions for workflows, and publish permissions to turn one on.
Rob (AI host): And buyers who'd rather serve themselves?
Dana (AI host): With Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise, you can set up a billing portal.
Dana (AI host): Buyers log in and update the payment method for their subscriptions there.
Rob (AI host): Can they clean up old cards too?
Dana (AI host): Yes.
Dana (AI host): A Payment methods page lists every stored payment method, and buyers can remove one from there.
Rob (AI host): And if I want to retry a failed card myself?
Dana (AI host): Open the payment record.
Dana (AI host): You can retry manually before the scheduled retries run, though HubSpot notes some payments won't retry because of the decline reason.
Rob (AI host): Skeptic question. Our research says the link is available at all times.
Dana (AI host): HubSpot's article is narrower: only after an initial payment, and only when payment collection is automated.
Rob (AI host): Our research also says subscriptions created from a contract don't get this link.
Dana (AI host): That's the part we couldn't confirm. HubSpot's subscription article does not mention contracts.
Rob (AI host): So where does contract billing stand?
Dana (AI host): Contract records have their own way to update payment methods, including collecting a new one on the next paid invoice.
Dana (AI host): So for contract billing, check the contract record first.
Rob (AI host): Here's my plan, as that customer success lead.
Rob (AI host): First: put the payment link column into my Subscriptions view.
Dana (AI host): Second: confirm each subscription collects payment automatically and has its first payment, or the option won't show.
Rob (AI host): Third: check the associated contact's email before sending.
Dana (AI host): Fourth: on Professional or Enterprise, build the expiry workflow.
Rob (AI host): Customer success verdict: worth doing this week for cards that expire soon, starting with automated, already paid subscriptions.
Dana (AI host): An early link beats a failed charge.
Rob (AI host): Every source is linked in the show notes, and more updates live at Sidekick Strategies dot com.
Dana (AI host): Thanks for sticking with this one.
Rob (AI host): Send the link before the card expires.
Narrator (AI voice): Sidekick's What Just Shipped is presented by Sidekick Strategies, with AI hosts Rob and Dana and AI-generated music.
Narrator (AI voice): We're independent, and not affiliated with HubSpot. Find our research at Sidekick Strategies dot com.