Dunning emails still send when a customer has no payment method on file

Yes, dunning works without a saved payment method. Lago's dunning campaigns are driven by the customer's overdue balance, not by the presence of a payment method, so customers who pay by bank transfer still receive payment request emails on the campaign's configured cadence.

How dunning works without a payment method

A dunning campaign starts when the customer's overdue balance reaches the campaign threshold, and each subsequent attempt follows the configured delay. What each attempt does depends on whether Lago has a way to charge the customer. When a payment method is available through a connected payment provider, Lago initiates an automatic payment attempt and emails the customer a payment request with a payment link only if that attempt fails. When there is no payment method to charge, Lago skips the payment attempt and sends the payment request email for the overdue balance directly.

That email still includes the overdue invoice PDFs and the payment terms. The only difference is that it has no "Pay" button, since there is nothing Lago can charge. No automatic payment retries fire in this case because there is nothing to retry. The campaign keeps sending emails per its cadence until the overdue balance is cleared or all attempts are exhausted.

What to do when payment arrives by bank transfer

Lago cannot detect a bank transfer on its own. Once the payment is received, mark the relevant invoices as paid, either in the Lago app, via the API, or from your ERP. This clears the overdue balance and ends the dunning campaign for that customer.

This article reflects guidance drawn from customer case resolutions. It is not officially supported documentation and may not apply to all situations.