How do I know if my pledge went through?
If you didn't reach a "Thank you!" confirmation page and/or you didn't receive a confirmation email (title: "You just backed [Project Name]"), it's likely that your pledge did not go through. If the pledge cannot be submitted, you may also receive an error message on the pledge page.
Note that if you’re unable to pledge in the first place, the issue might be due to authentication requirements from your bank. The requirements might be a 3DS authentication challenge where you’ll be prompted to enter a code or password. It’s also possible that your mobile device does not support the 3DS technology from your bank so you’ll want to try to pledge and complete the authentication challenge on your desktop.
If your bank has given you the greenlight that the pledge transaction should go through, you will need to try again — we do not try to re-authenticate automatically. If you continue to experience issues, you can follow the steps below.
I am having trouble pledging, what can I do?
In most cases, pledging troubles may be due to an issue with the card being used. We recommend the following troubleshooting steps:
- Double check to make sure that the credit card number, cardholder name, expiration date, security code, and zip code have all been entered correctly
- Contact your bank to make sure there are no holds on your card, and to also make sure that:
- No additional authorization is required of you
- Your card is authorized for foreign transactions if your pledge is to a project in another country
- If you're using a pre-paid card or debit card, that you have enough funds available
- If you're pledging at a high amount, that your bank is aware that we may issue an authorization check for a portion of the total amount pledged
- Some banks may be unfamiliar with how Kickstarter works, in that we authorize your card when you first pledge, but we do not charge it until later, if and when the project ends having met its funding goal. It's worth explaining this to the representative you speak with at your financial institution
- If you continue to encounter errors, we recommend trying a different card.
If you’re still having trouble pledging after that, please contact our Support team.
I am having trouble pledging to a limited reward
When a reward is selected this does not guarantee its availability. If several backers are attempting to pledge to the same limited tier or add-on at the same time, then it’s possible that it may sell out before your pledge can be processed.
If the limited reward sells out while your pledge is being processed, then no confirmation will be received and you will need to start the pledge process again by selecting a different available reward.
I pledged to a project, but I don’t see the pledge on my account?
Firstly, we recommend double-checking that you are logged in to the correct Kickstarter account. You should also check any other email accounts you own for an email confirmation from Kickstarter, or try logging in with these email addresses, as it’s possible that you might have created more than one account.
If you pledged as a guest, check your email inbox for a pledge confirmation email and a link to activate your Kickstarter account.
If you received a confirmation for your pledge, you want to make sure that it came from Kickstarter and not a third-party pledge manager, such as BackerKit, PledgeBox, CrowdOx, or a similar service. If you contributed to the project via one of these services, there will be no record of your transaction on our end and therefore it will not appear as a pledge on your Kickstarter account. You’ll need to reach out to the project creator directly with any questions or to request an update.
Still not seeing your pledge on your account, or tied to any of your other email addresses, and you didn’t receive a pledge confirmation email? Please contact our Support team.
I can’t remember the email address I used for my pledge?
If you are having trouble finding a pledge, or remembering the email address associated with your Kickstarter account, it’s possible that you might have mistyped your email address when pledging, and consequently you might not be receiving updates to your account.
We’re happy to help you locate your pledge or account, please get in touch with us to get this process started.
My pledge was declined. How can I retry my payment?
If your pledge is declined, you’ll be able to retry the payment. We recommend taking action promptly, however, as backers have 7 days to resolve payment issues before they're dropped from the project. Until your pledge has been successfully collected, we’ll send you an email every 48 hours with a direct link to correct the issue.
During the 7-day timeframe you can also log in to your Kickstarter account and click the “Fix payment” button in the banner at the top of your screen. On the next page, click the “Retry your payment” button to retry or update your pledge with a different card.
It’s possible that the payment error has occurred due to additional authentication requirements from your bank, or due to a hard decline from your bank. In the case of authentication requirements, this could be a 3DS challenge where you’ll be prompted to enter a code or password by your bank. As 3DS technologies from banks are often not compatible with mobile devices, you’ll want to try to complete the authentication on a desktop if you run into issues. We do not automatically try to re-authenticate a pledge, so if you speak to your bank and get the greenlight on the transaction, you’ll need to try to authenticate again via the “Fix payment” button in the banner. If you continue to experience issues, you can follow the steps below for authentication troubleshooting.
Additionally, for pledges made with Apple Pay it isn’t possible to retry a payment through Apple Pay. In these instances, you’ll need to retry the payment by either manually adding your card details, or choosing a card from your saved payment methods.
When a payment is declined, it may not necessarily be the case that there’s a specific issue with your card, so much as that you’ll need to ask your bank why this charge in particular is being declined. You may also want to include the following details for this transaction:
- The charge being from Kickstarter
- The amount pledged for the project
- The date when Kickstarter attempted to collect your pledge. This will be the date that the project you backed ended. If the project hasn't ended yet, you can use the date you attempted to pledge
- Check that the bank allows $0 authorization attempts
- Mention the time/date of each validation/charge attempt
- Check whether your bank participates in the Address Verification System (AVS)
- Additionally, it may be helpful to request that your bank “whitelist” any charges from Kickstarter
Once you’ve contacted your bank, feel free to log in to the Kickstarter account from which you pledged and click the “Fix Payment” button in the “Important Notifications” banner.
Please note that we'll automatically retry your pledge at the end of the 7-day timeframe, unless you’ve already fixed the payment.
How will I know when my pledge has gone through?
Once your pledge has been processed successfully, you’ll receive a confirmation email at the email address tied to your Kickstarter account. Rest assured, you will only be charged once for your pledge to the project.
If we’re still unable to process your payment at the end of the 7-day timeframe, your pledge will be dropped and you will no longer be considered a backer of the project. If your pledge is dropped and you would still like to support the project, we recommend contacting the project creator directly to try and sort out an alternative arrangement outside of Kickstarter.
I have a new email address and need help accessing pledges on an older account
If the email address associated with your Kickstarter account is no longer active, you’ll need to get in touch with us in order to answer a few security questions so that we can manually update your email address on the account.
Please contact our Support team and we’ll be happy to help you with this process as quickly as possible. Please have the details of your most recent pledge handy before contacting us.
I’m seeing multiple charges for the same pledge
You won’t be charged for your pledge until the moment a successful project ends. However, our payments processor may temporarily authorize your card to make sure it can be successfully charged.
While authorizations generally drop after a few days, this process can vary depending on the financial institution. If the authorization doesn’t drop in the week following a project’s deadline, we recommend contacting your bank for more details about their authorization procedure.
If you’re still unsure about any charges coming from Kickstarter, please get in touch.
I’m having trouble authenticating my pledge
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), which is part of PSD2, has gone into effect for some countries in the European Economic Area, as of September 14, 2019. SCA requires additional authentication for some online payments for cardholders located in Europe, which users will be prompted for by their financial institution during the pledge process. However, please note that SCA is not limited to only European cardholders, some banks worldwide have begun to employ this extra measure to ensure the security of their cardholders transactions.
If you’re experiencing issues authenticating your pledge, we recommend following the below steps to help troubleshoot:
- Check that the credit or debit card information has been entered correctly and make sure that the card you’re using is one of our accepted forms of payment
- If you're accessing the site via a desktop, check this list of recent browser updates to see if you’re running the latest version. Using an outdated version of your browser could be the root of the issue
- Try clearing your browser's cache, cookies, and browsing history too
- As the authorization module is specific to your bank, it's possible that their pop-up or redirect is not compatible with the device or browser you are currently using. Try to authorize your pledge using another browser or device
- Contact your bank or credit card provider. It may not be a specific issue with your card, so much as that you’ll need to ask your bank or card issuer to authorize the transaction. Mention the time/date of each validation/charge attempt and ensure that the bank allows $0 authorization attempts
If you continue to experience difficulty, please make note of the steps you have taken and take a screenshot of any error message you’re receiving, then get in touch with our Support team.