Chargebee Pay is available to pre-qualified Chargebee Billing customers.

Account Updater

Overview

Account Updater automatically updates saved card-on-file details when a customer’s card information changes. With Chargebee Pay, these updates occur in real time during payment attempts and are immediately reflected on the Chargebee platform.

What is Account Updater?

Account Updater is a card network service that provides updated credentials, such as a new expiry date or a reissued card token, when a card payment is attempted. Chargebee Pay applies these updates automatically to the saved card.

Scope of Account Updater

This feature helps keep payment details up to date when cards are reissued or replaced.

Only card payments are supported; ACH, SEPA, and BACS are out of scope.
Real-time updates are available for Visa, Mastercard, and Cartes Bancaires cards.
Updates are applied when a transaction is attempted and the card scheme or issuer provides new details.
Availability varies by issuer and brand, and updates are not guaranteed in all cases.

Card information updated during checks

Chargebee Pay checks for updates to the following fields in the saved card record:

Last four digits / BIN (if the PAN was reissued)
Expiry month and year
Card brand metadata (when provided)
If the issuer reports the account as closed, the saved card is disabled to prevent future use.

Full card numbers (PANs) are never stored or displayed. Only masked data is visible.

Account Updater lifecycle

Step	Description	When it happens
Charge attempted	You charge a saved card (for example, for a subscription renewal).	Immediately
Real-time check	If the charge fails, updates are requested from the card network or issuer.	Real-time
Payment continues	The current payment proceeds using refreshed details from the card network or issuer.	Same attempt
Update applied	Chargebee Pay updates the saved card (last four digits/BIN/expiry) or disables it if the account is closed.	Instantly (if applicable)
Data available in dashboard and reports	Updated masked details are visible in the UI.	Right away

Enablement and update statuses

Account Updater is enabled by default for Chargebee Pay.

Processor status handling

The table below outlines the different account update statuses provided by our processor and how the Chargebee Pay system handles them internally.

Processor status	How Chargebee Pay reacts	Impact
CardChanged	Masked last four digits and BIN may change. New details are updated in place of the old ones.	No impact on the current transaction.
CardExpiryChanged	Only the expiry date has been updated.	No impact on the current transaction.
CloseAccount	The card has been closed by the issuer.	The card cannot be used after this. The current transaction fails.
ContactCardAccountHolder (Visa only)	Updated details are not available from the issuer.	The current transaction fails. You need to ask the cardholder to provide new card details.
Unknown (Mastercard only)	The issuer returned an unknown status. Mastercard may not have been able to find the card temporarily.	The current transaction proceeds unchanged, and the card information remains the same.

Viewing updates in the portal

After an account update, you can verify the refreshed card details in the Chargebee Pay portal.

Navigate to Transactions > Details > Payment Instrument
You can see the brand, card (last four digits), and expiry (MM / YYYY) after the account update

FAQs

Will renewals automatically use the new card?
Yes. Renewals automatically use the new card when the network returns CardChanged or CardExpiryChanged during the attempt.
Can I download a list of updated cards?
No. There is currently no option to download a list of updated cards.
Is there a nightly or batch updater?
No. Chargebee Pay uses real-time updates during eligible payments.