Why is my account in payment_required?

Symptoms

One of these:

• The API returns 402 payment_required or 403 subscription_required on verification creation.
• A running verification gets stuck on the payment_required state.
• The wallet screen shows a zero (or insufficient) balance, or a frozen / locked banner.

The two codes

Access is balance-first: a verification runs whenever your wallet has a positive spendable balance. Two codes signal why it can’t:

• 402 payment_required — the wallet can’t cover the operation: the balance is too low, or the wallet is locked/closed (for example, frozen by a card dispute). The fix is to add funds, or contact support if the wallet is locked.
• 403 subscription_required — your wallet holds a balance that is frozen because the subscription was canceled (or went past_due past the dunning grace). The funds are preserved, not forfeited — re-subscribe to unfreeze them.

You do not need a subscription to spend prepaid funds. A subscription is a feature gate, not an access gate.

Both codes apply to live mode only. Test-mode verifications are free and never touch a wallet, so they never return 402/403 or park on funds.

Diagnosis

Open Billing → Wallet. The top of the screen shows your balance (total plus the grant / top-up split and per-grant expiry) and your subscription status (active and trial are spendable; past_due is in dunning grace; canceled and post-grace past_due freeze the balance). Cross-reference with the error code:

Code	Wallet	What to do
402 payment_required	Insufficient balance	Top up or enable auto-recharge.
402 payment_required	locked / closed	Contact support — a disputed or operator-locked wallet needs review.
403 subscription_required	Frozen after cancellation	Re-subscribe to unfreeze funds.
Verification parked	Ran out mid-flight	Add funds (or unfreeze); the parked verification resumes automatically.

Fix

For 402 payment_required — open Billing → Top up and complete Stripe Checkout. Preset amounts carry a checkout discount (you pay less than face value). To prevent future drops, enable auto-recharge. If the wallet is locked or closed, contact support.

For 403 subscription_required — open Billing → Subscription and re-subscribe. Your frozen balance becomes spendable the moment the subscription is active.

Verify

After funds land (or the wallet unfreezes), the balance updates within seconds. A parked verification resumes on the next workflow tick without re-running completed steps or double-charging. The applicant does not need to re-open the link.

Still stuck?

If Stripe Checkout completed but the balance has not updated, see Why is my recharge pending?. If you are subscribed and still see 403 subscription_required, the subscription is likely past_due with the grace window exhausted — open Billing → Subscription and retry the failed payment or update the payment method.