Short answer
Incomplete means the payment has not finished: it still needs a payment method, a confirmation, or an action from the customer such as a 3D Secure check. Some are expected, because Stripe advises creating the payment as soon as checkout starts, so customers who leave are recorded too. Open a few, check the exact status in Workbench Inspector, and look for a pattern: many stuck at requires_action, or many with the same decline, point to something worth fixing.
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What each Incomplete payment means
01
The customer left before paying
“Create the PaymentIntent as soon as you know the amount to charge so Stripe can record all attempted payments.” Stripe, How PaymentIntents and SetupIntents work
Stripe advises creating the payment when checkout starts, so a customer who opens checkout and leaves shows up as Incomplete, with the status requires_payment_method. Nothing was charged. Compare the count with your abandoned carts before you treat it as a bug.
02
The card was declined and the customer gave up
“If the payment attempt fails (for example, due to a decline), the PaymentIntent’s status returns to requires_payment_method so that the payment can be retried.” Stripe, How PaymentIntents and SetupIntents work
A declined attempt sends the payment back to needing a payment method, so it can stay Incomplete, or show as Failed, if the customer does not try another card. Open the payment to see the decline reason. If many share one reason, the decline pages linked below cover the common ones.
03
The customer never finished the bank check
“If the payment requires additional actions, such as authenticating with 3D Secure, the PaymentIntent has a status of requires_action.” Stripe, How PaymentIntents and SetupIntents work
Some banks ask the customer to approve the payment in their banking app or with a code. If that step never appears, for example because your checkout does not handle requires_action, every such payment stays Incomplete. A cluster of requires_action payments points to your checkout, not your customers.
04
You need the exact status to know which
“Use the API or Workbench Inspector to get the authoritative state.” Stripe, Payment status updates (Payment status mapping)
The Incomplete label covers several states. Click the payment, open Workbench Inspector, and search for status to see the exact value before you decide what to fix.
Checked against the vendor’s docs on : Stripe docs: Payment status updates; Stripe docs: How PaymentIntents and SetupIntents work.
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Related: Stripe generic_decline · Stripe authentication_required · Stripe payment_intent_authentication_failure · Stripe Checkout Session expired