How do I get rid of the "We are having a problem billing your account" alert without updating my payment method.

[mithun50]

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I changed my banking institution and stopped my old account (I used to sponsor a repo or two from it). GitHub started showing a big red message saying:

“We are having a problem billing your account. Please update your payment method or call your payment provider for details on why the transaction failed.
You can contact support with any questions.”

However, I am happy with no longer sponsoring any repositories and not having my new payment information in GitHub. I simply want to get rid of the red banner. I was unable to delete my old payment method completely, as there's only an Edit option and all the fields are required.

GitHub has been showing me this message for over a month and I simply want it to go away.

Also My workflows are not working due to this reasons.

[krishparmar22242]

This is a common frustration when transitioning away from paid features or sponsorships. The reason that red banner is staying up—and more importantly, why your GitHub Actions workflows are paused—is that GitHub considers your account to be in a "Failed Billing" state.

When a sponsorship payment fails, GitHub locks down compute-heavy features like Actions to prevent any further potential debt on the account.

Here is the proper way to resolve this and get your workflows running again without adding your new bank details.

1. Formally Cancel the Sponsorships
   Even if your old bank account is closed, GitHub still sees the sponsorship as an active "contract" that it is trying to fulfill. You must manually end the sponsorships to stop the billing attempts.
   Go to your Settings by clicking your profile picture.
   In the left sidebar, click on Billing and plans then select Plans and usage.
   Scroll down to the GitHub Sponsors section.
   Click Manage or Edit next to each person or project you are sponsoring and select Cancel sponsorship.

2. Downgrade to the Free Tier
   If you accidentally signed up for a GitHub Pro trial or a paid plan, you need to ensure your account is set back to "Free."
   In the same Plans and usage section, check your "GitHub Current Plan."
   If it says "Pro," click on Edit and select Downgrade to Free.

3. Clearing the "Failed Billing" State
   Once all recurring "Sponsorships" and "Plans" are canceled, the system will stop trying to charge your old card.
   The red banner usually disappears within 24 hours after all paid subscriptions are removed.
   If there is a "Pending Balance" from a previous month that actually went through before the bank closed, you may need to reach out to GitHub Support to have that small debt waived so your workflows can resume.

4. Re-enabling your Workflows
   GitHub Actions are often automatically disabled when an account enters a billing lock.
   Once the banner is gone, go to your repository Settings > Actions > General.
   Ensure the Actions permissions are set to "Allow all actions and reusable workflows."
   If your workflows still don't run, you may need to manually "Enable" them in the Actions tab of each repository.

5. Removing the Old Payment Method
   GitHub prevents you from deleting a payment method if it is currently "attached" to a recurring charge.
   After you have canceled all sponsorships, wait a few hours for the system to update.
   Go to Payment information, and the option to Remove or Delete the card should now be available because it is no longer required to support a subscription.

6. Contacting Support for a "Billing Reset"
   If you have canceled everything and the banner is still there after 48 hours, you should use the GitHub Support Portal.
   Choose the category Billing > Failed payment.
   Tell them: "I have canceled all my sponsorships and downgraded to the Free tier. Please reset my account status to 'Good Standing' so I can use GitHub Actions again."

If this explanation of the "Failed Billing" state and the steps to cancel sponsorships helps you get rid of that banner and fix your workflows, please consider marking this as the accepted answer!

[mithun50]

But it's too late i there is no option to cancel the sponsorship

[krishparmar22242]

It sounds like you have reached the point where the sponsorship has been automatically cancelled by GitHub due to the failed payments, but the "Failed Billing" status is still stuck on your account like a ghost.

This happens because there is likely a Past Due Invoice for the final month that was never successful. Even if the sponsorship is gone,

GitHub’s system won't let the red banner go away until that specific invoice is either paid or manually cleared by a staff member.
Here is the exact way to fix this "too late" situation.

1. Check for the "Unpaid" Invoice
   Go to your Settings > Billing and plans > Payment history. Look for any invoice marked as "Initial" or "Past Due".
   If you see an unpaid invoice, this is what is keeping the banner active and blocking your workflows.
   Since you don't want to pay it with a new card, you cannot clear this yourself through the UI.

2. The "Billing Reset" Request (The only way out now)
   Since the UI options are gone, you must have a GitHub Billing agent manually "write off" or clear the failed transaction record.
   Go to the GitHub Support Portal.
   Choose Billing > Failed payment.
   Copy and paste this specific message:
   "My sponsorship has been cancelled by the system after my bank account closed. I am now back on the Free plan and do not wish to renew any paid features. However, my account is stuck in a 'Failed Billing' state which is blocking my GitHub Actions. Please clear the outstanding failed invoice/state so my account can return to 'Good Standing' on the Free tier."

3. Why this works
   GitHub Support handles these cases often. For small sponsorship amounts (like $5 or $10), they will usually just "forgive" the failed invoice and reset your account status to Free immediately once they see you aren't trying to game the system.

4. Check your "Sponsors" Profile directly
   Sometimes the button is missing from your Billing page but still exists on your public Sponsors profile.
   Go to https://github.com/sponsors/mithun50.
   If you see any "Active" or "Pending" labels there, try clicking the "Manage" button from that specific page.

5. Manually Enabling Workflows after the Reset
   Once Support clears your billing state, the red banner will vanish. At that point, your GitHub Actions might still be "Disabled."
   You will need to go into your repository Settings > Actions > General and click "Allow all actions" to turn the engine back on.
   I know it’s a headache to deal with support, but since the "Cancel" button has disappeared, a manual reset is the only way to get your workflows running again without providing a new credit card.

If this explanation of the "Past Due" state helps you understand why the button is gone and gives you a path to fix it via Support, please consider marking this as the accepted answer!

[mithun50]

I also send the request to the support team but I don't know when they will reply.

[krishparmar22242]

thank you i am happy my response helped you

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