| Transaction Error Message | Message from Issuing Bank | Cardholder Actions |
| Declined do not honour | Cardholder bank has declined the payment. This is not a 3DS decline. | Sometimes the payment may have been declined owing to failed CVV or AVS checks, so it’s worth checking these fields are correct before trying anything else. There are several possible scenarios that can trigger the “Declined – Do Not Honour” response code: The bank’s fraud rules (which consider various factors that are not made public) have been triggered. The bank may have placed a temporary hold on the customer’s card The purchase session may have been locked due to multiple declined payments The seller is located in a country different from that of the card issuing bank Alternatively, Cardholder should Use an alternative credit card. Contact their bank, explaining that they are trying to process a payment. The cardholder can ask the bank to allow the payment Ask the cardholder to try again at a later time as the issuing bank may have only placed a temporary hold on the card |
| Account Closed | Cardholder account is closed. | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Account or user is blacklisted (card lost) | Cardholder account is blacklisted | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Account or user is blacklisted (card stolen) | Cardholder account is blacklisted | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Authentication failed due to suspected fraud | Card issuer has returned suspected fraud. | Cardholder must contact their bank if transaction believed to be genuine. Do not reattempt. |
| AVS mismatch | Address Verification Service – the billing address entered is incorrect and does not accurately or completely match the billing address registered with the card issuer or credit card company. This sometimes occurs when a person has moved house and not updated their card issuer for example, but could also be as simple as a misspelling. | Cardholder must contact their bank if transaction believed to be genuine. Ensure that card issuer has the most up to date billing address on file before attempting to make further payment. |
| Bin Number Blacklist | BIN number or country is blacklisted. These transactions are being rejected as the bin-ranges for these cards have seen a lot of fraudulent activity. | Cardholder to try a different card or contact their bank |
| Cancelled by user | Cardholderr cancelled transaction at 3DS page | Cardholder to reattempt, if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Card expired | Card expired | Cardholder to try a different card or contact their bank |
| CC/bank account holder not valid | Cardholder including special characters in account holder field. | Cardholder to check details in cardholder name field if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Combination of street1 and street2 must not only contain numbers | Address line 1 or 2 had only numbers. | Cardholder to check address details entered if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Declined (marked as invalid) | Transaction invalid. | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Declined by authorization system | Declined for do not honor, transaction not permitted or similar. | Cardholder must contact their bank. Do not reattempt. |
| Declined for invalid CVV | Invalid CVV | Cardholder to enter correct CVV on reattempt if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Fraudulent transaction | Suspected Fraud | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Invalid card | Card number/card is invalid. Could be cancelled, expired, lost/stolen | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Invalid credit card, bank account number or bank name | Invalid credit card, bank account number or bank name | Cardholder to check details entered are correct if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Risk management transaction timeout | Cardholder has failed 3DS verification | Cardholder must complete authentication within 15 minutes |
| Timeout, uncertain result | Cardholder has failed 3DS verification | Cardholder must complete authentication within 15 minutes |
| Transaction declined (account temporarily not available. Please try again later) | Issuing bank has a communication failure. | Cardholder to try different card or try again later |
| Transaction declined (additional customer authentication required) | Cardholder has failed 3DS verification | Cardholder must pass 3DS verification |
| Transaction declined (amount exceeds credit) | Payment will take cardholder over transaction limit or cardholder has already reached it. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (card lost) | Card has been lost | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Transaction declined (exceeds withdrawal count limit) | Payment will take cardholder over transaction limit or cardholder has already reached it. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (format error) | Issuing bank does not recognise transaction details being entered. | Cardholder should check all details and reattempt, if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Transaction declined (Incorrect personal identification number) | Incorrect PIN entered. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (invalid card) | Card number/card is invalid. It could be cancelled/expired/lost/stolen. | Cardholder to check they have entered the correct card number, if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Transaction declined (invalid CVV) | Invalid CVV | Cardholder to check they have typed your CVV correctly if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Transaction declined (limit exceeded) | Insufficient funds. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (maximum transaction frequency exceeded) | Same customer reattempting. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (pick up card) | Card reported as lost/stolen. | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Transaction declined (PIN entered incorrectly too often) | Card blocked for entering pin incorrectly too many times | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
| Transaction declined (restricted card) | Restricted card. Potentially ATM only card. | Cardholder must contact their bank. Do not reattempt. |
| Transaction declined (suspected manipulation) | Suspected fraud | Cardholder must contact their bank if transaction believed to be genuine. Do not reattempt. |
| Transaction declined (too many invalid attempts) | Exceeded PIN retry. Cardholder has blocked their cards through entering PIN incorrectly. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (transaction not permitted) | Transaction not permitted. | Cardholder must contact their bank |
| Transaction declined (UserAccount Number/ID unknown) | Account number incorrect | Cardholder to check they have correct account number if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Transaction declined (wrong expiry date) | Expiry date incorrect | Cardholder must enter correct expiry date if decline continues, cardholder must contact their bank to rectify |
| Transaction declined by authorization system | Customer has failed 3DS verification | Cardholder must pass 3DS verification |
| Transaction declined for unknown reason | Cardholder must contact their bank | |
| Transaction not permitted to cardholder | Card is not allowed for this type of transaction, could be it’s specific to certain merchants e.g petrol cards, or blocked for the transaction type eg cash cards that only work on an ATM | Cardholder to try a different card or contact their bank |
| Transaction temporary blacklisted (too many tries invalid CVV) | Invalid CVV. Gateway has now blacklisted card for 24 hours as too many attempts with incorrect CVV taken place. | Cardholder must contact their bank to remove blacklist |
| User Authentication Failed 3DS | Customer has failed 3DS verification | Customer has failed 3DS verification |
| VCS | Velocity Control System error. Cardholder is attempting to process a transaction for a higher value than the processing limit is set at | Cardholder must contact their bank Do not reattempt. |
What to do when a Transaction is declined
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