Why are transactions declined?

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Card transactions are one of the most convenient, easiest and ubiquitous ways to pay. When transactions happen there are many checks that accompany them to make sure that everyone is who they say they are.

However, inevitably transactions get declined – often merchants have no idea of the real reason why and this can be frustrating because of lost sales and poor customer experiences. There are some fairly basic reasons why transactions get declined:

  • Expiry date mismatch – a common occurrence where the card details are being typed.
  • Card has a ‘block’ of some kind – usually this is that the card is marked lost or stolen but also can be that the card issuer is looking to speak to the cardholder or that the card is already suspected of having been used fraudulently.
  • Security code (sometimes called CVV or CVC – the number from the back of the card) – these are designed to add assurance that the person making a transaction has the card with them. Mis-keying is a common mistake leading to declined transactions.
  • Funds not available – simple case of the card not having the available balance to allow the request to be approved.

Read the full blog post here.

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