Getting Started
Card Declines
What they mean and how Paysight helps you recover sales with our tools.
Card Declines: What They Mean and How Paysight Helps You Recover Sales
When a customer’s card gets declined, it’s frustrating for everyone. Your business misses out on a sale and your customer is left wondering what happened. Paysight is here to help you understand why declines happen, how to prevent them and how to win back more revenue when they do.
What Is a Card Decline?
A card decline is when a payment doesn’t go through. The bank, card network or Paysight’s payment processor blocks the transaction for a specific reason. Sometimes it’s an easy fix. Other times, the customer needs to use a different card.
Why Do Card Declines Happen?
There are two main types:
- Soft Declines: These are usually temporary. Maybe the customer made a typo their bank flagged the transaction, or their balance was too low. Often, trying again or fixing the details solves the problem.
- Hard Declines: These are more final. The card might be expired, closed or reported lost. In these cases, the customer should use another payment method.
Why Does This Matter for Your Business?
- Lost sales: Every declined payment is a missed opportunity.
- Customer frustration: Many customers give up after a decline and may not come back.
- Support headaches: More declines mean more time spent on customer service and manual fixes.
How Paysight Makes Declines Easier to Handle
- Smart Payment Routing: Paysight picks the best route for each transaction, helping you avoid problems caused by processor or network issues.
- Automatic Retries: If a payment fails for a temporary reason, Paysight will try again at the right time so you don’t have to do it manually.
- Card Updater: When a customer’s card expires or gets replaced, Paysight can update their details in the background so you don’t lose a sale.
- Unified Dashboard: See all your declines, reasons and suggested next steps in one place. You won’t have to guess or dig through logs.
- Customer Messaging: Paysight lets you send clear, friendly messages to customers when something goes wrong so they can fix the problem and finish their purchase.
- Chargeback Protection: If a decline leads to a dispute, Paysight’s tools help you manage chargebacks and recover lost revenue.
- Analytics That Make Sense: You can track your decline rates, approval rates and see where you can improve in real time.
Common Decline Codes and What You Can Do
| Code | What It Means | What You Can Do | What to Tell Your Customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/02 | Refer to issuer | Ask for another card or suggest contacting bank | It looks like your bank needs to approve this payment. You can try another card or reach out to your bank for help. |
| 03 | Invalid merchant | Check your merchant account setup | We’re having trouble processing your payment on our end. Please try again or get in touch with us. |
| 04 | Pick up card | Advise customer to contact their bank | There’s an issue with your card. Please contact your bank to find out more. |
| 05 | Do not honor | Ask for another card or suggest contacting bank | Your bank didn’t approve this payment. You can try another card or contact your bank for more info. |
| 06 | Error | Retry the transaction or use a different method | Something went wrong while processing your payment. Please try again. |
| 07 | Pick up card (fraud) | Do not retry, ask for another card | This card can’t be used right now. Please use a different card or check with your bank. |
| 10 | Partial approval | Ask customer to pay remaining balance with another card | Part of your payment went through. Can you use another card to cover the rest? |
| 12 | Invalid transaction | Verify transaction details and try again | We couldn’t process your payment. Please check your details and try again. |
| 13 | Invalid amount | Check and correct the transaction amount | Please check the payment amount and try again. |
| 14 | Invalid card number | Double-check the card number | That card number doesn’t look right. Please check and try again. |
| 15 | No such issuer | Ask customer to use a different card | There’s a problem with this card. Please try another card. |
| 19 | Re-enter transaction | Ask customer to try again | Please try your payment again. |
| 21 | No action taken | Retry later | We couldn’t process your payment this time. Please try again in a few minutes. |
| 25 | Record not found | Check account details or try another card | We couldn’t find your account. Please try another card. |
| 28 | File unavailable | Wait and try again later | We’re having trouble processing your payment right now. Please try again soon. |
| 41/43 | Lost or stolen card | Don’t retry, ask for another card | This card is reported lost or stolen. Please use a different card. |
| 51 | Insufficient funds | Suggest a different card or adding funds | It looks like there aren’t enough funds. Please try another card or add funds. |
| 52 | No checking account | Use a different card or contact the bank | This card can’t be used for this payment. Please try another card. |
| 53 | No savings account | Use a different card or contact the bank | This card can’t be used for this payment. Please try another card. |
| 54 | Expired card | Ask for updated card details | This card has expired. Please use a different card. |
| 55 | Incorrect PIN | Ask customer to re-enter PIN | The PIN entered doesn’t match. Please try again. |
| 57 | Not allowed (card) | Ask customer to contact their bank | This card can’t be used for this payment. Please contact your bank. |
| 58 | Not allowed (terminal) | Check terminal configuration | We’re having trouble processing your payment. Please try again. |
| 59 | Suspected fraud | Advise customer to verify with their bank | This payment was declined for security reasons. Please contact your bank. |
| 61 | Over card limit | Suggest contacting issuer or try a lower amount | This payment is over your card’s limit. Please try a lower amount or another card. |
| 62 | Restricted card | Use another card or payment method | This card can’t be used for this payment. Please try another card. |
| 63 | Security violation | Verify with the customer or bank | There’s a security issue with this card. Please contact your bank. |
| 64 | Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirement not met | Ensure compliance or ask customer to contact bank | This payment couldn’t be completed. Please contact your bank. |
| 65 | Too many transactions | Suggest another payment method or contact the bank | You’ve reached your card’s transaction limit. Please try another card. |
| 70 | PIN data required | Ask customer to enter PIN | Please enter your card’s PIN to continue. |
| 75 | Too many PIN tries | Ask customer to contact their bank | There have been too many incorrect PIN attempts. Please contact your bank. |
| 76 | Reversal error | Check for errors or contact support | There was a problem processing your payment. Please try again. |
| 77 | Reversal mismatch | Confirm transaction details and retry | There was a problem processing your payment. Please try again. |
| 78 | Blocked card | Ask customer to contact their bank | This card can’t be used yet. Please contact your bank. |
| 79 | Already reversed | Confirm with customer if reversal was expected | This payment was already reversed. Please check your statement. |
| 82 | Card Verification Value (CVV) error | Check card verification data | The security code didn’t match. Please check and try again. |
| 85 | No reason to decline | Try the transaction again or use a different method | We couldn’t process your payment. Please try again. |
| 86 | Cannot verify PIN | Ask customer to contact their bank | We couldn’t verify your PIN. Please contact your bank. |
| 91 | Issuer unavailable | Try again later | We couldn’t reach your bank. Please try again in a few minutes. |
| 92 | Routing error | Check network or try again later | We couldn’t process your payment. Please try again. |
| 93 | Transaction not allowed | Ask customer to contact their bank | This payment can’t be completed. Please contact your bank. |
| 94 | Duplicate transaction | Do not reattempt, confirm with customer | This payment was already processed. Please check your statement. |
| 96 | System error | Wait and retry later | There was a system error. Please try again soon. |
| 97 | Invalid Card Verification Value (CVV) | Confirm and re-enter Card Verification Value (CVV) | The security code didn’t match. Please check and try again. |
| N3 | Cash service not available | Use another card or method | This card can’t be used for this type of payment. Please try another card. |
| N4 | Exceeds cash limit | Suggest a lower amount or another card | This payment is over your card’s cash limit. Please try a lower amount or another card. |
| N7 | Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2) mismatch | Check card verification data | The security code didn’t match. Please check and try again. |
| N8 | Transaction timed out | Try again | The payment timed out. Please try again. |
| N9 | Invalid transaction | Verify transaction details and try again | This payment couldn’t be processed. Please check your details and try again. |
| R0/R1 | Recurring payment stopped | Confirm cancellation with customer | This recurring payment has been stopped as requested. |
If you want to check Error Codes within Widget SDK, you can find them in Paysight’s Widget SDK documentation.
Paysight’s Step-by-Step Recovery Workflow
- Automatic Retries: Paysight will try again for you if it’s a soft decline.
- Smart Routing: If one payment route fails, Paysight tries another to boost your approval rates.
- Card Updater: Expired or replaced cards are updated automatically.
- Unified CRM: See all your customer and payment info in one spot so you can help quickly.
- Customer Notifications: Paysight can send helpful, branded messages to your customers to guide them through fixing a decline.
- Chargeback Help: If a decline turns into a dispute, Paysight’s tools help you protect your revenue.
Tips to Reduce Declines
- Collect complete and accurate customer info, especially country and state.
- Offer more than one way to pay, like cards, wallets or ACH.
- Use Paysight’s automatic retries, smart routing and card updater.
- Check your analytics dashboard for patterns or recurring issues.
- If you’re stuck, our support team is here to help.