Overview
For any number of reasons, a transaction can be declined by either the issuing bank, your merchant services provider, or our integration system. Generally speaking, these declines are issued directly from the customer's issuing bank for that card - however, a full list is below.
AVS/CVC Responses
If a transaction declines, the Payment Terminal will display a message stating the type of decline, as well as the AVS (Address Verification System) and CVC/CSC (Card Verification Code/Card Security Code) response (if information was supplied). This does not necessarily indicate the reason behind the decline, and it may not be returned for all forms of declines - however, incorrect information in any of these fields may lead to a decline. The specific response can be referred to in the tables below.
| Code | Visa Network Response | Mastercard Network Response | Discover Network Response | American Express Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
A |
Street address matches, ZIP does not. | Street address and 5-digit ZIP match. | Address only matches. | Address and ZIP match. |
B |
Street address matches, but ZIP not verified. | -- | -- | -- |
C |
Street address and ZIP not verified. | -- | -- | -- |
D |
Street address and ZIP match (International Only). | -- | -- | -- |
E |
AVS data is invalid or not allowed for this card type. | -- | -- | -- |
F |
Street address and postal code match (UK Only). | -- | -- | Street address matches, cardholder name does not. |
G |
Non-U.S. issuing bank does not support AVS. | -- | -- | -- |
I |
Address not verified for international transaction. | -- | -- | -- |
K |
-- | -- | -- | Cardholder name matches. |
L |
-- | -- | -- | Cardholder name and ZIP match. |
M |
Street address and postal code match (non-US only). | -- | -- | Cardholder name, street address, and ZIP code match. |
N |
Street address and ZIP code do not match. | |||
O |
-- | -- | -- | Cardholder name and street address match |
P |
Zip code matches, address unverifiable (non-US). | -- | -- | -- |
R |
System unavailable, retry. | |||
S |
AVS not supported. | |||
T |
-- | -- | 9-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not | -- |
U |
Address information unavailable. Returned if the U.S. bank does not support non-U.S. AVS or if the AVS in a U.S. bank is not functioning properly. | |||
W |
9-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not | Cardholder name, ZIP, and street address do not match | ||
X |
9-Digit ZIP and street address match | 9-Digit ZIP and street address match | 9-Digit ZIP and street address match | -- |
Y |
5-Digit ZIP and street address match | |||
Z |
5-Digit ZIP matches, street address does not | |||
The CSC code varies per card network. For American Express, this is the four-digit number on the front of the card. For all other networks, this is the three-digit number on the reverse of the card, near the signature pane.
|
Code
|
Meaning
|
Recommended action
|
|---|---|---|
E |
Error - Unrecognized or Unknown response
|
Verify the CSC code printed on the card. |
I |
Invalid or Null | Verify the CSC code printed on the card. If response persists, contact your merchant services provider. |
M |
Match | CSC code is correct - no action needed. |
N |
No match | Verify the CSC code printed on the card. If response persists, request another form of payment from the customer. |
P |
Not processed | None |
S |
Service not supported | None |
U |
Unknown - Issuer is not certified | None |
X |
No response | None |
| All others | Error | Verify the CSC code printed on the card. If response persists, contact your merchant services provider. |
Common Types of Declines
The declines below are not an exhaustive list of all declines. Your gateway/merchant services provider may have additional declines for other reasons than the ones listed below.
If you see a message unlike the ones below, contact your merchant services provider.
This is a generic decline message, sent by the credit card issuer instructing merchants to not honor the transaction without specifying a reason why. Generally speaking, this is a fraud prevention response.
Solution: Verify that all supplied information is correct (including address/CSC), and try re-processing the card. Otherwise, have the customer call the issuer for that card, and request another form of payment.
This is a message stating that the card charged does not have enough available funds/credit to complete the transaction.
Solution: Request another form of payment from the customer.
This is a message from the issuer/payment card network that this card may be being used for fraudulent activity. The payment network/issuer may request that you physically secure the card, and follow their specific instructions.
Solution: Collect the physical card from the customer, and contact the issuer using the information on the back of the card.
If the customer is combative or otherwise uncooperative, inform the customer that their bank has requested you collect their card for fraud/loss prevention purposes, and refer them to their issuer. It may be necessary to contact your store security team to do so.
The Payment Terminal Services department does not issue pick-up/hold card requests - these requests come directly from the issuer.
Many gateways will detect transactions with identical/similar information, in order to prevent charging a card multiple times for the same transaction. If this detection is triggered, a "Duplicate Transaction" response may occur.
Solution: Verify that you have not already charged this card for this transaction. If not, wait at least 5 minutes, and try processing the transaction again.
Many gateway/merchant accounts will set a limit on either the amount of a single transaction, transaction count per day/month/year, or gross transaction volume per day/month/year (i.e. total amount of transactions over said period). If your merchant account goes over this limit, a High Ticket/Velocity Limit response will be returned.
Solution: Make sure the amount you're trying to charge is within your account limits. To change your account limits (temporarily or permanently), contact your merchant services provider.
Depending on the gateway, your merchant account may need to be configured to accept transactions through an API (Application Programming Interface), so that we can submit transactions to the gateway on your behalf. If your merchant account does not have HTTP POST/API Transactions turned on, transactions we submit via the API will fail with an error similar to this.
Solution: Contact your merchant services provider for assistance in configuring your gateway account.
Depending on the gateway, this may be returned if a particular payment network (e.g. AmEx, Discover, etc.), or a particular type of card (e.g. corporate/government cards, etc.), are not permitted on the account. In the event this payment network/card type is not permitted, the gateway or processor may return this error.
Solution: Verify that your merchant account is configured to accept this card. If you're unsure, and/or to add this card type to your merchant account, contact your merchant services provider
This response is seen primarily with corporate cards, government cards, or cards owned by minors. The issuing bank may set restrictions on the type of merchants this card may be used at, in order to prevent misuse and/or fraud. To set these restrictions, the issuing bank may refer to a merchant's MCC/SIC (Merchant Category Code/Standard Industry Code, both used to identify products/business type) to determine if that card can be used there. If your MCC or SIC does not match what is permitted on the card, the issuing bank may return this response.
Solution: Verify that this card can be used at your store. If so, have the customer contact their issuing bank and/or contact your merchant services provider to verify your MCC/SIC.
This response is returned by some gateways if fields are filled out in the transaction, but were not of an expected type. Generally speaking, this is due to a zipcode or address in the wrong format (i.e. international address, but no country specified).
Solution: Verify that the address (including country) is correct, only one email address is present, and that no special characters are present. If the issue persists, contact the Payment Terminal Services department.
This is a response returned by some gateways if an invalid character is used in one of the fields. Merchants should avoid using special characters in fields in QuickBooks, and should not use special characters in the fields in the Payment Terminal - otherwise, the gateway may return this error.
Solution: Verify that no special (i.e. non-alphanumeric) characters are present in any of the aforementioned fields. If the issue persists, contact the Payment Terminal Services department.
This is a response many gateways return if the merchant account hasn't been configured properly for the Payment Terminal, and/or there was recently a change to the merchant account.
Solution: Contact your merchant services provider.
This is a response many gateways return if the gateway is unable to connect to the processor, and/or the processor cannot contact the issuing bank for authorization. This does not generally indicate issues on the integration end.
Solution: Try running a transaction for that card again. If the issue persist, contact your merchant services provider.
This response may be returned by the Payment Terminal if the software is unable to communicate with our servers/the gateway in some way. Generally speaking, it's caused by an issue with the merchant's local network/internet connection.
Solution: Verify that your internet connection is functioning properly, and try your connection again. If the issue persists, contact the Payment Terminal Services department.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.