Card Declined Reason Codes

A list of possible reason codes that may appear in the card.declined "reason" field
Cards
Card Declined Reason Codes
 last updated: 
February 27, 2024

When listening for the card.declined webhook, you will see a "reason" field which may explain why the card authorization was declined. Here's a list of possible reason codes with a brief explanation of each.

Reason code Description
accountInactive Account is not active or deactivated
businessInactive The business is not active or deactivated
cardAllTimeLimitAmountExceeded The card level all time limit amount is exceeded
cardDailyLimitAmountExceeded The card level daily limit amount is exceeded
cardInactive Card is not active or deactivated
cardMccNotAllowed The MCC code is blocked at the card level
cardMonthlyLimitAmountExceeded The card level monthly limit amount is exceeded
cardPerTransactionLimitAmountExceeded The card level per transaction limit amount is exceeded
cardTransactionTypeNotAllowed The transaction type is blocked at the card level (ATM transactions disabled)
cardWeeklyLimitAmountExceeded The card level weekly limit amount is exceeded
cardYearlyLimitAmountExceeded The card level yearly limit amount is exceeded
doNotHonor Card is not honored at this merchant
expiredCard Card has expired
invalidCVV CVV verification failed
invalidPIN Invalid card PIN entered
invalidCryptogram Invalid chip data
invalidCurrency Invalid currency
invalidCVV Invalid card CVV code
invalidIssuer Invalid card issuer
invalidMerchant Merchant is non-functional or there is a problem with the merchant configuration
invalidPIN Invalid card PIN entered
issuerNetworkError Network error connectinng to issuer processor - try running again
issuerTimedOut Card network time out - try running again
lowBalance Insufficient balance for transaction amount
networkUnableToRoute Financial institution or network unknown for routing
noCardAccount The card is cancelled or card number is not found
ofacCountryNotAllowed The country is in OFAC sactioned list
personInactive The person is not active or deactivated
pinTriesExceeded The allowable number of PIN tries exceeded
programAllTimeLimitAmountExceeded The program level all time limit amount is exceeded
programAllTimeLimitCountExceeded The program level all time limit count is exceeded
programCountryNotAllowed The country is blocked at the program level
programDailyLimitAmountExceeded The program level daily limit amount is exceeded
programDailyLimitCountExceeded The program level daily limit count is exceeded
programInactive The program is inactive
programMccNotAllowed The MCC is blocked at the program level
programMerchantNotAllowed The merchant name is blocked at the program level
programMidNotAllowed The merchant ID is blocked at the program level
programMonthlyLimitAmountExceeded The program level monthly limit amount is exceeded
programMonthlyLimitCountExceeded The program level monthly limit count is exceeded
programPerTransactionLimitAmountExceeded The program level per transaction limit amount is exceeded
programPerTransactionLimitCountExceeded The program level per transaction limit count is exceeded
programTransactionNotAllowed All transactions are blocked at the program level
programTransactionTypeNotAllowed The transaction type is blocked at the program level
programWeeklyLimitAmountExceeded The program level weekly limit amount is exceeded
programWeeklyLimitCountExceeded The program level weekly limit count is exceeded
programYearlyLimitAmountExceeded The program level yearly limit amount is exceeded
programYearlyLimitCountExceeded The program level yearly limit count is exceeded
reenterTransaction The transaction has not been processed for an unknown reason - try again
suspectedFraud The transaction was declined for suspected fraud

Here's a sample response for the card.declined webhook that illustrates the reason code:

  1. {
  2.    "eventType": "card.declined",
  3.    "data": {
  4.      "cardId": "crd-d9ee9776-f244-46d7-8d08-0f6317f61442",
  5.      "amount": "1000.00",
  6.      "currency": "USD",
  7.      "status": "closed",
  8.      "reason": "lowBalance",
  9.      "approved": "false",
  10.      "method": "",
  11.      "merchant": {
  12.        "merchantName": "CVS PHARMACY",
  13.        "merchantCity": "SAN JOSE",
  14.        "merchantState": "CA",
  15.        "merchantCountry": "CAN",
  16.        "postalCode": "",
  17.        "merchantCategory": "Bakeries",
  18.        "merchantCategoryCode": "5462"
  19.      },
  20.      "createdAt": "2021-11-15T08:13:19.650542275Z"
  21.    }
  22.  }