Troubleshooting card declined errors
Sections
Issue
While checking the status under Order errors from Customers in the merchant portal, in the Errors columns there are ‘card declined’ charge errors. Hovering ‘i’ for more details includes one of the following:
card declined
decline code
card expired
Your customers may also have reported receiving emails stating their credit card has declined.
Customers can receive card declines during checkout, or card decline errors are seen listed in an order status. Cards are declined for a variety of reasons, depending on the customer's bank or credit card. When customers get a card decline error, an automatic email is sent asking them to update the card.
Environment
Click Customers > Order errors to view charge errors in the merchant portal.
This error can occur on multiple platforms and with each payment process. Some card decline errors are unique to a payment processor, such as decline code
is a Stripe specific card decline error.
- Shopify Payments: Troubleshoot Shopify Payments
- Stripe: Understanding declines and failed payments
- Braintree: Transactions - Declines
- Authorize.net: Why was my transaction declined?
Resolution
Instruct customers with card declined error messages to contact their financial institution directly. Manually retry the charge when the customer resolves the decline with their financial institution. Click the three dots next to the Error column and select Retry charge.
The customer should contact their bank to determine the issue if they periodically receive card decline errors even after updating their card. There may be something specific to their account that is blocking transactions from happening.
If the declining still continues, have the customer remove and re-add the payment method
Ask the customer to remove their payment method from their customer portal, and re-enter it again. Alternatively, they could try a different payment method.
If the errors still persist after troubleshooting
Contact your payment processor support for further assistance.