Declines can happen for a variety of reasons.
Each cardholder's bank has a system that takes into account various signals, such as the cardholder's spending habits, account balance, and card information like the expiration date and CVV/CVC security number.
Even if all of the card information is entered correctly and the cardholder previously had a successful payment, a future charge can still be declined by a bank’s overzealous fraud systems.
Make sure your card is supported
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, China UnionPay, credit and debit cards.
I entered everything properly, yet the card is declined
⚠️ Please contact your card's issuer/bank to resolve this error. Only the card issuer/bank knows why the transaction was declined and how to correct the issue.
If your card is supported and the entered card information (card number, expiration date, billing zip code, CVV/CVC) is correct but there is still trouble when checking out, then the cardholder's bank is declining the charge and sending the error.
Error Messages
“Your card does not support this type of purchase."
- Some debit cards require a PIN to be entered. If you are using one of these cards, try using another card to make the purchase.
- Some cards have restrictions on international purchases. If the card was issued in a country other than where your business is located, this might be the problem. In this case, the cardholder needs to contact their bank.
- Some cards (often corporate cards or FSA cards) can only be used for certain business categories, like travel or healthcare.
“Your card is not supported.”
- Some payment processors restrict card brands (i.e. Discover, Mastercard) based on the country your store is located in. For example, our payment processor Stripe currently doesn't support Discover cards in Canada.
- The cardholder needs to use a different brand of card that would be supported for the country or business.
“Your card has insufficient funds.”
- The cardholder's bank is saying that they don't have enough funds in their account to cover the costs of the purchase.
- Sometimes cardholders' banks don't properly assess the risk of currency conversion of purchases. If they see that the purchase is in a different currency then the bank will decline the charge as insufficient funds so the currency conversion or the currency conversion fee doesn't overdraw the account.
- If a cardholder sees this error message, they should contact their bank.
“The Zip Code you supplied failed validation."
- The bank is telling the payment processor that the zip code does not match the one it has on file.
- If the cardholder has recently moved, it may take their bank a while to have the correct zip code on file for them.
- If the cardholder hasn't recently moved, they need to call their bank and confirm that the information their bank has on file is correct.
Stripe Error Codes
When a card was declined SyncSketch only receives a simple error code from our payment provider Stripe and their communication from the bank.
Note how most issues lie with the card issuer and can resolved by the card owner contacting the card issuer/bank.
Why you will not see these error codes yourself, this table gives you an idea of the potential causes, and you can always contact us and we can let you know which one your attempted payment received. In most cases the issue is most quickly resolved however by contacting your card issuer/bank.
| Error Code | Explanation |
| approve_with_id | The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, the customer needs to contact their card issuer. |
| call_issuer | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| card_not_supported | The customer needs to contact their card issuer to make sure their card can be used to make this type of purchase. |
| card_velocity_exceeded | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| currency_not_supported | The customer needs check with the issuer that the card can be used for the type of currency specified. |
| do_not_honor | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| do_not_try_again | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| duplicate_transaction | Check to see if a recent payment already exists. |
| expired_card | The customer should use another card. |
| fraudulent | Do not report more detailed information to your customer. Instead, present as you would the generic_decline described below. |
| generic_decline | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| incorrect_number | The customer should try again using the correct card number. |
| incorrect_cvc | The customer should try again using the correct CVC. |
| incorrect_pin | The customer should try again using the correct PIN. |
| incorrect_zip | The customer should try again using the correct billing ZIP/postal code. |
| insufficient_funds | The customer should use an alternative payment method. |
| invalid_account | The customer needs to contact their card issuer to check that the card is working correctly. |
| invalid_amount | If the amount appears to be correct, the customer needs to check with their card issuer that they can make purchases of that amount. |
| invalid_cvc | The customer should try again using the correct CVC. |
| invalid_expiry_year | The customer should try again using the correct expiration date. |
| invalid_number | The customer should try again using the correct card number. |
| invalid_pin | The customer should try again using the correct PIN. |
| issuer_not_available | The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, the customer needs to contact their card issuer. |
| lost_card | The specific reason for the decline should not be reported to the customer. Instead, it needs to be presented as a generic decline. |
| new_account_information_available | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| no_action_taken | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| not_permitted | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| pickup_card | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| pin_try_exceeded | The customer must use another card or method of payment. |
| processing_error | The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, try again later. |
| reenter_transaction | The payment should be attempted again. If it still cannot be processed, the customer needs to contact their card issuer. |
| restricted_card | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| revocation_of_all_authorizations | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| revocation_of_authorization | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| security_violation | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| service_not_allowed | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| stolen_card | The specific reason for the decline should not be reported to the customer. Instead, it needs to be presented as a generic decline. |
| stop_payment_order | The customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| testmode_decline | A genuine card must be used to make a payment. |
| transaction_not_allowed | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
| try_again_later | Ask the customer to attempt the payment again. If subsequent payments are declined, the customer should contact their card issuer for more information. |
| withdrawal_count_limit_exceeded | The customer should use an alternative payment method. |