Decline Codes

On this page

• Popular in This Section
• Quick Reference: Most Common Codes
• ISO 8583 Standard Codes (All Networks)
  • Approval Codes
  • Card Issues
  • Fraud/Security
  • Funds/Limits
  • Authorization Issues
  • PIN-Related (Card-Present Only)
  • Technical Issues
  • Other
• Visa-Specific Codes
  • Visa Credential-on-File Codes
• Mastercard-Specific Codes
  • Standard Mastercard Codes
  • Mastercard Merchant Advice Codes (MAC)
• American Express Codes
  • Approval Codes
  • Decline Codes
• Discover Codes
  • Discover Stop Payment Codes
• Soft vs Hard Declines
  • Soft Declines (Retriable)
  • Hard Declines (Not Retriable)
  • Gray Area Declines
• Decline Code Categories for Reporting
• Test to Run
• Scale Callout
• Where This Breaks
• Next Steps
• Related Resources

Prerequisites

Before diving into decline codes, understand:

• Auth optimization - Improving approval rates
• Checkout conversion - Impact on conversions
• Processor management - Acquirer relationships

Popular in This Section

• Most Common Codes - Top decline codes with retry guidance and customer messaging
• Soft vs Hard Declines - Which declines to retry and which to stop
• Mastercard Merchant Advice Codes - Avoid fees by respecting MAC 03/21 rules
• Visa-Specific Codes - Credential-on-file and authentication codes

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When a transaction is declined, the issuing bank returns a response code indicating the reason. These codes follow the ISO 8583 standard, though each network has variations. Understanding codes helps you optimize authorization rates and customer communication.

CP vs CNP

Decline codes apply to both card-present and card-not-present transactions. However, CNP sees higher decline rates overall (typically 10-15% vs 2-5% for CP). Some codes are CP-specific (PIN-related), while others like 3DS authentication codes are CNP-only.

Quick Reference: Most Common Codes

Code	Meaning	Retry?	What to Tell Customer
05	Do Not Honor	Maybe after 24h	"Please contact your card issuer"
51	Insufficient Funds	After customer action	"Card declined - check available balance"
54	Expired Card	No	"Card has expired - use a different card"
14	Invalid Card Number	No	"Please verify your card number"
41/43	Lost/Stolen Card	No	"Card cannot be used - contact issuer"
65	Activity Limit Exceeded	After 24h	"Daily limit reached - try tomorrow"
91	Issuer Unavailable	Yes, retry shortly	"Temporary issue - please try again"

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ISO 8583 Standard Codes (All Networks)

These codes are defined by ISO 8583 and used across Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and (partially) American Express.

Approval Codes

Code	Description	Action
00	Approved	Transaction successful
08	Honour with identification	Approved, verify ID
10	Partial approval	Approved for partial amount only
11	Approved (VIP)	Approved
16	Approved, update track 3	Approved, card data update needed

Card Issues

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
14	Invalid card number	No	Ask customer to verify card number
15	No such issuer	No	Card prefix doesn't match any issuer
33	Expired card (alternate)	No	Request different card
54	Expired card	No	Request different card
56	No card record	No	Card not on issuer's file

Fraud/Security

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
04	Pick up card	No	Do not return card (CP only)
07	Pick up card, special condition (fraud)	No	Do not return card (CP only)
34	Suspected fraud	No	Do not proceed
41	Lost card	No	Card reported lost
43	Stolen card	No	Card reported stolen
59	Suspected fraud	No	Do not proceed
63	Security violation	Maybe	CVV/CVC mismatch possible - verify

Funds/Limits

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
51	Insufficient funds	After customer action	Customer needs to add funds
52	No checking account	No	Wrong account type
53	No savings account	No	Wrong account type
61	Exceeds withdrawal amount limit	After 24h	Daily limit reached
65	Exceeds withdrawal frequency limit	After 24h	Too many transactions today

Authorization Issues

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
01	Refer to card issuer	No	Customer must call issuer
02	Refer to card issuer (special condition)	No	Customer must call issuer
03	Invalid merchant	No	Check merchant ID configuration
05	Do not honor	Maybe after 24h	Generic decline - customer should call issuer
06	Error	No	Check transaction details
12	Invalid transaction	No	Transaction type not allowed
13	Invalid amount	No	Check amount formatting
57	Transaction not permitted to cardholder	No	Card restricted from this transaction type
58	Transaction not permitted to terminal	No	Terminal not configured for this type
62	Restricted card	No	Card has restrictions

PIN-Related (Card-Present Only)

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
55	Incorrect PIN	Yes (limited)	Customer can retry with correct PIN
75	Allowable PIN tries exceeded	No	Card locked - customer must call issuer
86	Cannot verify PIN	Yes	Technical issue with PIN verification

Technical Issues

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
19	Re-enter transaction	Yes	Retry the transaction
22	Suspected malfunction	Yes	Retry shortly
30	Format error	No	Check message format
31	Bank not supported by switch	No	Routing issue
68	Response received too late	Yes	Timeout - retry
90	Cutoff is in process	Yes	Batch processing in progress
91	Issuer or switch inoperative	Yes	Retry in a few minutes
92	Financial institution cannot be found	Yes	Routing issue - retry
96	System malfunction	Yes	Retry shortly

Other

Code	Description	Retry?	Merchant Action
17	Customer cancellation	No	Customer cancelled
21	No action taken	No	No specific reason provided
93	Transaction cannot be completed - violation of law	No	Cannot proceed
94	Duplicate transmission	No	Already processed

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Visa-Specific Codes

Visa uses additional alphanumeric codes beyond the standard ISO 8583 set.

Code	Description	Retry?	Notes
1A	Authentication required	Yes	3DS authentication needed
6P	Customer ID verification failed	No	Identity verification failed
N4	Exceeds issuer withdrawal limit	After 24h	Similar to code 61
N7	CVV2 failure	Yes	Re-enter security code
P1	Issuer not available	Yes	Retry shortly
R0	Stop payment order	No	Recurring payment stopped by cardholder
R1	Revocation of authorization order	No	Cardholder revoked authorization
R3	Revocation of all authorizations	No	All recurring authorizations cancelled
Z1	Offline declined	No	Card declined offline
Z3	Unable to go online, offline declined	No	Could not connect, declined locally

Visa Credential-on-File Codes

Code	Description	Retry?	Action
R0	Customer requested stop recurring	No	Remove customer from billing
R1	Revocation of specific authorization	No	Contact customer for new payment method
R3	Revocation of all authorizations	No	Contact customer - all stored credentials invalid

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Mastercard-Specific Codes

Standard Mastercard Codes

Code	Description	Retry?	Notes
70	Contact card issuer	Yes	Customer should verify with bank
78	No account	No	Account doesn't exist
79	Life cycle decline	No	Card status changed (closed, blocked)
82	CVV/CVC check failed	Yes	Re-enter security code
83	Fraud/security decline	No	High-risk transaction blocked

Mastercard Merchant Advice Codes (MAC)

Since November 2021, Mastercard groups declines into categories with Merchant Advice Codes. Retrying after MAC 03 or 21 within 30 days incurs fees.

MAC	Meaning	Action
01	Updated information needed	Use Account Updater (for codes 79, 82) or 3DS (for code 83)
02	Try again later	Retry is allowed
03	Do not retry	Do NOT retry - fees apply if you do
21	Payment cancelled	Do NOT retry - cardholder cancelled

Fee for violating MAC 03/21: $0.03 per retry (as of January 2022). This adds up fast on subscription retry logic.

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American Express Codes

American Express uses a different code structure, primarily 3-digit numeric codes.

Approval Codes

Code	Description	Action
000	Approved	Transaction successful
001	Approve with ID	Approved, verify identification
002	Partial authorization	Approved for partial amount

Decline Codes

Code	Description	Retry?	Notes
100	Deny	Yes	General decline
101	Expired card / invalid expiration date	No	Card expired
106	PIN tries exceeded	Yes (with PIN reset)	Card locked for PIN
109	Invalid service establishment	Yes	Merchant setup issue
110	Invalid amount	Yes	Check amount formatting
111	Invalid account	No	Account doesn't exist
115	Requested function not supported	No	Transaction type not allowed
117	Incorrect PIN	Yes	Retry with correct PIN
119	Transaction not permitted (PIN)	No	Restriction on account
122	Invalid keyed card security code	Yes	CID incorrect - re-enter
125	Additional customer identification required	Yes	Need more verification
130	Invalid effective date on card	Yes	Check card dates
181	Format error	Yes	Message format issue
183	Invalid currency code	No	Currency not supported
187	Deny - new card issued	Yes	New card exists, get from customer
200	Deny - pick up card	No	Card reported lost/stolen
911	Card issuer timed out	Yes	Retry shortly
912	Host unavailable	Yes	Retry shortly
D2	Invalid service code, restricted	No	Card restricted
D4	Invalid transaction	No	Transaction type not allowed

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Discover Codes

Discover primarily uses the standard ISO 8583 codes (00-99). Key Discover-specific behaviors:

Code	Discover-Specific Notes
05	Generic decline - common on Discover
51	Insufficient funds - same as other networks
54	Expired card
57	Transaction not permitted - may indicate international restriction
62	Often means Discover not accepted at terminal

Discover Stop Payment Codes

Code	Description	Action
R0	Stop payment order	Customer requested stop - do not retry
R1	Revocation of authorization	Remove stored credential

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Soft vs Hard Declines

Soft Declines (Retriable)

Temporary issues that may resolve with time or retry:

Category	Codes	Strategy
Issuer unavailable	91, 92, 96	Retry immediately, then with exponential backoff
Processing errors	19, 22, 68	Retry once immediately
Timeout	911, 912	Retry in 30-60 seconds
Authentication needed	1A	Redirect to 3DS

Retry strategy: Auto-retry with exponential backoff. First retry immediately, second at 30 min, third at 4 hours, fourth at 24 hours.

Hard Declines (Not Retriable)

Permanent issues requiring customer action:

Category	Codes	Strategy
Invalid card	14, 15, 54, 56	Request different payment method
Lost/Stolen	41, 43, 200	Do not proceed, contact security if needed
Fraud blocks	04, 07, 34, 59	Do not proceed
Card restrictions	57, 62, 119	Customer must contact issuer
Insufficient funds	51	Notify customer, don't auto-retry

Strategy: Notify customer, request different payment method. Do NOT auto-retry.

Gray Area Declines

Some codes require judgment:

Code	When to Retry	When Not to Retry
05 (Do Not Honor)	First occurrence, retry after 24h	Repeated declines on same card
65 (Activity Limit)	Next calendar day	Same day
51 (Insufficient Funds)	After customer confirms funds added	Never auto-retry
01 (Refer to Issuer)	After customer contacts bank	Until customer confirms resolution

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Decline Code Categories for Reporting

When building decline analytics, group codes into these categories:

Category	Codes	Typical %	Action
Insufficient Funds	51, 65, N4	25-40%	Customer notification
Card Invalid	14, 54, 56, 101	10-15%	Request new card
Do Not Honor	05, 100	15-25%	Contact issuer
Fraud/Security	04, 41, 43, 59	5-10%	Do not retry
Technical	91, 92, 96, 911	5-10%	Auto-retry
Authentication	1A, 125	5-15%	3DS/verification flow
Other	All others	10-20%	Case by case

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Test to Run

Weekly decline analysis:

1. Pull all declines from your processor for last 7 days
2. Group by response code
3. Calculate percentage of total transactions
4. Compare to benchmarks above
5. Investigate any category over 5% of total volume

Monthly retry analysis:

1. Count retries per decline code
2. Calculate retry success rate per code
3. Identify codes you're retrying that never succeed (stop retrying those)
4. Check for Mastercard MAC 03/21 violations

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Scale Callout

Volume	Focus
Under $100K/mo	Know soft vs hard. Don't retry hard declines.
$100K-$1M/mo	Build decline reporting by category. Implement smart retry logic.
Over $1M/mo	Negotiate decline code visibility with processor. Build automated retry rules. Monitor MAC compliance.

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Where This Breaks

Processor code mapping: Your processor may translate network codes to their own codes. Ask for the original network response code, not just their internal code.

Generic declines: Code 05 "Do Not Honor" tells you nothing. Push issuers (through your processor) for more specific codes when possible.

International cards: Same code may mean different things for international issuers. Code 57 especially varies by region.

Retry fees: Mastercard's MAC program penalizes retries on codes 03 and 21. Make sure your retry logic respects these.

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Next Steps

Debugging a specific decline?

1. Find the code in the tables above
2. Check if it's soft or hard
3. Take the recommended action

Building decline handling?

1. Implement soft/hard classification
2. Set up smart retry logic with backoff
3. Build customer messaging by decline type

Improving auth rates?

1. Auth optimization playbook - Full guide
2. Card Account Updater - Keep cards current
3. 3D Secure - Handle authentication declines

Subscription retry strategy?

1. Recurring billing guide - Dunning best practices
2. Respect Mastercard MAC codes - avoid fees
3. Don't retry hard declines ever

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Related Resources

• Auth Optimization - Improving approval rates
• Subscriptions & Recurring - Dunning and retry
• 3D Secure - Authentication declines
• Reason Codes - Chargeback reason codes (different from decline codes)
• Processor Management - Acquirer relationships
• Checkout Conversion - Reducing abandonment
• Benchmarks - Target auth rates
• Card Testing - Fraud causing declines