Fix a declined payment
The task article: what to do now, in order, with the decision points named.
A declined payment means the attempt was refused. No money left your account. The invoice is still open and still payable.
This page takes about two minutes. Work through it in order; the steps are arranged so the most common cause is first.
Before you start
Do not just try the same card again. If you've already retried two or three times, stop and read why retrying usually fails first. Repeated attempts make the next one more likely to be refused, not less.
Find your decline message. It appeared on the payment page and it's in the email we sent when the attempt failed. You'll need the exact wording.
Step 1: Check the three things that cause most declines
In order of how often they're the answer:
The card expired. Check the expiry date against today. A card that expired last month still looks valid on the plastic and is refused every time.
The billing address doesn't match. It must match the address your bank has on file for that card, not your delivery address and not your office address. Moving without telling your bank is a common cause of this, and the error message rarely says so.
The card is blocked for online or international payments. Many banks turn these off by default, especially on newer cards and on debit cards. Nothing on the card tells you. The decline message won't say it either.
If one of these was it, fix it and pay the invoice again.
Step 2: Look up your decline message
If step 1 didn't resolve it, the message tells you what to do next.
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Insufficient funds | Not enough available balance | Pay from a different card, or retry after funds clear |
| Card expired | Past the expiry date | Use a current card |
| Incorrect details | A number, date, or security code is wrong | Re-enter carefully; do not paste |
| Card declined | Your bank refused without saying why | Go to step 3 |
| Do not honor | Your bank refused and will not give a reason | Go to step 3 |
| Payment system unavailable | A temporary network problem on our side | Wait ten minutes and try again |
The full list is in decline reasons, explained, including what each one means for whether trying again can work.
Step 3: Call your bank
Only two messages need this: card declined and do not honor. Both mean your bank refused and didn't say why. We can't see the reason. Retrying will not reveal it.
The number to call is on the back of your card. Don't use a number from a search result or from an email.
Ask them: "Can you tell me why a payment to this merchant was declined on [date]? Is there a block on the card for online or international payments?"
Most of these turn out to be a fraud-prevention hold triggered by an unfamiliar merchant. Your bank can release it while you're on the phone, and the next attempt usually succeeds.
Step 4: Pay a different way
If your bank can't resolve it, or you need the invoice settled today:
Use a different card. The fastest option. A card from a different bank avoids whatever the first bank is objecting to.
Pay by bank transfer. The details are at the bottom of your invoice. Use the invoice number as the payment reference, or the transfer will arrive without anything to match it to and will sit unapplied.
Bank transfers take one to three business days to appear. If the invoice is due sooner than that, tell us before the due date rather than after; we won't chase an invoice we know is in transit.
After it works
You'll get a receipt by email within a few minutes.
A pending charge from a failed attempt may still be on your statement. That is an authorization, not a charge, and your bank releases it on its own schedule, usually within five business days. We can't release it sooner, and contacting us about it won't speed it up. If it's still there after ten business days, ask your bank about it directly.
If several attempts failed, check you weren't charged more than once. Only one payment should have succeeded. If you see two, contact us with both receipt numbers and we will refund the duplicate.
If none of this worked
Contact us with:
- Your invoice number, beginning
INV- - The exact decline message, word for word
- The date and rough time of your last attempt
- The last four digits of the card. Never the full number.
With those four things we can usually find the attempt in our records on the first look. Without them, the conversation starts with us asking for them.