When your payment gateway rejects a transaction, a credit card decline appears in the log. Knowing what these codes mean, how to prevent the decline, or (at the very least) making the sale improves your acceptance rate and keeps your merchant account healthy.
For each decline, your payment processor generates a specific two-digit code that reveals (most of the time) exactly why the issuing bank or card issuer refused to authorize the purchase.
Master these error codes and address the issue with our guide to the most common declines for December and January.
How Payment Gateways Work with Decline Codes
Payment gateways work by encrypting customer card details and transmitting them through payment processors to the issuing bank for authorization.
The gateway collects card information, sends it to the payment processor, which then communicates with the customer’s bank to verify sufficient funds and approve or decline the transaction.
When a decline occurs, the issuing bank sends a specific card decline code back through the card network to your merchant account, and this entire process happens in just seconds.
Understanding how payment gateways work helps you identify where in the payment processing chain the failure occurred and what action you should take.
Soft Declines vs. Hard Declines
Decline codes fall into two main categories that determine whether you can retry the transaction.
Soft declines happen when the issuing bank approves the transaction temporarily, but the payment gateway rejects it due to fixable issues like insufficient funds, incorrect billing information, or suspected fraud flags. You can often resolve soft declines by retrying the transaction later or asking customers to contact their bank to verify the purchase.
Hard declines are permanent authorization failures where the card issuer permanently blocks the transaction. Common reasons include expired cards, stolen card reports, closed accounts, or invalid card numbers. You cannot retry hard declines. Instead, you must request an alternative payment method from your customer to complete the sale.
BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR DECLINES
Most Common Credit Card Decline Codes for December and January
Business owners encounter certain card decline codes more frequently during the holiday season and new year period. Here are the codes you should recognize:
Code 51 — Insufficient Funds: The cardholder lacks enough money or has exceeded their credit limit to cover the purchase. This code appears frequently after holiday spending when customers max out their credit cards.
Code 05 — Do Not Honor: The issuing bank refuses to accept the transaction without providing a specific reason. Your customer should try another card or contact their bank to resolve the issue.
Code 54 — Expired Card: The expiration date on the payment card has passed, making it invalid. This code spikes in January when many cards issued years earlier reach their expiration date.
Code 59 — Suspected Fraud: The card issuer flags the transaction as potentially fraudulent based on unusual spending patterns or location. Holiday shopping often triggers these flags when customers make multiple large purchases.
Code 04 — Pick Up Card: The issuing bank suspects the card is lost or stolen and requests that you retain it. Never retry this transaction. The cardholder must contact their bank directly.
Code 14 — Invalid Card Number: The card number entered doesn’t exist or contains errors. This typically results from typos during online payment processing.
Code 43 — Stolen Card: The real owner reported this card stolen, and the issuing bank blocks all transactions. This represents a hard decline requiring an alternative payment method.
Code 82 — CVV Check Failed: The security code doesn’t match the card issuer’s records. Ask your customer to verify and re-enter their card details carefully.
Additional Problem Codes
Code 57 — Transaction Not Permitted: The payment card cannot be used for this specific type of transaction. Some cards restrict online purchases, international transactions, or specific merchant categories.
Code 61 — Exceeds Withdrawal Limit: The transaction amount surpasses the cardholder’s daily or per-transaction limit. Customers can contact their bank to temporarily increase limits or split the purchase into smaller transactions.
Code 65 — Activity Limit Exceeded: The cardholder reached their maximum number of transactions for the day. This code appears more frequently during busy shopping periods like December.
Code 91 — Card Issuer Unavailable: The payment processor cannot reach the issuing bank to authorize the transaction. Retry the transaction after a few minutes or hours.
How to Prevent Common Decline Codes
Business owners can reduce declined transactions by implementing certain prevention strategies. These approaches address issues before they trigger card decline codes.
Verify Customer Information Automatically
Implement address verification systems (AVS) and CVV checks to confirm customer identity and ensure accurate card details before processing. Your payment gateway should validate card numbers, expiration dates, and billing addresses in real-time during checkout.
Display clear error messages that prompt customers to correct typos or missing data before submitting payment.
Use Fraud Prevention Tools
Deploy fraud detection software and 3D Secure authentication to identify suspicious transactions before they reach the issuing bank. Machine learning models analyze transaction patterns and distinguish legitimate purchases from fraudulent attempts.
Optimize your billing descriptor, the name that appears on customer statements, to clearly identify your business and prevent fraud alerts.
Communicate with Customers Proactively
Send pre-billing notifications 3-7 days before processing recurring payments or subscription renewals. These reminders give customers time to update expired cards, add funds to their accounts, or contact their bank about potential fraud flags.
Prompt customers regularly to update payment information, especially expiration dates and addresses. Alternatively, you can activate VAU and MAU for automatic card updates.
Implement Smart Retry Logic
Schedule automatic retries for soft declines at optimal times, such as after payday or during lower fraud-risk hours. Mastercard allows up to 10 retry attempts within 24 hours, while Visa permits 15 retries within 30 days.
Use network tokenization to automatically update card information when banks issue replacement cards, preventing declines from expired or reissued cards.
How to Save the Sale After a Decline
When a credit card decline happens, you still have multiple opportunities to complete the transaction and retain the customer.
Offer Alternative Payment Methods Immediately
Display backup payment options directly in your decline error message. Popular alternative payment methods include PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Buy Now Pay Later services.
These digital wallets often achieve higher approval rates because they include tokenization and additional security layers. For high-value B2B transactions, consider offering bank transfers or invoice payment options even if you don’t normally provide these methods.
Use Multiple Payment Processors
Register for a fallback merchant account with a different payment processor than your primary one. When a transaction fails through your first payment gateway, automatically route the second attempt through your backup processor, which uses different networks and may successfully authorize the same card.
Choose processors in different geographical locations to maximize your chances of approval across various banking networks.
Communicate Clearly with Customers
Explain the specific reason for the decline using plain language instead of technical error codes. Guide customers to contact their bank when codes 01, 05, or 70 appear, as these require issuer intervention.
For suspected fraud codes (59 or 596), reassure customers that they can often resolve the issue by calling their bank to verify the legitimate purchase.
Address Technical Issues Quickly
For codes indicating system problems (06, 19, 96), inform customers that the issue is temporary and ask them to retry in a few minutes.
When invalid card numbers or expired dates trigger declines, implement real-time validation that catches these errors before submission rather than after. Send automated prompts via email, SMS, or in-app notifications when transactions fail due to outdated card information.
Protect Your Merchant Account
Excessive declines and chargebacks can lead to penalties or termination of your merchant account. Monitor your decline patterns regularly to identify recurring issues and optimize your payment processing setup. Stay compliant with industry regulations like PCI-DSS and implement 3D Secure 2 for European transactions to meet PSD2 requirements.
Turn credit card declines from lost revenue into opportunities to strengthen customer relationships and improve your payment systems. By implementing prevention strategies, offering alternative payment methods, and communicating clearly with customers, you can recover a significant percentage of declined sales and build a more resilient payment processing infrastructure for your business.
