When a payment fails, it disrupts both sides of the transaction. The customer wonders what went wrong, and you as a merchant are left uncertain about how to proceed.
Declines can happen anywhere—at checkout, during a recurring payment attempt and even refund.
Every card payment goes through an authorization process. When that process fails, the transaction is declined. To understand why, payment processors provide decline codes—short messages that indicate what caused the issue. Knowing what these codes mean helps you decide what to do next and, in some cases, recover the sale.
Below, we’ll look at how authorization works, cover some of the most common decline types, and describe how to fix each decline code. We’ll also dig into one of the most opaque — 'Do Not Honor' — and explore what you can do about it.
How card authorization works
Card authorization is the process that verifies whether a customer has enough funds or credit to complete a purchase. In short it looks like this:
The customer enters their card details at checkout.
The merchant, through a payment gateway (X-Cart Pay, Stripe, PayPal), sends the authorization request to the payment processor or acquirer.
The acquirer passes it through the card network (Visa, Mastercard) to the issuer — the customer’s bank.
The issuer validates the card (not expired, not blocked), checks for fraud signals, and checks that there is enough funds for the purchase.
If approved, the issuer sends an authorization code and places a temporary hold on the amount. If declined, the transaction is rejected.
When you later capture the payment (manually or automatically), the funds move from the issuer to the acquirer and then to your account (minus fees). If you don't capture the payment before the authorization expires, the hold is released.
What is a decline code
A decline code is a short identifier that indicates why a payment attempt failed. It’s usually returned by the card issuer or payment processor and helps pinpoint the issue so you can address it without guesswork.
The most common types of card declines include:
Insufficient funds: Roughly half of all card declines occur because the customer doesn’t have enough funds or credit available.
Incorrect card details: About one in five declines result from entering an invalid card number, CVV, or expiration date. Re-entering the correct information usually resolves this.
Suspected fraud: Unusually large or unfamiliar transactions may trigger fraud detection. The customer typically needs to verify their identity with their bank before retrying.
Inactive or expired card: Payments from expired or unactivated cards are automatically declined. Customers should activate a new card or choose a different payment method.
Unsupported card network: Some cards aren’t accepted by specific payment gateways or acquirers. Using a processor that supports all major networks helps avoid this issue.
Next, we’ll review the most common decline codes, including those related to the reasons above, and outline how to resolve each whenever possible.
List of card decline codes
Below is a reference list of decline codes returned when a transaction can’t be processed. Each code indicates a specific reason for the failure and helps businesses decide what to do next.
Decline code + Description (Click to expand) | What to do |
| The payment was declined for an unknown or system reason (e.g. gateway/fraud filter). → Ask the customer to contact issuer or try again. |
| |
| Ask the customer to double check and re-enter it or use a different card. |
| Do not share specific details with the customer. Present the message as a generic decline. |
| Ask customer to re-enter the correct card number or use a different card. |
| The customer needs to use another card or add funds and try again. |
| Ask customer to check the code and try again. |
| Ask customer to try again using the correct expiry date. |
| Do not share specific details; ask customer to contact issuer and provide a new card. |
| Do not share specific details with the customer. Present the message as a generic decline. |
| The customer needs to check the card details or use a different card. |
| The customer needs to use another payment method or wait until the limit resets. |
| Retry the payment. If it fails again, try later or contact the payment processor. |
| Attempt the transaction again. |
| Retry the payment with 3D Secure enabled. |
| Do not share specific details with the customer. Present the message as a generic decline. |
| Same as lost card: treat as a fraud decline. |
| Ask the customer to complete the 3D Secure verification correctly or use another card. |
| Retry the payment or ask the customer to re-enter their payment details. |
| The customer needs to use a supported card or another payment method. |
Do Not Honor decline
Code (05) Do Not Honor means the bank declined the transaction without giving a reason. The real issue could be anything—insufficient funds, suspected fraud, or spending limits—but each of those already has its own specific code.
Some banks often return this vague response because many still use outdated infrastructure that can’t generate precise decline reasons. Others may have errors or misconfigurations that default to 'Do Not Honor', even when a clearer code like (51) Insufficient Funds should apply.
Even upgraded systems can produce this response due to faulty logic or data mapping issues.
In any case, here are a few steps you can take to handle 'Do Not Honor' declines:
1. Retry with a fallback processor
1. Retry with a fallback processor
“Do Not Honor” is a soft decline, so you can safely retry. Try routing the transaction through a different processor. It might go through—or at least return a more detailed reason.
2. Check card details
2. Check card details
Incorrect card info often triggers this decline. Prompt the customer to re-enter their details and try again.
3. Offer another payment method
3. Offer another payment method
Ask the customer to use another card, digital wallet, open banking option, or Buy Now, Pay Later method.
If none of the above help, the customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.
I’m Getting Too Many 'Do Not Honor' Declines
If you’re seeing many Do Not Honor declines, start by checking where they come from. If most come from a few specific banks, the issue may be on their side.
You can identify this by reviewing decline data. Compare the Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) of the declined cards to see if the problem is concentrated with certain banks, regions, or card types.
The BIN is the first 6–8 digits of a card, which identify the issuing bank and country.
If you notice a pattern, have your payment processor contact the banks directly. This can help resolve the issue and increase approval rates for future transactions.
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