What are payments
Payments update in response to actions taken by the customer when trying to pay the invoice. Each invoice has a payment that is associated with it.
What do the payment status' mean?
Status | Description | Next Steps |
processing / incomplete | Wait for the initiated payment to succeed or fail. | None needed. The customer may have dropped off or is still in the process of buying. |
succeeded | The customer’s payment succeeded | Fulfill the purchased goods or services |
payment failed, requires payment method, incomplete | The customer’s payment was declined by a card network or otherwise expired | Reach out to your customer and prompt them to provide another payment method
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refunded | You returned part of the payment back to the customer. | None |
Why did my customer's card decline
Payments may fail due to a range of factors, causing frustration when legitimate business is affected. Many payment failures occur for valid reasons, often aimed at mitigating potential fraudulent transactions.
Upon submitting a charge to your customer's card issuer, automated systems and models evaluate its authorization. These systems consider diverse signals, including the customer's spending patterns, account balance, and card details such as the expiration date, address, and CVC.
Should the card issuer decline a payment, we share the available information on the decline with you to provide insights into the situation. On occasions, card issuers may offer informative clarifications, such as indicating errors in the card number or expiration date, or highlighting insufficient funds in the customer's account for completing the payment.
What do the decline codes mean?
Cards can be declined for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the card is just incorrect and needs to be retried. Most commonly, the card either needs to be re-run or the customer needs to contact their card issuer to make sure their card can be used to make this type of purchase.
Below are some of the decline codes and what they mean so that you can best troubleshoot with the customer.
Code | Description | Next Steps |
card_not_supported | The card does not support this type of purchase. | The customer needs to contact their card issuer to make sure their card can be used to make this type of purchase.
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do_not_honor | The card was declined for an unknown reason. | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
expired_card | The card has expired. | The customer needs to use another card. |
generic_decline | The card was declined for an unknown reason. | The customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information. |
incorrect_number | The card number is incorrect. | The customer needs to try again using the correct card number. |
incorrect_cvc | The CVC number is incorrect. | The customer needs to try again using the correct CVC. |
incorrect_pin | The PIN entered is incorrect. This decline code only applies to payments made with a card reader. | The customer needs to try again using the correct PIN. |
incorrect_zip | The postal code is incorrect. | The customer needs to try again using the correct billing postal code. |
insufficient_funds | The card has insufficient funds to complete the purchase. | The customer needs to use an alternative payment method. |
invalid_account | The card, or account the card is connected to, is invalid. | The customer needs to contact their card issuer to check that the card is working correctly. |
invalid_amount | The payment amount is invalid, or exceeds the amount that’s allowed. | 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 CVC number is incorrect. | The customer needs to try again using the correct CVC. |
invalid_expiry_month | The expiration month is invalid. | The customer needs to try again using the correct expiration date. |
invalid_expiry_year | The expiration year is invalid. | The customer needs try again using the correct expiration date. |
invalid_number | The card number is incorrect. | The customer needs try again using the correct card number. |
pickup_card | The customer can’t use this card to make this payment (it’s possible it was reported lost or stolen). | They need to contact their card issuer for more information.
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try_again_later | The card was declined for an unknown reason. | Ask the customer to attempt the payment again. If subsequent payments are declined, the customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.
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Other reason not listed above | The card was declined for an unknown reason. | Ask the customer to attempt the payment again. If subsequent payments are declined, the customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.
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