Visa · Chargeback reason codes
Visa 11.2 chargeback: Declined Authorization explained
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Visa reason code 11.2, Declined Authorization, means the merchant completed a sale after the issuer declined the authorization or answered with a pick-up response. The bank has 75 days from the processing date to file and must certify the account was flagged, closed or fraudulent. It is not valid if a later approval was obtained for the same purchase, except after pick-up codes 04, 07, 41 or 43. Never complete a declined sale.
- Category
- Authorization
- Time limit for the bank to file
- 75 days from the transaction processing date
- Time limit to respond
- Your processor's deadline (on Stripe usually 7–21 days); under Visa rules the acquirer must answer within 30 days of the dispute processing date
- Typical evidence
- A later approval for the same purchase, or a chip offline approval
- Can it be prevented?
- Yes: never push a declined payment through
- Who usually wins
- The cardholder unless you hold a valid approval
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC checkout only completes an order once the payment is confirmed by the processor, and declined cards are retried only through the processor, so a declined authorization never becomes a shipped order. PlatformDTC answers this kind of dispute with its standard evidence pack built from the order: customer name, email, IP address, billing and shipping address, items bought, carrier, tracking and ship date, the refund policy, and any refund already issued. With "Answer a chargeback automatically" switched on, it sends the response to the bank for you before the deadline.
What it means
The card was declined, but the transaction was still completed and settled.
Why customers file it
A merchant forces a sale after a decline, or a terminal completes an offline sale without approval.
Evidence that wins
Under Visa rules every response can also show that you already refunded and the bank ignored it, that the dispute is invalid, or that the cardholder withdrew it.
- A later approval obtained for the same purchase
- A chip-initiated offline approval
- Hotels, car rentals and cruises: start and end dates plus date, amount and approval code of every approved authorization
How to prevent it
- Never complete a declined sale; ask for another payment method
- Do not reuse an old approval for a new charge
For developers
On Stripe the dispute object arrives with reason "general" and the card network's own code in payment_method_details.card.network_reason_code; listen for charge.dispute.created and read evidence_details.due_by for the deadline.
Authorization (category 11) disputes go straight to pre-arbitration under Visa rules.
Frequently asked questions
- What if I got approval on a second attempt?
- Then 11.2 does not apply, unless the first response was a pick-up code 04, 07, 41 or 43.
- What happened to Visa 11.1?
- Visa 11.1 Card Recovery Bulletin is limited in the October 2026 Visa rules to disputes processed through 23 October 2026, so it no longer applies to new disputes.
Sources
Related
- 11.3 — No valid authorization was obtained, or the transaction was presented late.
- 12.7 — The authorization carried invalid data, such as a merchant category code that does not match settlement.
- 12.2 — The transaction was processed with the wrong code, such as a credit processed as a sale.
- 12.3 — The transaction was processed in a different currency than the one shown to the cardholder.
- 12.4 — The charge was posted to a card number that does not match the cardholder's account.
- 12.5 — The cardholder was charged a different amount than they agreed to.
- 12.6 — The cardholder says they were charged twice, or already paid another way.