Adyen · Decline codes
What does Adyen refusal reason 38 “Authentication required” mean?
Checked
Adyen refusal reason 38, "Authentication required", means the issuer declined the authentication exemption request and requires authentication for the transaction. Adyen's instruction is to retry with 3D Secure. Its raw responses call this a "soft decline": 1A for Visa and 65 for Mastercard, typically for payments in scope of PSD2 that skipped 3D Secure.
- Type
- Soft decline (authentication)
- Who declined
- The shopper's card issuer
- Retry
- Yes, with 3D Secure and the shopper present.
- Shopper action
- Try again and complete the bank's verification.
- Merchant action
- Retry with 3D Secure.
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC does not connect to Adyen; its checkout runs on Stripe and PayPal. The same answer arrives as Stripe's authentication_required; PlatformDTC never retries it without the customer, shows the shopper a hint at checkout, and emails subscribers that their bank needs them to confirm the payment.
Why it happens
Under PSD2 strong customer authentication, merchants can request exemptions from 3D Secure. The issuer refused the exemption and wants the cardholder authenticated.
What the shopper can do
Pay again and approve the verification your bank shows.
What the store can do
Resubmit with 3D Secure while the shopper is present. Off-session charges cannot complete authentication.
For developers
refusalReasonCode "38"; raw 1A (Visa, category 3) or 65 (Mastercard). Retry the same payment with 3D Secure.
Frequently asked questions
- What should I do after Adyen refusal 38?
- Retry the payment with 3D Secure while the shopper is present.
- Is Adyen refusal 38 a real decline?
- It is a soft decline: the bank will likely approve once the shopper authenticates.
Sources
- Adyen refusal reasons — Adyen
- Adyen raw acquirer responses — Adyen
- Mapping to Visa system integrity fee categories (retry limits) — Adyen
- Stripe decline codes — Stripe
Related
- 11 — 3D Secure authentication was not done or did not succeed.
- 42 — 3D Secure failed because of a problem at the card network or issuer.
- 39 — The 3D Secure result never arrived from the card scheme's directory server.
- 46 — Adyen stopped the attempt itself so you are not charged scheme penalty fees for excessive retries.
- 50 — The shopper disabled the token the merchant used for recurring charges.
- 2 — The issuer refused the payment and gave no usable reason; Adyen's catch-all refusal.
- 3 — The issuer referred the payment: it wants the cardholder (or merchant) to contact it first.