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Decline codes

Checkout.com decline codes: what each response code means

Checked

Checkout.com answers every payment with a five-digit response_code. 20xxx codes are soft declines that may pass later, 30xxx codes are hard declines that need the bank or cardholder to fix something first, and 4xxxx codes are risk responses from your own rules or Checkout.com's. Each page below gives the plain meaning, whether Visa allows a retry, what the shopper and the store should do, and how PlatformDTC handles the code when a store connects its own Checkout.com account.

Response codeMeaning
20001The bank declined and wants the shopper to contact it before it will approve.
20002The bank declined under its own special conditions and refers the shopper back to it.
20003The payment failed for a technical reason on the merchant or acquirer side, not because of the card.
20005The bank declined without giving a reason. The most common generic refusal.
20012The bank says this transaction type is not allowed for the card. Visa says never retry it.
20013The amount sent with the payment was invalid for the bank or the network.
20014The card number does not exist at the bank. Usually a typo. Visa says never retry it.
20019The bank could not process it this time and asks for the payment to be sent again.
20030The payment message had a format the network or bank could not read.
20046The bank declined the payment. Like do not honour, no reason is given.
20051The card does not have enough available balance or credit for this amount.
20054The card's expiry date has passed. Only a new card or updated date can work.
20057The card is not allowed to make this kind of payment. Visa says never retry it.
20059The bank suspects the payment is fraudulent and refused it.
20061The card's spending limit for a period was reached.
20062The bank has restricted the card, for example to certain countries or uses.
20063The bank refused for a security reason tied to the card details or authentication.
20064The amount did not match what the bank expected for the original transaction.
20065The card made too many payments in a short time and hit its frequency limit.
20068The bank did not answer in time, so the payment failed.
20075The card is locked after too many wrong PIN attempts.
20078A new or replacement card has not been activated yet.
20082The card's security data failed the bank's checks.
20087The security code or expiry date entered is wrong.
20091The shopper's bank could not be reached, so it could not approve the payment.
20093The bank refused because the payment would break a law or regulation it applies.
20096A system error stopped the payment. Not the shopper's card.
20099The bank returned a response Checkout.com could not map to a known code.
2005CThe bank blocks this kind of transaction on the card.
2009GThe cardholder has blocked payments like this on their own card.
200N7The security code (CVV) entered does not match the card.
200P1The card hit its daily spending limit.
200P9The amount is above a limit on the card; a smaller amount could pass.
200R1The cardholder cancelled this recurring payment with their bank.
200R3The cardholder cancelled all recurring payments to this merchant on the card.
20100The expiry date was sent in a format the network could not accept.
20102A merchant or wallet identifier in the payment was not valid.
20103This card type or payment method is not supported for the payment.
20104Checkout.com's gateway rejected the transaction as invalid.
20105Checkout.com's gateway rejected the payment for breaking a rule.
20108The bank has newer card details for this customer. The old card will not work.
20112The store's account is not set up for Mastercard's 3-D Secure.
20150The card is not enrolled in 3-D Secure, so the authentication step could not run.
20151The shopper did not pass the bank's verification step.
20152The bank's verification step was left unfinished for 15 minutes and expired.
20153A fault in the 3-D Secure system stopped the payment.
20154The bank requires 3-D Secure verification before it will approve.
20157The store's Checkout.com configuration is invalid for this payment.
20159The bank's authentication server failed during 3-D Secure.
20179The card data is no longer valid, for example an outdated card.
20182The payment does not comply with the card's policies.
20183The payment is suspected to be fraudulent.
30004The bank wants the card taken out of use, without saying fraud. Never retry.
30007The bank withdrew the card under special conditions. Never retry.
30015The card number does not belong to any known bank. Usually a typo.
30020The payment amount was not valid.
30021The card has reached its total spending limit.
30022The card has reached its limit on the number of transactions.
30033The card is expired and the bank wants it taken out of use.
30034The bank suspects fraud and wants the card withdrawn. Never retry.
30035The bank withdrew the card and refers the merchant to its acquirer.
30036The card is restricted and the bank wants it withdrawn.
30037The bank withdrew the card and asks the acquirer's security team to call.
30041The card was reported lost. Never retry it.
30043The card was reported stolen. Never retry, and be careful with the order.
30044An anonymous prepaid card cannot pay more than 50 EUR under EU anti-money-laundering rules.
30046The card's account is closed. Never retry.
41101Blocked by one of your own client-level risk rules in Checkout.com.
41201The card number is on your client-level decline list.
41202The card's bank range (BIN) is on your client-level decline list.
41203The shopper's email address is on your client-level decline list.
41204The shopper's phone number is on your client-level decline list.
41205The shopper's IP address is on your client-level decline list.
41206The email domain is on your client-level decline list.
41301The payment's fraud score was above the threshold you set.
42101Blocked by an entity-level risk rule in Checkout.com.
42201The card number is on an entity-level decline list.
42301The fraud score was above an entity-level threshold.
43101Checkout.com itself declined the payment as high risk.
43102Blocked by a Checkout.com decline rule or fraud model, named in the summary.
43201The card is on Checkout.com's own decline list.
43202The card's BIN is on Checkout.com's own decline list.
43205The shopper's IP is on Checkout.com's own decline list.
43301Checkout.com's Autopilot declined the payment for a high fraud score.
43401Checkout.com requires 3-D Secure authentication before this payment can go through.

How retries work on Checkout.com

Visa sorts declines into four categories. Category 1 (issuer will never approve) must not be retried. Categories 2, 3 and 4 allow at most 15 retries in 30 days, and Visa charges fees beyond that. Checkout.com pairs each category with a recommendation code: 03 do not try again, 02 try again later, 01 updated or additional information required.

For Mastercard, Checkout.com returns the merchant advice code in processing.partner_merchant_advice_code. Codes 03 and 21 mean do not try again; 24 to 30 give a wait from one hour to 10 days after an insufficient-funds decline.

Checkout.com on PlatformDTC

A PlatformDTC store can connect its own Checkout.com account and take card payments through Checkout.com Flow, including subscription renewals charged to the stored card.

When a payment is declined, PlatformDTC reads the response_code and sorts it into reroute, try later, needs 3-D Secure, never retry or fraud stop. Only reroute codes can trigger the store's backup, PayPal card fields, and only if the store chose it. Renewal payments that Checkout.com reports as Pending or Retry Scheduled are not treated as declines. Subscription renewals on Checkout.com use the same decline classes as Stripe renewals: low funds (20051) follows the payday schedule, "do not honour" and bank declines (20005, 20046) get one more try, temporary errors are retried over 8 days, and expired, lost, stolen, closed or restricted cards, every 30xxx hard decline and every 4xxxx risk response stop at once and ask the customer for a new card.

Similar decline lists exist at entity and Checkout.com level for each field (42202 to 42206, 43203, 43204, 43206); this library covers the distinct ones and explains the levels on each page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Checkout.com 20xxx and 30xxx codes?
Checkout.com says 20xxx are soft declines where later attempts may succeed, and 30xxx are hard declines where most need the issuer or cardholder to fix something before a retry.
Do 4xxxx codes come from the bank?
No. They are risk responses from your Fraud Detection rules or from Checkout.com's own checks, decided before the bank is asked.

Sources

Payments library