Checkout.com · Decline codes
What does Checkout.com 20051 “Insufficient funds” mean?
Checked
Checkout.com 20051 "Insufficient funds" means the shopper's card did not have enough money or credit for the amount. Checkout.com tells the shopper to try a different card or contact the bank. Visa puts it in category 2, issuer cannot approve at this time, which allows up to 15 retries in 30 days.
- Type
- Soft decline (20xxx)
- Who declined
- The shopper's card issuer
- Retry
- Later. Visa category 2: at most 15 retries in 30 days
- Shopper action
- Use another card, or pay once funds are available
- Merchant action
- Retry later rather than at once; offer another method now
What PlatformDTC does
In PlatformDTC's routing table Checkout.com 20051 means try later. Checkout keeps the shopper on the same processor rather than offering a backup, because the limit sits with the bank, not with Checkout.com. A subscription renewal declined with 20051 counts as low funds: with Smart retry on it is retried on the subscriber's likely payday, or 2, 5, 8, 13 and 18 days after the first decline, up to six attempts.
Why it happens
The balance or credit line is below the order total at that moment. It changes when the cardholder is paid or pays down the card.
What the shopper can do
Use another card or PayPal, or come back after payday.
What the store can do
At checkout offer another method. For saved cards, retry on a later day; on Mastercard, merchant advice codes 24 to 30 give the exact wait.
For developers
The payment comes back with status Declined, response_code 20051 and a response_summary such as "Insufficient funds" (Checkout.com notes the text can vary by endpoint). Checkout.com's Visa table puts this code in category 2, which it pairs with recommendation code 02 (try again later); read processing.recommendation_code on the response. On Mastercard, follow processing.partner_merchant_advice_code: 03 and 21 mean do not try again, 24 to 30 give a wait of one hour up to 10 days.
Frequently asked questions
- Will Checkout.com 20051 succeed if I retry?
- Often, later. Retrying minutes later rarely works; a retry after the shopper's next payday is far more likely to pass.
- Is 20051 the same as Stripe insufficient_funds?
- Yes: Stripe documents insufficient_funds as the card has insufficient funds to complete the purchase.
Sources
- API response codes — Checkout.com
- Visa response codes — Checkout.com
- Recommendation codes — Checkout.com
- Mapping to Visa system integrity fee categories — Adyen
- Decline codes — Stripe
Related
- 20061 — The card's spending limit for a period was reached.
- 20065 — The card made too many payments in a short time and hit its frequency limit.
- 200P1 — The card hit its daily spending limit.
- 20054 — The card's expiry date has passed. Only a new card or updated date can work.
- 20057 — The card is not allowed to make this kind of payment. Visa says never retry it.
- 20059 — The bank suspects the payment is fraudulent and refused it.
- 20062 — The bank has restricted the card, for example to certain countries or uses.
- 20063 — The bank refused for a security reason tied to the card details or authentication.