Checkout.com · Decline codes
What does Checkout.com 20093 “Transaction cannot be completed; violation of law” mean?
Checked
Checkout.com 20093 "Transaction cannot be completed; violation of law" means the issuer refused the payment on legal or regulatory grounds. Checkout.com tells the shopper to try a different card or contact the bank. Visa lists the code in category 2, but a retry only helps if whatever triggered the legal block has changed.
- 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 payment method or contact the bank
- Merchant action
- Offer alternatives; check whether the product or country is restricted
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC leaves Checkout.com 20093 unclassified for routing, which by design means no reroute: a wrong move to a second processor can draw network fines, so the shopper sees the decline on Checkout.com. A subscription renewal declined with 20093 is never retried: the subscription is held past due and the customer is emailed a link to add a new card.
Why it happens
Banks must refuse payments that breach rules they are subject to, for example sanctions or local restrictions on a product type.
What the shopper can do
Contact the bank to understand the block, or use another payment method.
What the store can do
If many shoppers from one country see 20093, check whether your products or that market are restricted for card payments.
For developers
The payment comes back with status Declined, response_code 20093 and a response_summary such as "Transaction cannot be completed; violation of law" (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.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Checkout.com 20093 mean my store broke the law?
- No. The bank applied a legal rule to this payment; it does not judge your business.
- Should I retry 20093?
- Not automatically. Visa allows category 2 retries, but the same payment will meet the same rule.
Sources
- API response codes — Checkout.com
- Visa response codes — Checkout.com
- Mapping to Visa system integrity fee categories — Adyen
Related
- 20082 — The card's security data failed the bank's checks.
- 2005C — The bank blocks this kind of transaction on the card.
- 20078 — A new or replacement card has not been activated yet.
- 20096 — A system error stopped the payment. Not the shopper's card.
- 20099 — The bank returned a response Checkout.com could not map to a known code.
- 2009G — The cardholder has blocked payments like this on their own card.
- 200N7 — The security code (CVV) entered does not match the card.
- 200P1 — The card hit its daily spending limit.