Stripe · Decline codes
What does the Stripe invalid_amount decline code mean?
Checked
Stripe's invalid_amount decline code means the payment amount is invalid, or exceeds the amount that's allowed. First check the amount itself is right: no extra zeros, correct currency and no zero-value charge. Stripe says that if the amount appears to be correct, the customer needs to check with their card issuer that they can make purchases of that amount. A smaller amount or another card may go through.
- Type
- Data or limit error
- Who declined
- The card's bank
- Retry
- Not unchanged; fix the amount or have the customer check with the bank
- Shopper action
- Ask the bank about purchase limits, or use another card
- Merchant action
- Check the order total and currency are correct
What PlatformDTC does
PlatformDTC's checkout treats invalid_amount as never-retry and does not offer a backup processor for it. On renewals, on the fixed schedule or with Smart retry, the same amount is never re-sent automatically: the subscription is held past due and the customer is asked for another card. The zero-amount pre-renewal card check ignores this code, because a $0 check is not a real amount.
Why it happens
Either the amount sent is not valid for the card (for example wrongly formatted), or it is above a per-purchase limit the bank applies to this card.
What the shopper can do
Ask your bank whether there is a limit on purchases of this size, or pay with another card.
What the store can do
Check the order total, currency and any discounts or add-ons that changed the amount. If the amount is right, point the customer to their bank or another payment method.
For developers
On Visa, raw code 13 is "Invalid amount or currency conversion field overflow" (Visa Category 4, reattempt permitted).
Frequently asked questions
- Why would a normal amount be invalid?
- Stripe says the amount may exceed what's allowed. Some cards cap individual purchases, so the customer should check with their issuer.
- Will retrying the same amount work?
- Unlikely. Change the amount if it was wrong, or have the customer confirm the limit with the bank.
Sources
- Stripe decline codes — Stripe
- Network decline codes — Stripe
Related
- card_velocity_exceeded — The card's balance, credit limit or amount limit has been reached.
- currency_not_supported — The card can't be charged in the currency of the payment.
- duplicate_transaction — An identical payment on the same card was submitted moments ago.
- invalid_cvc — The card's security code (CVC) is incorrect.
- invalid_expiry_month — The card's expiry month is invalid.
- invalid_expiry_year — The card's expiry year is invalid.
- invalid_number — The card number is incorrect.
- invalid_pin — The PIN entered is incorrect.