- Decline codes come directly from the card issuing bank and Upwork cannot override a decline response code in order to settle the transaction
- If declined, we may attempt to re-run the UPM for another 4 days from the declined date. If the card declines on the 4th day, the account will be suspended. Depending on the decline reason code, we may attempt to charge the card an additional 4 days post suspension. The client account can only be un-suspended once the past due balance is paid. CL can see here to pay past-due balance and here if they need to add a billing method
- If PAY NOW is not available or applicable for the CL and they are stating their CC should be okay to charge now, an agent can run a manual charge against the billing method the CL would like to use, see here
- If the decline reason is marked “compromised”, the system will suspend the client’s account automatically rather than waiting the 4 days. There will be a CSS Note indicating this info
- If there is a CSS Note stating “Automated Suspension” from Payment Risk, see here
- If the CL insists the card is okay and there is no past due balance, see here
Process Map
There are instances where a client may have a restriction on their card and payment is only processed when MCC (Merchant Category Code) is provided to the CC issuing bank. Please have client add the following codes with their bank, if the case: 7399, 7361, and 5968.
IMPORTANT:
If a decline is related to fraud, it’s important to not mention the word fraud at all to ensure we don’t provoke our customer. Always review the “What should the user do next” column when crafting empathetic responses for our customers.
|
“Auth Response” column |
What does this mean? |
What should the user do next? |
|
|
0, 00 |
Transaction Approved |
The transaction was successful |
None |
|
1 |
Refer to Issuer |
The customer’s bank has indicated there is a problem with the credit card. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline. |
|
2 |
Refer to Issuer, special |
The customer’s bank has indicated there is a problem with the credit card. (special conditions) |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline. |
|
3 |
Invalid merchant |
The transaction was refused by the card issuer. |
The customer should contact their bank for clarification. The customer can try again after resolving the issue with their bank, or use another payment method. |
|
4 |
Pick Up/Capture Card |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction and requested that your customer’s credit card be retained. (card reported lost or stolen). |
The customer should contact their bank. The card owner should work with their card issuing bank to approve Upwork charges or to know more about the decline. |
|
5
|
Do not Honor |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction and did not provide further details. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline. |
|
6 |
Error |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as there is a problem with the credit card. |
The customer can re-try entering the CC information and re-attempt the transaction later. |
|
7 |
Pick Up/Capture Card, Special |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction and requested that your customer’s credit card be retained. (card reported lost or stolen) |
The customer should contact their bank. The card owner should work with their card issuing bank to approve Upwork charges or to know more about the decline. |
|
9 |
Request in Progress |
The customer’s bank has indicated there is a problem with the credit card. |
The customer can re-try entering the CC info |
|
12 |
Invalid Transaction |
The customer’s bank declined the request based on the transaction type |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline. If the bank states the MCC code is invalid or they do not allow recurring charges, please see further info below this chart |
|
14 |
Invalid Card Number |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as the Credit Card number does not exist. |
The customer can re-try entering the CC info or wait and attempt again after an hour |
|
15 |
No Issuer |
The customer’s bank does not exist or could be currently offline |
The customer can re-try entering the CC info or wait and attempt again after an hour |
|
19 |
Re-enter Transaction |
The transaction has not been processed. |
The customer can re-try the payment attempt. |
|
21 |
No Action Taken |
The customer’s bank has indicated there is a problem with the credit card. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline. |
|
22 |
Suspected Malfunction |
The customer's bank cannot be contacted during the transaction. |
The customer should check the credit card information and try processing the transaction again. |
|
25 |
Unable to Locate Record on File |
The customer’s bank does not recognize the credit card details. |
The customer can re-try entering the CC info. If it still fails and information is correct, please have the cardholder attempt the transaction later. |
|
30 |
Format Error |
The customer’s bank does not recognize the transaction details. |
The customer can re-try entering the CC info. If it still fails and information is correct, please have the cardholder attempt the transaction later. |
|
31 |
Bank Not Supported By Switch |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as it does not allow transactions originating through mail / telephone, fax, email or Internet orders. |
The Card cannot be used for online transactions or recurring payments. Customer needs to use a different payment method. |
|
33 |
Expired Credit Card, Capture |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as Credit Card has expired or the date is incorrect. |
The customer can re-try entering the CC info. If it still fails and information is correct, please have the cardholder attempt the transaction later. |
|
36 |
Restricted Card, Retain Card |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction and requested that your customer’s credit card be retained. (card reported lost or stolen) |
The customer should contact their bank. The card owner should work with their card issuing bank to approve Upwork charges or to know more about the decline. |
|
39 |
No Credit Account |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as the Credit Card number used is not a credit account. |
The customer should use an alternate credit card or add other payment method. |
|
41 |
Pick Up/Capture Card |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction and requested that your customer’s credit card be retained. (card reported lost or stolen). |
The customer should contact their bank. The card owner should work with their card issuing bank to approve Upwork charges or to know more about the decline. |
|
43 |
Stolen Card |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as the card has been reported stolen. |
The customer should contact their bank. The card owner should work with their card issuing bank to approve Upwork charges or to know more about the decline. |
|
46 |
Closed account |
The account is closed. |
Re-validate the account information. |
|
51 |
Insufficient Funds |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as the credit card does not have sufficient funds or they reached the maximum amount allowed on their credit limit. |
The customer should either add a new upm or pay off existing debt on their card so they will have adequate credit to pay |
|
54 |
Expired Card |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as the credit card appears to have expired. |
The customer should check the expiry date entered and try again, or use an alternate credit card. |
|
55 |
Incorrect PIN |
The customer entered the wrong PIN number |
The customer should retry with the correct PIN number. |
|
57 |
Transaction not permitted to issuer/cardholder |
Transaction not permitted to issuer/cardholder |
The card issuer does not permit the transaction on this card/account. The customer can use another payment method or contact the card issuing bank for more information. |
|
59 |
Suspected Fraud (Internal Only) |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction. |
The customer should contact their bank. The card owner should work with their card issuing bank to approve Upwork charges or to know more about the decline. |
|
61 |
Exceeds Withdrawal Limit |
Transaction will exceed card/account withdrawal frequency limit. |
The customer can try again when their limits reset or use a different payment method. |
|
62 |
Restricted Card |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as the credit card has some restrictions. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
63 |
Security violation |
The card issuer indicated a security issue with this card. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
65 |
Authentication required |
Applies for Mastercard. Authentication is required for the transaction. We made most of our Authentication/3DS improvements so that if the bank triggers the authentication, we will trigger it also. If the customer’s bank requires authentication and doesn't trigger the flow, we wouldn't know the bank requires it. |
The customer should contact their bank. |
|
78 |
Refused |
Invalid/nonexistent account specified (general) The transaction is from a new cardholder, and the card has not been properly unblocked. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
79 |
Life Cycle |
Applies for Mastercard. The transaction is refused due to invalid card data. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
82 |
Policy |
The transaction is refused due to a policy reason. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
83 |
Fraud / Security (Internal Only) |
Applies for Mastercard. The transaction is refused by the card issuer. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
85 |
No reason to decline a request for account number verification, address verification, CVV2 verification, or a credit voucher or merchandise return |
Card Details were accepted by the system |
None |
|
91 |
No Reply/Card Issuer Unavailable |
Customer's issuing bank is not responding |
The customer should try again at a later time. |
|
93 |
Issuer unavailable or switch inoperative |
Violation of Law/The issuer or issuer processor cannot authorize, for example because of downtime. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline or use a different card. |
|
94 |
Duplicate Transaction |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction as this transaction appears to be a duplicate transmission. |
None |
|
96 |
System Error |
System error |
The customer should re-try the transaction again at a later time. |
|
100 |
Deny |
The customer’s bank has declined the transaction and did not provide further details. |
The customer should contact their bank and ask them about the specific charge decline. |
|
0N7 |
CVV2 Failure |
CVV2 (for Visa cards) mismatch |
The customer should check the CVV2 details and try again. If not successful, the customer should use an alternate credit card. |
Some card issuing banks will restrict the use of debit cards on Upwork due to the transaction type: ‘Recurring Transactions’. Examples of recurring transactions are subscription or membership payments. Users should contact their card issuing bank to confirm they allow recurring transactions on their debit cards as Upwork payments are classified as ‘recurring’.
A client may have a restriction on their card in which they can only process a payment if they provide their card issuing bank our MCC code.
- A Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-digit number listed in ISO 18245 for retail financial services
- MCC is used to classify the business by the type of goods or services it provides and it is dictated by the processor.
- Clients whose cards were previously processed via MES and now processing via Adyen may experience a decline since they did not update the MCC code with their bank
- Expected to impact a small number of clients
- If contacted, request the client to add all of our MCC codes with their bank. Those codes are 7399, 7361 and 5968
Credit Cards that require 3d Secure protections are now supported.
Adyen may retry credit card authorizations without a CVV check. So CVV Response as unknown is not a system issue but a retry authorization and should be expected as a possible response.
Credit Cards Issued by Nordea Bank requires the card owner to enable online purchases before allowing charges to go through. Users with Nordea cards that receive an expired card should contact Nordea to ensure their card is enabled for online purchases.