What is Decline?
What does decline mean? This term means that, for some reason, the transaction was rejected. If the transaction has been declined, the funds are automatically returned to the client.
Another term is a hard decline. A hard decline occurs when the issuing card doesn’t approve the transaction, which causes permanent authorization failures. Even if you retry, the result will be the same. The reasons for the hard decline include using stolen or invalid cards or closed accounts. The problem usually is connected to the issuing bank or processor.
Also, there are soft declines. They occur when the issuing bank approves the transaction, but it fails at some point. Some reasons for soft declines include:
- Expired card;
- Suspicious transaction;
- The processor declined the payment;
- Card activity limit exceeded, etc.
If a soft decline occurs, you can try again and hope for authorization in a day or two.
