Issuer Response Codes

Overview

We return an additional parameter within each card authorisation response message, issuer_response_code, which is the transaction result code communicated directly from your customer's issuing bank.

The same code can carry different meanings on different card schemes. Where that applies, the Scheme column below names the scheme and the description covers each meaning separately. Always read issuer_response_code alongside the scheme of the card used.

Code	Message	Scheme	Description	Retry
00	Approved	All	The issuer approved the authorisation.	Approved
01	Refer to card issuer	All	The issuer declined and wants the cardholder to make contact before any further attempt.	No
02	Refer to card issuer, special condition	All	As 01, with an issuer-specific condition attached to the card.	No
03	Invalid merchant	All	The merchant identifiers in the request are not recognised by the acquirer. Check your MID configuration rather than the card.	No
04	Capture / pick up card	All	Declined with a card-retention instruction. The card may be reported lost or stolen.	No
05	Do not honour	All	A generic refusal with no reason disclosed. The most frequently returned decline; a material share are insufficient funds or fraud declines the issuer has chosen not to specify.	Yes
06	Error	All	An unspecified error occurred during authorisation.	Yes
07	Pick up card, special condition	All	Retention instruction, typically where the card is suspected counterfeit.	No
08	Time-out	All	The issuer did not respond within the permitted window. First returned July 2026, very low volume.	Yes
09 †	Request in progress	All	The request is still being processed. Await a final response.	n/a
10 †	Partial amount approved	All	The issuer approved part of the requested amount, leaving the balance to be settled by another method.	Approved
11	Approved	All	Can be returned in place of 00.	Approved
12	Invalid transaction	All	The issuer will not accept this transaction type on this account.	No
13 †	Invalid amount	All	The amount is malformed, negative, or exceeds a field limit.	Revalidate
14	Invalid card number	All	The card number does not exist. Check the digits submitted.	Revalidate
15	No such issuer	All	The BIN does not correspond to a live issuer.	Revalidate
17 †	Customer cancellation	All	The cardholder cancelled the transaction.	No
18 †	Customer dispute	All	The cardholder has raised a dispute against this transaction.	No
19	Re-enter transaction	All	A transient issuer-side error. The same request may succeed on reattempt.	Yes
20	No "from" account	Acquirer-specific	The source account on the card does not exist. Obtain alternative payment details.	No
21	No action taken	All	The issuer took no action on the request, commonly on a reversal that could not be matched.	Yes
22	Suspected malfunction	All	The issuer did not respond correctly during authorisation.	Yes
23	No savings account	Acquirer-specific	No savings account exists for this card. Obtain alternative payment details.	No
24	No credit account	Acquirer-specific	No credit account exists for this card. Obtain alternative payment details.	No
25	Unable to locate record on file	All	The issuer cannot find the account referenced.	Revalidate
26	Duplicate file update record	All	The issuer received a duplicate update for this record.	No
27	File update field edit error	All	A field in a file update request failed the issuer's validation.	Revalidate
30	Format error	All	The request was malformed. Contact support to review your account setup.	Revalidate
31	Bank not supported by switch	All	The issuer does not permit this card to be used for remote or online orders.	No
33 †	Expired card, pick up	All	The card has expired and the issuer requests retention.	No
34 †	Suspected fraud, pick up	All	Declined as suspected fraud with a retention instruction. Monitor for further attempts on other cards.	No
35 †	Card acceptor, contact acquirer	All	The issuer requires the merchant to contact the acquirer.	No
36 †	Restricted card, pick up	All	The card carries restrictions and the issuer requests retention.	No
37 †	Contact acquirer security department	All	The issuer declined and requests card retention. Monitor for fraudulent attempts on alternate cards.	No
39	No credit account	All	The account referenced is not a credit account. Obtain alternative payment details.	No
40 †	Requested function not supported	All	The issuer does not support this transaction type on this account.	No
41	Lost card	All	The cardholder has reported the card lost. Do not reattempt and do not release goods or services.	No
42	No universal account	All	The account type is not valid for this card number.	No
43	Stolen card	All	The cardholder has reported the card stolen. Do not reattempt and do not release goods or services.	No
44	No investment account	All	The account referenced is not valid for this transaction.	No
45 †	Reserved	Amex	Reserved for Amex use.	No
46	Closed account	All	The account has been closed. Obtain new payment details; further attempts on this card will not succeed.	No
49 †	Card declined	All	The card is not enabled for online transactions.	No
50 †	Expired card variant	Acquirer-specific	Non-standard code returned by some acquirers for expiry issues.	Revalidate
51	Insufficient funds	All	The account lacks the funds or available credit to cover the amount. A later attempt may succeed.	Yes
52	No cheque account	All	No current account exists for this card.	No
53	No savings account	All	No savings account exists for this card.	No
54	Expired card	All	The card has expired or the expiry date submitted was wrong.	Revalidate
55	Incorrect PIN	All	The PIN entered does not match the issuer's record.	Revalidate
56 †	No card record	All	The issuer has no record of this card number.	Revalidate
57	Transaction not permitted to cardholder	All	The issuer does not permit the cardholder to make this type of transaction.	No
58	Transaction not permitted to terminal	All	The transaction type is not permitted on this MID, or a test card has been used against a live MID.	No
59	Suspected fraud	All	The issuer considers the transaction fraudulent. Monitor subsequent activity. On Visa, many 59 responses are remapped to 05 before reaching the merchant.	No
5C	Blocked by issuer	Visa	The issuer has blocked this transaction under rules applying to the card range or BIN. Further attempts on the same card are unlikely to succeed; offer an alternative payment method.	No
61	Exceeds withdrawal amount limit	All	The amount would exceed a limit on the account.	Yes
62	Restricted card	All	The card is restricted in this region, or is not enabled for the type of payment attempted.	No
63	Security violation	All	The issuer has flagged a security concern on the card.	No
64	Original amount incorrect	All	Visa: the amount does not match the original authorisation. Mastercard: the transaction does not meet an anti-money-laundering requirement.	Revalidate
65	Exceeds count limit / authentication required	Visa, Mastercard	Visa: the transaction exceeds a permitted count on the account. Mastercard: strong customer authentication is required — reattempt with 3-D Secure.	3DS
67 †	Hard capture	All	Suspected counterfeit card with a retention instruction.	No
69 †	Contact card issuer	All	The issuer requires cardholder contact.	No
6P	Verification data failed	Visa	The verification data submitted with the transaction failed the issuer's checks.	Revalidate
70	PIN data required	All	The issuer requires PIN data that was not supplied.	No
71 †	Contact card issuer	All	The issuer requires cardholder contact.	No
72	Contact card issuer	All	The issuer has flagged an issue and requires cardholder contact.	No
73 †	Contact card issuer	All	The issuer requires cardholder contact.	No
74 †	Contact card issuer	All	The issuer requires cardholder contact.	No
75	Allowable PIN tries exceeded	All	The cardholder has entered an incorrect PIN more times than the issuer permits.	No
76	Invalid or non-existent "to" account	All	The destination account specified is not valid.	Revalidate
77	Issuer does not participate	All	The issuer does not participate in the service required for this transaction.	No
78	Blocked, first use	All	The card is new and has not been activated or unblocked by the cardholder.	Yes
79	Lifecycle	Mastercard	The card has expired, been reissued, or been reported lost or stolen. Obtain updated card details. See Retry Advice.	No
80	Credit issuer unavailable	All	The issuer could not be reached.	Yes
81	Unable to verify PIN	All	The PIN supplied could not be verified by the issuer.	No
82	Negative CVV result / Policy	Visa, Mastercard	Visa: the CAM, dCVV, iCVV or CVV check failed. Mastercard: the issuer declined under its own internal policy. See Retry Advice.	Revalidate
83	Cannot verify PIN / Fraud-security	Visa, Mastercard	Visa: the PIN could not be verified. Mastercard: the issuer suspects fraud or a security concern. See Retry Advice.	No
85	No reason to decline	All	Returned to a zero-amount verification request. Submitted with `amount` as `0` and `transaction_type` as `AUTH_ONLY` to verify a card without charging it.	Approved
86	Cannot verify PIN	All	The issuer could not verify the PIN supplied.	No
87	Purchase amount only, no cash back	All	The issuer permits the purchase but not the cash-back element.	Revalidate
88	Declined	All	The issuer declined without disclosing a reason.	Yes
89	Security violation	All	The issuer has flagged a security concern on the card.	No
91	Issuer or switch inoperative	All	The issuer's authorisation system could not be reached.	Yes
92	Unable to route transaction	All	The transaction could not be routed to the issuer. Frequently seen with test card numbers on live MIDs.	Yes
93	Transaction cannot be completed	All	The issuer will not permit this transaction, in some cases for legal or regulatory reasons.	No
94	Declined	All	The issuer declined without disclosing a reason.	Yes
95 †	Reconcile error	All	A reconciliation error between the acquirer and the issuer.	Yes
96	System malfunction	All	The issuer's system reported a malfunction.	Yes
97 †	Decryption error	All	A decryption error occurred.	No
98 †	Error	All	A decryption error occurred.	No
99 †	Error	All	A decryption error occurred.	No
1A	Additional authentication required	Visa	The transaction is in scope of strong customer authentication. Reattempt with 3-D Secure.	3DS
9G	Blocked by cardholder	Visa	The cardholder has blocked this transaction using card controls in their banking app. The cardholder can lift the block themselves — contact them rather than treating this as a cancelled agreement.	Yes
B1 †	Surcharge not permitted	Visa	A surcharge was applied where the scheme does not permit one.	Revalidate
N0 †	Force STIP	All	The network is standing in for the issuer and cannot approve.	Yes
N3 †	Cash service not available	All	The cash element of the transaction is not available.	No
N7	Declined CVV2	All	The CVV2 submitted does not match the issuer's record.	Revalidate
P5 †	PIN change or unblock declined	All	The issuer declined a PIN change or unblock request.	No
R0	Stop payment order	Visa	The cardholder has instructed their issuer to stop a specific recurring payment. Cancel the agreement and obtain new payment details.	No
R1	Revocation of authorisation	Visa	The cardholder has revoked their authorisation for this recurring agreement. Cancel the agreement and obtain new payment details.	No
R3	Revocation of all authorisations	Visa	The cardholder has revoked authorisation for all recurring agreements on the card. Cancel the agreement and obtain new payment details.	No

† Defined by the card schemes but rarely returned in card-not-present traffic.