Why Your Card Got Declined (When You Had the Money)

You tapped Pay, the money was there, and the card still got declined. We follow one $72 online payment from the store to the processor, acquirer, card network and issuer, to see who actually said no and why: issuer risk scores, response codes like 05 "do not honor", soft vs hard declines, the network rules on retrying, why authorization rate is a key merchant number, and why false declines can cost more than the fraud they stop. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:23 Who actually says no 1:02 More than a balance check 1:40 The two-character answer 2:20 Soft no, hard no 2:58 The rules on trying again 3:40 The number merchants watch 4:20 Fraud vs false declines 5:11 Back to Sunday night Sources Nilson Report, "Card Fraud Losses Worldwide in 2023" (6.58 cents per $100 of volume): https://nilsonreport.com/articles/car... Visa, "Updates to Rules for Declined Transaction Resubmission and Use of Authorization Response Codes" (Sept 2020, effective April 2021): https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/global/... Network retry limits and fees are revised from time to time; check the current Visa and Mastercard rules. Northpeak Running and its figures are made up. For education only; not financial advice.