Stripe decline codes

The card is valid, but the account doesn't have enough money to cover the charge at the moment it was attempted.

Something went wrong while the payment was being processed — usually a temporary glitch on the bank's or network's side, not a problem with the card.

The issuing bank declined the charge but signalled that a later attempt may succeed — a temporary, retryable decline.

Stripe couldn't reach the issuing bank to get an authorization decision — a temporary connectivity problem rather than a declined card.

The issuing bank declined the charge without a more specific reason. It's a catch-all that can stem from several underlying causes.

The issuing bank refused the charge without giving a specific reason. It's one of the most common — and most ambiguous — decline codes.

The bank declined the charge and didn't share a specific reason — a generic refusal similar to card_declined.

The card exceeded a velocity limit — too many charges, or too much total spend, within a short window set by the issuer.

The card on file has passed its expiration date and can no longer be charged.

The CVC (the 3- or 4-digit security code) submitted with the card didn't match what the issuer expects.

The card number provided is not a valid card number.

The issuer declined because the card has been reported lost. For security, banks don't reveal this to the cardholder at checkout.

The issuer declined because the card has been reported stolen. As with lost cards, the reason is hidden from the cardholder at checkout for security.

The issuing bank flagged the card to be retained (historically, 'pick up the card'). It cannot be charged again.

The charge was declined because it was flagged as suspected fraud by the issuer or the card network.

The expiration month submitted with the card isn't valid — for example a month outside 01–12, or one that has already passed.

The expiration year submitted with the card isn't valid, or is already in the past.

The CVC security code is malformed — the wrong length or otherwise not a valid code. (This differs from incorrect_cvc, where the code is well-formed but doesn't match.)

The issuer blocked the charge because your business matched something on the cardholder's or bank's block list.

The cardholder asked their bank to stop this specific recurring payment, so the bank revoked authorization for your charges.

The cardholder revoked authorization for all recurring charges on the card — not just yours.

The charge couldn't be authorized because the payment couldn't be matched to a cardholder ID — usually a temporary issue.

The issuer asked for the transaction to be submitted again — a temporary, retryable condition rather than a hard decline.

The issuing bank declined and wants the cardholder to call them before the charge can go through.

The card doesn't permit this type of transaction — for example online or recurring charges may be disabled on it.

The card hit a limit on the number of withdrawals or charges allowed within a period set by the issuer.

The issuer didn't act on the authorization request — effectively a non-response that's treated as a decline.