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Payment declined at checkout

This article explains why payments are declined at checkout and how to fix them.

What’s happening

Section titled “What’s happening”

Your bank or card issuer declined the charge. The checkout page shows the decline reason. Common causes include insufficient funds, an expired card, a card flagged by your bank, or a bank verification step required. If you were paying with PayPal, the message is a little different — PayPal either declined the payment or you returned without approving it. Both are covered below.

The amount your bank was asked to approve is the total on the pay button. If your organization passes on its card processing fee, that total includes the fee, so it can be higher than the membership fee or invoice balance you were expecting. A decline is still about the card or the bank, not about the fee — see Complete checkout as a member or prospect for how a processing fee is shown at checkout.

For renewal payment failures (not checkout), see How subscription billing and the renewal lifecycle work.

How to fix it

Section titled “How to fix it”

Find your message and follow the matching steps. The wording comes from your bank, so it may not match word for word.

“Your bank declined this — reason code 51 (insufficient funds)”

  1. Try a card with available balance: select Use a different card and enter the new card details.
  2. Or contact your bank — the number is on the back of your card — to find out why the charge was refused.
  3. If you don’t have another card, contact your org’s admin — they may be able to record a manual payment.

“This card has expired”

  1. Select Use a different card and enter your updated card details.
  2. To keep the new card on file for next time, go to Billing > Payment methods in your portal and add it there.

“Your bank declined this payment. Reason: do not honor”

  1. Contact your bank and ask them to authorize the payment. This decline comes from your bank, so retrying usually gives the same answer until they clear it.
  2. If they can’t clear it, select Use a different card.

“The security code (CVC) was incorrect”

  1. Check the 3-digit code on the back of your card.
  2. Re-enter your card details and try again.

“This card cannot be used”

  1. Your bank has blocked the card — this is what it reports for a card recorded as lost or stolen. Contact your bank.
  2. Select Use a different card to pay with another card.

“Too many attempts with this card”

  1. Wait a few minutes. Your bank has temporarily stopped further attempts on this card.
  2. Or select Use a different card now.

“Your card was declined” (no reason given)

  1. This is the message you see when your bank sends back no reason at all. Try a different card: select Use a different card and enter the new card details.
  2. Or contact your bank to find out why the charge was refused.
  3. If you don’t have another card, contact your org’s admin — they may be able to record a manual payment.

“Bank requested verification failed” (3DS / SCA)

  1. Try the payment again — your bank asks for this extra check on some payments.
  2. Follow the instructions your bank shows. You’re typically sent to your bank’s verification page or prompted to approve in your banking app.
  3. Complete the check and the payment finishes on its own.
  4. If it fails again, select Use a different card.

PayPal is offered on the signup payment step. The two messages below appear there; renewing a membership and paying an open invoice from the portal are card-only.

“PayPal payment not completed” (paying with PayPal at signup)

  1. This means you returned from PayPal without approving the payment, or closed the PayPal tab. No charge was made.
  2. Select Try again to restart PayPal, or Choose another method to pay by card instead.
  3. Your order and amount are saved — you don’t need to start over.

“PayPal couldn’t complete this payment” (paying with PayPal at signup)

  1. PayPal declined the payment, often because of the funding source on your PayPal account.
  2. Select Try again, or choose a different funding source inside PayPal.
  3. To pay another way, select Choose another method and pay by card.

If that didn’t work

Section titled “If that didn’t work”

If you’ve tried a different card and the payment still fails, contact your bank for more detail. Your org’s admin can also record a manual payment (cash or check) as a workaround while you resolve the card issue. Contact your org to arrange this.

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