Why your card transation declined

Card transactions can be declined for several reasons. This article runs through common reasons your card transaction might be rejected or declined.

You can inspect your own card details and balance as the assigned cardholder or a card contact.

Updating spending limits, unfreezing a card or changing card settings requires the Issue/manage Cards permission. The relevant Borderless Cash account must also have sufficient funds in the transaction currency.

Card transactions can be found by following these steps.

1. In the left menu, select the Spend menu item.

2. In the Spend menu, select the Cards menu item.

3. On the Cards page, select the Transactions tab. Declined transactions show a Declined label next to the amount.

4. In the transaction table, select the row of the transaction.

5. On the transaction panel, declined transactions will show a decline reason at the top of the drawer.

Note the decline reason shown. Use the sections below to find the matching scenario and steps to resolve it.

Card transactions can decline for many different decline reasons (see below sections):

• Card’s spend limit exceeded

• Insufficient balance or currency

• Card is frozen

• Card is expired

• Restricted merchant category

• Physical card is not activated (not possible for virtual cards)

• Online transaction verification

• Apple Pay and Google Pay declines

If you are expecting to see a card transaction on the Airwallex platform but cannot find any record, this is because Airwallex never received any record of your transaction attempt. This occurs when the merchant rejects the transaction.

If a transaction exceeds the card's configured per-transaction or time-period limit, it is rejected with the message Card's spend limit exceeded.

To change spend limits on cards, see How do I update card and transaction limits?. The updated limit applies to later transactions. If you cannot edit the limit, ask your organisation administrator for permission.

If the spending limit is sufficient but the transaction still declines, check the relevant currency balance in the Borderless Cash account linked to the card. See How to add funds to your Borderless cash account? for topping up funds.

To convert an existing balance, select Convert from Business Accounts, choose the source and destination currencies, and complete the conversion before retrying the payment (see How can I convert money) . Available funding methods and settlement times depend on your entity and region. 

A frozen card is blocked from transactions. To unfreeze this card:

1. In the left menu, select the Spend menu item.

2. In the Spend menu, select the Cards menu item.

3. In the Cards table, select the row of the frozen card.

4. On the card detail panel, select the Unfreeze button. The card is now active and transactions are allowed immediately.

An organisation administrator may unfreeze a card. If the card was frozen because of suspicious activity and cannot be unfrozen, contact support through Kai.

Transactions will decline if attempted after the card’s expiry date. To check the expiry date, you can find these printed on the cards or on the Airwallex platform: 

1. In the left menu, select the Spend menu item.

2. In the Spend menu, select the Cards menu item.

3. In the Cards table, select the row of a card

4. On the card detail panel, select the View card details button to show the card’s number, expiry date, security code and billing address

An expired card cannot be used. Please create another card and then attempt your transaction again (see How do I create a card?).

Airwallex blocks certain higher-risk merchant categories for everyone based on card schemes (e.g. Visa and Mastercard) and regulatory requirements. These restrictions apply to all cards and can cause transactions to decline. 

Examples include:

Physical Employee cards must be activated before first use, even if a virtual card on the same account is active.

To activate a physical Employee card:

1. In the left menu, select the Spend menu item.

2. In the Spend menu, select the Cards menu item.

3. In the Cards table, select the row of the physical card.

4. On the card detail panel, select the Activate card button.

5. In the CVV field, enter the 3-digit security code printed on the back of your card.

6. In the New PIN field, enter your chosen PIN. In the Confirm PIN field, re-enter the same PIN.

7. A confirmation message appears when the card is active and ready for in-person transactions.

The physical card is active when the confirmation appears. If your activation screen asks for different information, follow the on-screen prompt and contact support if activation fails.

Airwallex uses 3D Secure (3DS) for some online transactions. See below for common blocking scenarios:

• Verification code not received: check that your registered mobile number or email is current. If the code does not arrive, please request a new code, see I’m not receiving the verification code for my card transaction or the code is not working (Visa 3DS).

• Verification code not working: codes expire. Please request a new one instead of reusing an older code, see I’m not receiving the verification code for my card transaction or the code is not working (Visa 3DS).

• Three failed 3DS attempts: the card may be temporarily locked. Contact support through Kai to confirm the lock and request assistance.

• Transaction declined after successful verification: check the card balance and spending limit using the sections above. Passing 3DS does not guarantee that the transaction will be approved by the merchant or payment network.

Check the underlying card balance and spending limit first. If those are sufficient, confirm that the Employee card and wallet token are supported in your region, then contact support through Kai if the decline continues.

If the decline reason shown on the transaction does not match any of the scenarios above, contact support through Kai with the transaction ID and the decline reason that was displayed.

See How do I choose between a Company Card or Employee Card? for card type and Borderless Cash account compatibility.