Foundation · 3 min
What you need to know
Why are ecommerce payments failing?
Failures can come from issuer declines, incomplete authentication, unsupported methods, fraud rules or technical faults. Check the transaction status, provider response and affected customer group first. A timeout needs investigation because the payment might still have succeeded.
Why is a customer’s card being declined?
The issuer or provider may decline a card because of funds, card restrictions, required verification, incorrect details or risk checks. Use the reported reason when available. The merchant often cannot know or change an issuer’s internal decision.
What is a soft payment decline?
A soft decline generally describes a potentially recoverable refusal, such as one requiring authentication. It is not permission to retry endlessly. Follow the provider’s response and retry advice for that transaction.
What is a hard payment decline?
A hard decline generally describes a refusal that will not be resolved by repeating the unchanged payment, such as unusable card credentials. Ask for the appropriate corrective action or another method. Provider classifications and network rules determine what is allowed.
Soft vs hard decline: what’s the difference?
Soft and hard describe whether a failure may be recoverable without replacing the payment method. The actual response code matters more than the label. An authentication requirement needs verification; an unusable card needs a different resolution.
Should failed payments be retried?
Retry only when the status and provider guidance permit it. A confirmed decline differs from a lost response. If the result is unknown, retrieve the existing payment first so a retry cannot create an accidental second charge.
When should a failed payment be retried?
Retry after the required change or permitted delay: for example, after a customer corrects a billing detail or completes verification. Respect provider and network limits. Do not invent a universal retry schedule for one-time checkout payments.
Should customers be asked to use another payment method?
Offer another supported method when the original cannot be completed and its outcome is established. Keep the order contents available. Never push a second method while the first transaction may already have collected the money.
How should payment error messages be written?
Write a short, actionable message based on the known outcome. For a confirmed decline, “We couldn’t complete this payment. Try another method or contact your bank” can work. Avoid exposing fraud rules or claiming no money moved when the outcome is uncertain.
Why are international cards being declined?
Check whether the account accepts that issuing country, currency and payment type, and whether authentication completed. Also inspect the provider’s decline reason. An international card is not itself evidence of fraud or a reason to bypass normal controls.
Foundation · 2 min
Frequently asked questions
Why do payment failures increase suddenly?
Look for changes in provider availability, authentication, risk rules, checkout code, account restrictions or traffic mix. Compare the start time of the increase with recent releases. Separate a broad outage from one failing method or customer country.
How do I determine whether the problem is my store or gateway?
Follow one failed attempt through checkout logs and the provider’s transaction record using its reference. If the provider never received it, inspect the store integration. If it received and declined it, inspect the response. A provider status page alone cannot explain every account-specific fault.