Why did my card decline?

Card transactions may be declined for several different reasons. Listed below are some of the most common reasons why a card transaction may fail, and what to do in each scenario to get you unblocked.

Please note: Cardholders should be notified via email when a card payment is declined, and this email should indicate the reasoning behind the payment failure.

If the recommended solutions outlined in each section below do not resolve your issue, please contact our Customer Experience team for further assistance.

Card status inactive

This means that your debit card has not yet been activated on Relay, so it cannot be used. Please follow the steps outlined in this article to activate your debit card, then try re-initiating the payment. Also ensure that there are sufficient funds in the checking account your debit card is linked to prior to payment.

Exceeds daily transaction limits

This means that the amount for this transaction exceeds your debit card's daily or monthly transaction limit. You can edit your card's spending limits by following the instructions in this article.

Please note: transaction limits reset at 12pm CST, and all pending transactions are deducted from the daily transaction limit. 

Incorrect CVV

This means that the CVV/CVC entered upon payment was incorrect. Please double-check the CVV entered is correct before re-initiating the payment; if you have multiple cards, ensure the CVV you are entering is linked to the card you're paying with. To confirm your card number, expiry date, and/or CVV, please see this article.

PIN mismatch

This means that the PIN entered is incorrect. If you have forgotten your PIN and need to reset it, please contact our Customer Experience team by phone at 1-888-205-9304 for further assistance. 

The hours of operation for our phone lines are:

Mon - Fri: 9am - 8pm EST

Our phone lines are closed during US bank holidays.

Incorrect billing information

This means that the billing address entered is incorrect. Please confirm that the billing information matches what we have on file, including the name of the Cardholder. If you need to update your billing address, please see this article.

Please note: the billing address linked to all debit cards will always be your business address. This cannot be changed.

Insufficient funds

This means that the checking account your debit card is linked to does not have sufficient funds to cover the total amount for your transaction. If the account your card is linked to does not have sufficient funds, you can quickly add funds by initiating an internal transfer or adding funds to your Relay account from a linked external account.

Suspected fraud

This means that the transaction you are trying to make is getting flagged as potentially unauthorized/fraudulent. For instructions on how to proceed in these instances, please see Relay fraud alerts.

Merchant cancellation

If your card transaction status says Cancelled, this means that the merchant did not complete the payment on their end. This could be due to a variety of reasons, including something as simple as the online payment portal timing out or the in-store terminal experiencing a temporary processing error.

If your card transaction continues to be cancelled by a merchant, you will need to contact the merchant for more information on what went wrong and how you can make your payment.

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