Why Was My Credit Card Declined? 7 Common Reasons

Have you ever experienced credit card decline embracement? Many times, we have no other way to make the payment for the purchased items, but the card swipe delivers the message – ‘card declined’ even in 2nd or 23rd attempt.

For example, you are at a restaurant to spend quality time with your friend and waiter comes to inform you that the card payment is declined. Now you have no cash to pay out, what will you do? Ask your friend to pay to feel embraced professionals leave the selected items without purchase.

My credit card is declined

Card payment declined is definitely an uncomfortable moment in a social sense, but the more upsetting reason is that you are not sure the reason behind card swipe rejection. There is no explanation for credit cards declined; in fact, numbers of causes are responsible for this embracing situation. If your credit card is refused because of no apparent reason, you should explore the possibility of one of the following seven reasons:

  1. A credit card has expired: Each credit card is used with an expiry date. Check the validity date of your credit card. After the expiration date, all the transactions are stopped automatically irrespective to your usage or due amount.

Solution: Ask the agency to send the new card as the replacement of the present one. Activate it and set the complex PIN different than that of the previous one. Destroy the expired credit card is complete.

  1. Suspicious Purchase: Credit card issuers have adopted the most advanced technology to identify fraudulent purchases made by credit card. The technology saves you from making nefarious charges. However, the trap the credit cards issuers use is very wide; sometimes, credit card agency mistakenly labels the legal cost as the fraudulent purchase to stop the payment temporarily. Of course, the agency intends to prevent any fraud, but in reality, you suffer.

Solution: This misunderstanding can be cleared just by a phone call to customer care of credit card agency.

  1. You have already used credit limit: The most common reason for credit card decline is that you have reached the maximum credit limit set by a card issuer. Maxing out the credit card limit impedes purchasing power, but it is bad for a credit score. To keep the credit score healthy for future borrowing, never cross the 30% of available credit facility.

Solution: To avoid the credit card decline situation because of a maxed credit limit, pay the dues in time.

  1. Credit card seems exposed to potential fraud: If the credit cards issuer agency diagnose the misuse of a credit card with a possibility of fraud, it stops the transactions to save you from possible cheating. Feeding wrong PIN numbers of time are sure to block your card. If the card is rendered temporarily blocked, take this development in your own interest.

Solution: Call the support desk of credit cards issuer and request to make the card active again. Don’t forget to change the PIN.

  1. The account seems to have Fraud looking entries: Credit card issuers have advanced technology to track all your transactions, and they sense a particular usage pattern. If they notice anything abnormal in operations outside of regular spending habit, they can freeze the credit card.

Solution: Contact the credit card issuer and make the picture clear; the card is activated again once your credentials are verified.

  1. International purchase: Whenever you plan to go abroad depending on your credit card, inform the issuer. Not all the credit card types are valid for international transactions. In most of the cases, foreign operations are immediately reported to card issuing agency; if you are doing so the first time, your credit card is more prone to be declined.

Solution: Before making international payments, you must confirm the validity and acceptance for the particular transaction type and currency.

  1. Credit report suddenly has red flags: The red marks on your credit report highlight the poor financial condition that alarms the card issuer for higher risk of on the time payment. No agency would like to credit a person with a bad credit report that is going to worse further.

Solution: Generally, a credit card agency notifies about the change of credit limits and new terms and conditions. If you expect this possibility, pay all the dues and consult with customer care professionals.

How To Manage The Situation When Credit Card Is Declined:

You never know when the credit card may be blocked because of any apparent or hidden reason, but you are sure to feel the embracement. The situation becomes worst if you have consumed the purchased item like in a restaurant. Also, sometimes you get an attractive deal on an issue at your wish list, but the payment is stopped; leaving the made purchases abandoned means losing the discount offer. If your credit card is blocked because of other than the known reason like usage of the maximum limit, you are not at fault. Swiping the card even after using maximum limit is your mistake. It means, you must always be aware of balances, dues and used cash facility.

When you face the credit card decline situation, stay calm and have patience. Explore the possibility of payment through other means like a debit card, balance transfer card, preloaded debit card, internet banking etc. if you don’t carry adequate cash. If you have a companion, ask him/her to pay to promise to return the paid amount. It is not the moment to say, but it is time to handle the situation smartly. The other option to manage the situation is the leave something at the outlet to guarantee that you will come back to pay the dues. Calling your friend or relative is also a good alternative; the person may come to the spot in person or can make the payment online. In such a situation, you can’t depend upon the credit card issuer because the agencies take a few hours to re-activate your card.

Concluding Note:

Credit card decline is a situation that everyone doesn’t want to face, but many times it occurs just because of security measures when you are not at fault. Positively taking this development, such a situation arises only because the credit card issuer wants to protect you from any possible fraud.

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