rigor's reasons why cards get declined
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1/ you do not have enough available credit, duh
2/ your zip code or shipping address are wrong
3/ you entered the wrong 3 digit code on the back of the card
4/ the authorization center is at fault
5/ they suspect fraud
6/ maybe the card wasn't activated on apple pay
7/new feature----- > your email address is wrong*
8/you give them the wrong expiration date.**
9/you forgot to activate the card
when i used to work retail, what pissed me off royally was when someone comes into the store and the status says " call center " . no big deal. you call the authorization center to verify the identity or purchase. they do this to flag the card, and until someone calls the center, the card will not accept a charge,
managers do not let us cashiers call voice authorization center is because the liability deal only covers swiped cards. if someone comes in and the terminal says its declined, but their is money available, i am not allowed to phone in your $5 purchase because they are afraid you can charge me back, because i do not have a swipe.
i have had several managers personally BAN me from calling for voice authorization , because they do not know anything or they believe the merchant fee is higher for a voice transaction then it is on a regular automated one
until a merchant actually calls that authorization center on "call center" status, the card will refuse all charges until someone calls the center. a bunch of failed attempts to buy something, just makes it look worse.
retail stores are so paranoid about chargebacks that cashiers are no longer trained what to do when a charge does not go through.
* - new feature. i found out recently with verified by visa if you do not give them your correct email address, they will deny the charge
** - back in the 80s to 90s you could just make up an expiration date, as long as it was in the future the card would go through, ever since then they started actually checking to make sure the expiration date matches the card
when a card comes back declined, the business has the ability to double check the decline and to phone the card in, but the managers won't let us do this.