If you are struggling to make online payments and keep getting errors or failures, there are a few common reasons why this might be happening. Understanding the potential causes can help you troubleshoot and resolve the issues so you can successfully complete your online transactions.
Your payment details are incorrect
One of the most common reasons online payments fail is because the payment details entered are inaccurate or invalid in some way. Here are some things to double check regarding your payment information:
- Account number – Make sure you are entering the correct account number for your credit/debit card, bank account, digital wallet, etc. Even one wrong digit can cause transactions to be declined.
- Card expiration date – Double check that the expiration date you entered matches what is on your card. Payments will be rejected if the expiration date is wrong or past.
- Security code – For credit/debit card payments, make sure you have the correct 3 or 4 digit CVV security code from the back of your card.
- Name – Ensure the name you enter matches exactly with the name on the account. Any slight misspellings or variations can lead to payment failures.
- Billing address – Check that the billing address associated with the account is accurate and matches what your payment provider has on file.
Carefully re-entering all payment details or verifying them against your account records can help identify and fix any incorrect information that is causing transactions to be declined.
Your payment method doesn’t have sufficient funds
Another obvious but often overlooked reason your online payments may fail is if there are insufficient funds in the account being charged. This can happen with:
- Credit/debit cards – Online payments will be declined if your account balance exceeds your credit limit or available funds.
- Bank accounts – Similarly, payments from bank accounts will fail if the account balance is too low at the time of the transaction.
- Digital wallets – If your PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay etc. do not have enough money in them, payments will not go through.
Before attempting another online transaction, be sure to check your account balances and add funds if needed to cover the amount of your purchase. Keeping payment methods funded with sufficient available amounts can prevent this issue.
Your payment method is expired or inactive
Most payment types have expiration dates and finite lifespans in terms of usability. Attempting payments with expired or deactivated accounts is another source of transaction failures:
- Expired credit/debit cards – Card expiration dates are usually between 2-5 years. Payments will decline if you try to use cards past the expiry date printed on them.
- Cancelled cards – If a card has been reported lost/stolen, it is cancelled and payments will no longer go through. The same applies if you proactively cancelled a card due to fraud or other reasons.
- Frozen/closed bank accounts – Attempting payments from bank accounts that have been frozen or closed by you or your bank will result in failed transactions.
- Suspended digital wallets – Digital wallets that have been temporarily suspended due to suspicious activity or other reasons will decline payments.
Be sure to update your payment details with vendors to replace any expired/inactive accounts. Also monitor account statuses regularly to avoid surprises that interrupt your ability to make online payments.
Your payment gateway is not authorizing transactions
Even if your payment details and funding are perfectly fine, transactions can still fail if there are issues with the intermediary payment gateway being used:
- Technical errors – Glitches or temporary service outages with a payment gateway will prevent payments from going through smoothly.
- Fraud protection – If the gateway flags your transaction as high risk or fraudulent, it may decline the payment.
- Geography/content restrictions – Some payment gateways block payments for certain locations, products/services, adult content etc.
- Incorrect details – Providing billing details that don’t match what the gateway has on file for an account can lead to payment failures.
If you consistently have payment issues with a particular vendor or website, contact their customer service team to see if they are aware of any gateway problems impacting transactions. Switching payment methods or gateways could also resolve the problem in some cases.
Your computer or device has connectivity, security or settings issues
The device you are using to make an online payment can also be the source of transaction problems in some cases:
- Internet connectivity issues – Dropped wifi, VPN disconnections, ISP outages etc. can disrupt transactions.
- Browser problems – Outdated browsers, corrupt browser files or incompatible settings may cause payments to hang or fail.
- Device security issues – Malware, viruses, spyware or compromised systems can potentially interfere with payment security.
- Outdated operating systems – Using old, unsupported operating systems can introduce compatibility issues and bugs.
- App errors – Corrupted or buggy apps for online payments may not process transactions properly.
Updating your operating system, running anti-virus scans, rebooting your router, reinstalling payment app or trying a different browser are potential fixes for device-related payment failures.
Online vendor issues
In some cases, the fault may lie with the online vendor you are attempting to pay rather than anything on your end:
- Website bugs – Programming errors, crashed servers and other technical malfunctions on a vendor site disrupt transactions.
- Fraud protection – Overly sensitive fraud screening can inadvertently flag valid payments as high risk.
- Outdated payment systems – Websites relying on old or insecure payment software face higher transaction failure rates.
- PCI compliance issues – Vendors not adhering to Payment Card Industry standards may experience more declined payments.
Reaching out to a vendor’s customer service or technical support to report transaction issues is recommended. Switching to alternative vendors that have robust payment systems can also help you avoid problems.
You’ve hit your payment limit
Payment providers also impose various limits on transaction amounts and frequencies that could derail payments:
- Daily/weekly limits – Many payment methods limit how much you can pay in a given day or week as a fraud protection.
- Monthly limits – Limits may also be placed on your total payment volume per month.
- Minimum amounts – Some payment processors require transactions to be greater than a certain amount.
- Maximum amounts – Conversely, payments over a preset high amount may be blocked.
- Velocity limits – Too many payments in a short span of time can trigger risk protections.
If your transactions consistently fail right around a particular amount, contacting your payment provider to learn the limits on your account can be informative. Limits may be adjustable by verifying your identity or upgrading account statuses in some cases.
Your location is considered high risk
Depending on where you are located geographically, you may struggle with more frequent declined payments due to higher risk of fraud or financial crimes in the region:
- Countries – Developing countries or those with higher cybercrime rates see higher payment failures.
- Regions – Even within countries, some provinces/states pose elevated payment risk.
- IP addresses – Payment gateways may blacklist certain IP ranges linked to anonymization tools.
- Public networks – Connecting from cyber cafes, airports or shared connections also raises flags.
Using VPNs to mask your location, connecting from home networks instead of public WiFi and notifying vendors of your travel plans can help minimize location-related declines. But high-risk regions do face unavoidably higher failure rates.
Your transaction triggers a risk alert
Even routine payments can randomly trigger risk alerts and reviews by payment providers, blocking transactions until resolved:
- Unusual activity – Sudden transaction spikes or sizes outliers raise suspicion.
- New vendors – Paying brand new merchants for the first time adds risk profiles.
- Data discrepancies – Minor mismatches in details, billing addresses etc. may halt payments.
- High-risk categories – Transactions related to gambling, VPNs or dating can mean more scrutiny.
Building a history of legitimate transactions, avoiding abnormal spikes in activity and ensuring data consistency across vendors helps minimize random risk reviews. But occasional extra verification may still be unavoidable.
Ongoing fraud or disputes lowered your trust score
Various payment systems build internal trust or reliability scores based on your history. Continued issues can cause lower trust and more payment failures:
- Disputes and chargebacks – High levels of billing disputes negatively impact scores.
- Fraud investigations – Being the target of multiple fraud probes reduces trust profiles.
- Refund abuse – Habitual refund demands may trigger risk warnings.
- Suspicious activity – Any shady transaction patterns drag down scores quickly.
Avoiding sketchy vendors, excessive refunds and addressing any transaction disputes promptly helps keep your reputation intact. Trust scores heal over time as well, reducing failures.
Conclusion
Online payments failing can be incredibly frustrating, but identifying the cause is key to getting issues resolved. Review this list of common reasons – inaccurate details, insufficient funds, expired cards, gateway problems, device issues, vendor errors, exceeded limits, high-risk factors, random risk alerts and trust score hits – to troubleshoot your specific situation. With some diligent diagnosis and targeted fixes, you can get your online payments successfully processed again in no time.