So, you did all the right steps. You filled out your info. You pressed “donate”.
And you got an error message.
Never a pleasant experience.
We’ve written this guide to help you decipher what exactly is going on with your card. In general, the best things to do when you get an error is to double check that all the information is correct, and if that doesn’t help, to try a different card.
If neither of those things work, we’re probably looking at a bigger issue here, that lots of other people are experiencing as well. Which isn’t fun either, but at least you know you’ve done nothing wrong. At that point, the best thing is to let us know about it and our engineers will look into the issue.
That said, knowing what the specific error messages mean when they come up on the screen, can help you understand what might be going wrong, and potentially take steps to correct it.
The List of Errors and What They Mean
Do Not Honor – some credit card processors just don’t like certain cards being used on crowdfunding sites. The best thing to do is try a different card.
Decline CVV2/ CID Fail – The card numbers didn’t match. Double check that everything is correct; if the problem persists, maybe try a different card.
Generic Decline – some random thing went wrong, and we don’t even have specifics! Best thing is to double check the numbers and maybe try another card.
{“verification_value”=>[“should be 4 digits”]} – this usually happens when you use an AMEX card but only enter three digits. Make sure to use the four digits from the front of the card.
Restricted Card – Fraud AVS Filtering Service – This usually means the credit card numbers didn’t match, double check that everything was entered properly.
Invalid Transaction – This usually means there are insufficient funds on the card, so double check that. It’s also worth check that all the card numbers were submitted accurately.
No such issuer – the processor couldn’t recognize your credit card number, this usually means that something was entered incorrectly. Double check and try again.
Invalid Account Number – here too, there seems to be an issue with how the number was entered. We recommend trying again or using a different card
Your card was declined – generally this means that you have insufficient funds on your card. Either free up some credit on it or try a different card.
Exceeds number of PIN entries – for better or worse, you’ve tried this card too many times, and trying again probably won’t help. Best to try a different card.
