Authorization, Declines & Risk Rules

Before and during transaction processing, Rain runs a series of checks to prevent fraud and enforce your controls. This page lists the common decline reasons Rain returns, the authorization codes it uses, the risk rules it enforces by default, and the merchant categories and merchants it blocks.

Decline reasons

Declines can occur for several reasons, including system rules, card limits, and webhook responses. Here is a list of these reasons:

Decline Reasons
invalid_pin_attempt_limit_exceeded
account_credit_limit_exceeded
card_spending_limit_exceeded
scoped_daily_spend_limit_exceeded
scoped_card_expired
scoped_card_mcc_not_allowed
merchant_scope_mismatch
webhook_declined
webhook_timeout
issuer_unavailable
card_canceled
card_locked
card_not_activated
blocked_merchant
blocked_mcc
blocked_entity
balance_inquiry_not_permitted
transaction_declined_by_rules
transaction_declined_by_risk_rules
expiry_mismatch
cvv_mismatch
invalid_pin
restricted_country
suspicious_transaction

declinedReason isn’t limited to this list: some declines carry the processor’s own description or a risk rule’s description verbatim, so treat unrecognized values as a decline with a free-form reason rather than an error.

Authorization codes

Rain uses specific authorization codes to classify the context and status of each transaction. Here are some commonly encountered codes:

Code	Meaning
00	Normal presentment
01	Customer not present
02	Unattended terminal - card can be retained
03	Merchant suspicious
05	Customer present, card not present
06	Pre-authorized request
07	Telephone device required
08	Mail/telephone order
09	POS security alert
10	Customer identity verified
11	Suspicious Activity
12	Security reasons
13	Representation of item
14	Public utility terminal
15	Customer’s terminal
16	Administrative terminal
17	Returned item
18	No check in envelope - return
19	Deposit out of balance - return
20	Payment out of balance - return
21	Manual reversal
22	Terminal error - counted
23	Terminal error - not counted
24	Deposit out of balance - apply
25	Payment out of balance - apply
26	Withdrawal error - reversed
27	Unattended terminal - card cannot be retained
51	Request for account number verification
59	E-commerce request through public network
71	Card present, magnetic stripe unreadable (U.S. only)

Risk rules

Rain enforces automatic risk detection rules to prevent high-risk or suspicious transactions. Each rule includes a time window and trigger threshold:

Rule Name	Description	Time Window	Trigger Threshold
Blocked Country	Decline all transactions at blocked countries	Immediate	N/A
High Risk MCC	Decline transactions with high-risk MCCs	Immediate	N/A
High Risk E-commerce	Decline transactions with flagged online merchants	Immediate	N/A
E-commerce Rapid Transaction	E-commerce transaction burst prevented, more than 2 transactions were attempted within a 5-minute period	5 Minutes	2 Transactions
Card-present Rapid Transaction	Card-present transaction burst prevented, more than 2 transactions were attempted within a 5-minute period	5 Minutes	2 Transactions
Card-not-present Daily Velocity	Card-not-present transaction daily limit reached, more than 11 card-not-present transactions attempted within a 24-hour period	24 Hours	11 Transactions
Fuel Authorization Hold	Authorize fuel (MCC 5542) transactions at a minimum $175 hold; the difference is released at settlement	Immediate	$175 USD hold
Gaming Limit	Decline single video game/digital goods (MCC 5816/7994) transaction above $2,000	Immediate	$2,000 USD
Gaming Velocity	Decline if more than 25 gaming transactions within 2 days	2 Days	25 Transactions
Ad Services Limit	Decline single advertising services (MCC 7311) transaction above $10k	Immediate	$10,000 USD
Ad Services Velocity	Decline if more than 40 advertising services (MCC 7311) transactions within 24 hours	24 Hours	40 Transactions
CVV Security	Block transaction after 4 incorrect CVV attempts within a 24-hour period	24 Hours	4 Transactions
ATM Withdrawal Limit	Block ATM Withdrawal (MCC 6011) transaction exceeding $250.	Immediate	$250 USD
ATM Withdrawal Velocity	Block ATM Withdrawal (MCC 6011) transaction velocity limit reached, more than 3 transactions were attempted within a 24-hour period	24 Hours	3 Transactions

Blocked merchant categories and merchants

Rain blocks certain merchant category codes and specific merchants by default. The canonical lists live on Blocked MCCs and merchants; this page doesn’t duplicate them so they can’t drift apart.

What’s next

3-D Secure

Forward 3-D Secure challenges to cardholders for online transactions.

Blocked MCCs and merchants

Review the merchant categories and merchants Rain blocks by default.

Handle disputes and refunds

File disputes, track their status, and process refunds.

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Authorization, Declines & Risk Rules

Decline reasons

Authorization codes

Risk rules

Blocked merchant categories and merchants

What’s next

3-D Secure

Blocked MCCs and merchants

Handle disputes and refunds

​Decline reasons

​Authorization codes

​Risk rules

​Blocked merchant categories and merchants

​What’s next

3-D Secure

Blocked MCCs and merchants

Handle disputes and refunds

Decline reasons

Authorization codes

Risk rules

Blocked merchant categories and merchants

What’s next