> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://rain-sandbox-trial.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Decline Reasons > What the declinedReason field on transaction webhooks means, and what to do about each common decline. When a transaction is declined, the reason is returned in the `declinedReason` field of the [`transaction.created`](/docs/transaction#transaction-created) and [`transaction.updated`](/docs/transaction#transaction-updated) webhooks. This page lists the common decline reasons and what you can do about each. Declines come from several places: Rain's system rules, card limits, risk checks, and, for partner-managed programs, your own webhook responses. [What you can do about a decline](#what-you-can-do-about-a-decline) covers the reasons you can act on, and [Standard decline reasons](#standard-decline-reasons) lists every value Rain itself sends. Some declines come from the card processor instead of a Rain rule. These take priority, and their `declinedReason` is a lowercase description supplied by the processor (for example, `restricted card`) rather than one of Rain's standard values. The field can also be empty in rare cases. Match on the standard reasons, and fall back to a generic "declined" for anything you do not recognize. ## What you can do about a decline Many declines are expected outcomes you can act on. The table below maps common reasons to their cause and your next step: | Decline reason | What it means | What you can do | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `card spending limit exceeded` | The card's configured spending limit was reached | Review or adjust the card's [spending controls](/docs/card-management-best-practices) | | `account credit limit exceeded` | Insufficient spending power / available balance for the authorization | Add collateral or funds before retrying | | `card locked` / `card canceled` / `card not activated` | The card is not in an active state | Manage the card's [status](/docs/card-management-best-practices) (activate or unlock as appropriate) | | `invalid pin attempt limit exceeded` | Too many incorrect PIN attempts; the card is automatically locked and a `card.updated` webhook is sent with `statusChangeReason: pin_limit_exceeded` | Set the card status back to `active` to unlock it | | `webhook declined` / `webhook timeout` | For [partner-managed authorization](/docs/authorization-partner-managed), your endpoint returned a decline or did not respond within the allowed time | Check your authorization endpoint's response and latency | | `transaction declined by risk rules` | The authorization was declined by Rain's fraud risk scoring | Contact Rain support if you believe a transaction was declined in error | | `merchant scope mismatch` | The [scoped card](/docs/scoped-cards) has an `allowedMerchants` list and this merchant isn't on it | Review the card's merchant allow-list, or create a new scoped card with the right merchants | | `issuer unavailable` | A transient system issue prevented the authorization from being decided | The cardholder can retry the transaction | | `restricted country` | The transaction originated in a restricted or sanctioned jurisdiction | These declines follow compliance policy and cannot be overridden | A few additional defaults worth noting: * **ATM withdrawals** are disabled by default and enabled per program. * **Quasi-cash and certain money-transfer categories** are restricted by default. * **3D Secure (3DS):** a failed 3DS verification can result in a decline. See [3D Secure (3DS)](/docs/3ds). * **Address Verification (AVS):** AVS is supported and configurable per card; mismatches can contribute to a decline. ## Standard decline reasons These are the complete set of `declinedReason` values Rain sends when the decline originates from a Rain rule, limit, or risk check. Match on these strings: | Decline reason | | ---------------------------------- | | account credit limit exceeded | | balance inquiry not permitted | | blocked entity | | blocked mcc | | blocked merchant | | card canceled | | card locked | | card not activated | | card spending limit exceeded | | cvv mismatch | | expiry mismatch | | invalid pin | | invalid pin attempt limit exceeded | | issuer unavailable | | merchant scope mismatch | | restricted country | | scoped daily spend limit exceeded | | scoped card expired | | scoped card mcc not allowed | | transaction declined by risk rules | | transaction declined by rules | | webhook declined | | webhook timeout | ## Processor-originated reasons When the decline originates at the card processor, `declinedReason` carries a normalized description of the processor's reason instead of one of the standard values above. Because those descriptions are configured at the processor and can change, the table below is a **non-exhaustive list of examples**, not a fixed enumeration. Do not branch business logic on these strings. | Reason | Description | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Invalid PAN | Transaction received from a PAN that wasn't issued by our system | | Wrong PIN | Incorrect PIN entered | | Invalid CVV | CVV verification failed | | Invalid ARQC | Application Request Cryptogram validation failed | | Invalid AAV | Application Authentication Value validation failed | | Card Expired | Wrong expiry date or transaction received from an expired card | | Wrong ATC | Application Transaction Counter mismatch | | Invalid Service Code | Service code doesn't match expected value | | Non-ATM Withdrawal | Withdrawal request other than from an ATM | | Card Status | The status of the card has been set to other than active (lost card, void, notActivated, etc.) | | Account Status | The status of the account linked to the card is suspended or inactive | | Blacklisted Country | Transaction from a blacklisted country | | Data Contradiction | A data element defined in the document contradicts the txn request received | | Card/Client Rules | Rules defined for the card/client to decline for certain cases, like declining all e-commerce, ATMs etc. | | Amount Limit | Declining transactions exceeding a certain amount limit | | Scoped Daily Spend Limit | Authorization on a scoped card declined because the user's 24-hour spend across their scoped cards would exceed the configured daily limit (default: \$5,000) | | Online PIN Limit | Online PIN tries exceeded | | Offline PIN Limit | Offline PIN tries exceeded | | PIN Change Mismatch | PIN mismatch in a PIN change request | | AVS Failure | Address Verification Service check failed | | 3DS Failure | 3DS verification failed | | Cashback Unsupported | Cashback request received from a POS that doesn't support the cashback feature | | E-commerce Flag | Card flag set to decline all e-commerce transactions | | ATM Cash Flag | Card flag set to decline all ATM cash transactions | | Balance Enquiry Flag | Card flag set to decline Balance enquiry over auth | | Suspicious Transaction | Transaction flagged as potentially fraudulent due to repeated failed attempts from the same merchant | ## What's next See the spend webhook payloads where the `declinedReason` field appears. Review the authorization codes and risk rules that can trigger a decline.