Why do payments fail?
At Moonraker, we regularly see failed transactions for a number of reasons, the most common being:
- Mistakes made when entering payment details - invalid CVVs, PIN codes, card numbers, expiration dates or post code.
- Payment method restrictions - insufficient funds, cards disabled for international or online payments, or the amount to pay exceeding the limits on your card.
- Security issues on your payment provider’s side - payment authorisation rejected by your bank/payment provider or failed security checks on your card.
- Security concerns that reject transactions - normally relating to fraud. For example where the shipping address is different to your billing address.
Even if your funds have been reserved during this payment process, they will be automatically returned to your account if the payment fails. But sometimes this can take some time!
Why are my funds still on hold?
If a transaction was authorized by your bank before being rejected, the payment gateway (in our case Braintree) will automatically void the payment. However, you may find that your bank has placed a hold on these funds, even though the transaction was voided/cancelled. While no funds are moved, it often means that you (the customer!) cannot access that money until the hold expires.
Whilst we cannot make the bank release the funds on their end, we can assure you that the payment system automatically voids/cancels the authorization at our end. If your bank acknowledges the rejection they can release the funds within 24-48 hours.
However, some banks don’t acknowledge these voids right away, and others don’t acknowledge them at all!
If your funds are still on hold beyond 48 hours, you can try contacting your bank to speed this process along. In this case, we recommend that you aks for "tier 2 Support" with your bank for the best assistance on this matter. However, if your bank is not willing to expedite the process then the funds typically fall off automatically within 3-5 business days.
How to avoid payment failures
Before making a payment please check:
- You have typed in the correct payment details - card number, expiration date, CVV code, post code etc.
- You have not reached your monthly, weekly or daily transaction limit.
- You have enough funds available in your account/on your card.
- If you are making an international payment that your card can be used for international payments - some cards, prepaids or gift cards, work only in specific regions/countries.
We hope you found this article useful. The morale of the story is that when you make a payment you should check you have entered your details correctly .... check, double check and then check again.