Transform cryptic two-digit decline codes into actionable strategies for higher approval rates and better customer experience.
European buyers keep seeing their cards declined. Each failed attempt surfaces as a cryptic two-digit bank response code—05, 91, 96—that most checkout dashboards simply log and forget.
Hidden in those numbers is the intelligence you need to lift conversion, keep sellers paid on time and recover revenue before it disappears. Mastering response code optimisation =turns silent declines into a competitive advantage.
What Are Bank Response Codes?
Bank response codes are standardised numeric or alphanumeric identifiers issued by financial institutions when processing payment transactions. These codes follow the ISO 8583 message standard and serve as a universal language between banks, processors and merchants, indicating whether a transaction is approved, declined or requires additional action.
Each code conveys specific information about transaction status—from simple approvals (“00”) to detailed decline reasons like insufficient funds (“51”) or system malfunctions (“96”)—enabling payment systems to make informed decisions about how to handle each transaction attempt.
At checkout, your marketplace gateway packages card details and forwards them to the acquiring bank. The acquirer passes the request through the card network to the issuer, which applies fraud rules, checks the balance and verifies card status within milliseconds.
Then it assigns a code: “00” for approval, “05” for a generic decline, “51” for insufficient funds. That code travels back through the same path to your platform and the buyer.
Most codes appear during authorisation, though others surface later during settlement or refund attempts when data mismatches or duplicate requests arise.
Since many payment platforms internally standardise response codes, you can often map each code to immediate actions, retry after a network glitch, route to a secondary acquirer when the issuer is unavailable or prompt the customer for a different card when theirs has expired.
For a marketplace, a single code affects multiple parties simultaneously. Consider a cross-border order split across three sellers: an issuer-level “91” (issuer inoperative) stops the entire basket until you reroute or delay the attempt, risking cart abandonment and seller dissatisfaction.
Interpreting that code quickly lets you preserve the sale, keep funds moving and maintain trust on both sides of your platform.
Bank Response Codes and Meanings
| Category | Code | Meaning in practice | Marketplace relevance |
| —– | —– | —– | —– |
| Approved / Accepted | 00 | Success. You can capture funds and release the order. | Universal |
| Referral / Additional action | 01, 02 | The issuer wants the cardholder to get in touch before approving. | Rare online, but surfaces when high-value orders hit risk thresholds. |
| Fraud / Security concerns | 04, 07, 41, 43 | “Pick up card” or lost/stolen alerts – hard stop. | Signals compromised cards; useful for device or account blacklists. |
| Declined – Do not honour | 05 | Catch-all refusal with no extra detail. | Most frequent soft decline worldwide, according to Shift4’s merchant analysis. |
| Invalid transaction data | 12, 13, 14 | Wrong transaction type, amount outside limits or invalid PAN. | Often linked to form-fill errors or corrupted API calls. |
| Insufficient funds / Credit issues | 51, 61 | Balance or limit exceeded. | Common on subscription retries and during sales periods. |
| Card restrictions | 54, 57, 62 | Expired card, transaction not permitted, regional block. | Cross-border attempts fail here when issuers block foreign MCCs. |
| Technical failures | 06, 91, 96 | Bank or network outage, system malfunction. | A prompt to reroute through another acquirer rather than lose the sale. |
Your payments platform can build a single action matrix that works in every country, though variations appear in two places.
- First, proprietary sub-codes where some acquirers append letters or three-digit extensions for deeper diagnostics, as shown in Moneris documentation.
- Second, extended regional families where SEPA direct-debit rejections use standardised EPC reason codes. Australian banks still return 08 “Honour with identification”.
Merchant Advice Codes for Recurring Payments
Visa and Mastercard supply specialised decline advice so you can treat subscription failures intelligently.
| Network | Code | What it tells you to do |
| —– | —– | —– |
| Mastercard | 02 | Temporary problem – retry after 24-72 hours. |
| Mastercard | 03 | Permanent decline – stop further attempts. |
| Visa | 02 | Cardholder cancelled this specific recurring payment – do not retry. |
| Visa | 21 | Cardholder cancelled all recurring payments with you – remove card on file. |
Universal versus variable patterns
Codes 00, 05, 51 and 54 appear almost everywhere and should anchor your analytics dashboards. Technical errors (91, 96) and regional restrictions (62) fluctuate by issuer and geography, so monitor them at a BIN level.
Track how often each issuer returns a particular code to spot routing opportunities and negotiate with partners before declines erode conversion. These two-digit messages create a common language for issuers, acquirers and internal teams alike—making every future optimisation project faster.
How Payment Ops Teams Can Handle Response Codes to Improve Business Outcomes
Differentiate Between Glitches and Failures
Start with intelligent retry logic that distinguishes between temporary glitches and permanent failures. When you receive 91 Issuer or switch inoperative, the bank is offline rather than rejecting your customer.
A quick retry—or automatic routing to your backup processor—often salvages the transaction. Codes like 06 Error or 96 System malfunction belong in this “safe to retry” category.
Be Patient With Timing-Based Declines
Some declines need patience: While ’51 Insufficient funds’ errors are common around payday, industry guidance recommends notifying the customer and suggesting alternative payment options, rather than automatically retrying the transaction 12-24 hours later.
Take Immediate Action for Final Declines
Some declines are final and require immediate action. 05 Do not honour or 14 Invalid card number should trigger an immediate request for fresh payment details, not endless retry loops.
Your routing decisions improve when you analyse these codes in real time. If UK issuers frequently return 62 Restricted cards for cross-border transactions, directing those payments through a domestic UK acquirer like Rapyd prevents regional restrictions and improves authorisation rates.
Install Intelligent Routing by BIN Range
You can also route by BIN ranges—when one processor shows a spike in 91 errors during maintenance, redirect that traffic to alternate processors until their systems recover.
False declines require careful handling through systematic separation: 51, 91 and 06 are classic soft declines that might succeed on retry, while 43 Stolen card or 54 Expired card are hard declines that won’t succeed without new information.
Build Your Response Code Matrix
This systematic approach demands a code-action matrix that pairs every response value with specific next steps: retry timing, routing alternatives, customer communications or team escalations. Automate the decision tree and log every outcome. Then review monthly.
Install Proactive Merchant Support
Tag frequent soft-decline codes—such as “51” for insufficient funds or “91” when the issuer is offline—and you quickly see which sellers suffer most from avoidable failures. Frequent “51” signals that a simple delayed retry schedule could recover sales.
A spike in “91” indicates you should route through an alternate acquirer.
Detect Fraud Early
Bank response codes also act as your earliest chargeback warning system. Fraud-weighted declines—”41″ lost card, “43” stolen card or the generic “05” do-not-honour—identify transactions that deserve a manual review long before a dispute forms.
Combine these signals with device and velocity checks and you can block bad actors while letting genuine buyers sail through. When a buyer’s card has simply expired (“54”), trigger a friendly reminder
Gain Strategic Business Intelligence
From a business-intelligence perspective, codes reveal what monthly approval percentages hide. Track “00” approvals by issuer BIN to negotiate better authorisation performance. Monitor hard declines like “14” invalid card across each payment method to spot UX issues.
Region-level roll-ups highlight where privacy rules push banks to opaque declines, helping you plan additional authentication flows.
Track Measurable Business Outcomes
The results reach far beyond the payments team into measurable business outcomes. Higher first-time authorisations feed straight into transaction success rates, which lifts seller earnings and keeps buyers returning. Fewer chargebacks reduce operational overheads and protect the marketplace’s reputation.
Most importantly, the intelligence you pull from these codes gives you a repeatable method to refine routing, retry timing and customer messaging—turning simple bank signals into a compound gain in revenue and efficiency.
Payment Solutions For Every Business
Whether you need to accept payments from one country or worldwide, Rapyd Collect makes it easy. With card acquiring plus local payment methods, checkout flows smoothly for your customers and more revenue flows to you.
Why Choose Rapyd?
- Support for every industry, eComm, marketplaces, digital goods, iGaming, online gaming, online trading and more.
- Direct Visa and Mastercard acquiring in the UK, Europe, Israel and Singapore
- Fast onboarding and high authorisation rates from a leading acquirer trusted by 250,000+ merchants
- Support for cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay and hundreds of payment methods
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