Estimated read time: 3 minutes, 52 seconds

Are you a buyer trying to purchase something sold via FastSpring, and you need assistance? View our Consumer Support page on Checkout and Purchasing for more info or to submit a support request.

The latest season of your mobile game has started, and a buyer is ready to buy some gems. But when they try to make a purchase, their payment is declined. It’s a frustrating and confusing experience — especially when you or the buyer are unsure of why it happened or what to do next. 

Understanding the most common reasons for payment declines can not only help you avoid issues in the future but get your customers back to enjoying their purchases.

The Key Players in a Payment Transaction

Here’s a breakdown of the major players involved in a payment transaction and how each can impact whether a payment goes through smoothly or gets declined.

  • Buyer: That’s your fan, the person making the purchase.
  • Seller: The company offering the product or service you want to buy (that’s you!).
  • Payment Method: Your customer’s chosen way to pay (e.g., credit card, PayPal, etc.).
  • Payment Processor: The entity that routes your customer’s payment through the payment network to ultimately arrive in your account
  • Payment Network: The network (e.g., Visa or MasterCard) that connects the payment processor to the banks.
  • Payment Institution: This includes banks or other entities (like PayPal, AliPay, or Venmo) that authorize the transaction and guarantee funds to you.

All of the players above interact from the click of “Buy Now” to the fulfillment of your product. With all of these pieces in play, there are safeguards in place to protect each player in the transaction from potential fraud. Sometimes, this results in legitimate transactions getting declined, like in our example above. 

Let’s look at some common issues and what you can do to help prevent them.

Common Credit Card Issues and How to Address Them

Buyer Issues

  • Card Not Activated: The buyer can call their bank to ensure their card is activated before attempting a purchase.
  • Card Limits Exceeded: The buyer can check their credit limit or transaction limit to ensure the attempted purchase won’t exceed them.
  • Restrictions on International Purchases: The buyer can contact their bank to see if their card is restricted to their region or to let them know they plan to make an international purchase.

Seller Issues

  • Limited Payment Options: You as the seller might not be offering the payment methods buyers prefer. Buyers can use an alternative payment method such as PayPal or other digital wallets, or you can expand your payment method options.
  • Checkout Problems: An outdated or cumbersome checkout experience can lead to errors. Buyers running into this issue can try a different browser or device. Sellers can work with a partner with easy-to-use, streamlined checkout experiences.

Payment Processor Issues

  • Maintenance: Occasionally, processors need to go down for routine maintenance. While there’s not a lot buyers can do other than wait for maintenance to complete, sellers can use a backup processor or merchant of record to make sure there’s always a way for your customers to make a purchase.
  • Incompatibility: Occasionally, payment processors might not support certain payment methods or purchases from certain regions. Buyers can reach out to sellers for alternative options. Just like with maintenance, having a backup processor can help sellers avoid issues in regions where they can’t accept payments.

Payment Network Issues

  • Network Unavailable: Like any network, payment networks can and do experience outages. If the card issuer’s network is down, you’ll need to wait or use an alternative payment method.

Payment Institution Issues

  • Technical Outages: Banks and digital payment platforms can experience downtime. If this happens, buyers can contact their banks to see if there’s an issue or wait a bit and retry the transaction. Or they can try to use a different payment method.
  • Additional Checks: Sometimes institutions flag transactions for security reasons and fraud prevention, especially if it’s a high amount or outside a buyer’s usual spending patterns. Buyers can reach out to their banks to help remedy this issue.

Avoid Payment Declines With FastSpring’s Intelligent Payment Routing

With FastSpring, you get access to our global payment system, which comes with multi-availability or simultaneous access to multiple payment gateways. That means that if a payment fails on the first attempt, we’ll automatically retry using a secondary gateway without the need for any intervention from the buyer or your team. 

The result? Happier buyers and additional revenue from recaptured revenue. 

Want to learn more? Schedule a demo today.

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