Common Credit Card Problems: Troubleshooting and Resources
Identifying the most common reasons behind credit card issues
Instabill serves e-commerce and MOTO merchants from different time zones worldwide. We understand you may experience credit card processing problems during our off hours. For this reason, our tech support experts offer this guide to help you understand some of the most common credit card processing problems.
Problems with Your Acquiring Bank
Sometimes, a situation can occur that may hinder payment processing on your merchant account. A common one is when fraudulent transactions are detected. Your acquiring bank will automatically reject the payment and may launch protocols to protect your account if the threat is severe. Other reasons for credit card processing problems include:
- Your merchant account is new and you need to adjust the settings
- Your bank is experiencing technical difficulties
- Your account has been suspended
- Your account has been terminated
- You have exceeded your monthly volume limit
If you are experiencing a problem with your merchant account or overall credit card processing capabilities, the ideal place to start is with your acquiring bank. One solution is to obtain multiple merchant accounts: This will solve volume limit problems and offers a backup solution should one merchant account experience a delay.
Other common credit card processing problems include…
Declined Debit or Credit Card Transactions
You might see discrepancies in your transaction data and attribute it to credit card processing problems. It could very well be, however, that a customer’s credit card issuing bank declined a transaction for any number of reasons:
- Their card is expired
- Insufficient funds in their account
- Reached/exceeded credit limit
- Card reported lost or stolen
- Someone is attempting fraud with the card
Payment Gateway Problems
The payment gateway is a valuable tool necessary to credit card processing for every online business. These gateways are designed to facilitate hundreds or thousands of transactions per day. Because of this, issues can sometimes arise.
Instabill is partnered with acquiring banks whose payment gateways are PCI DSS compliant. However, gateways are subject to bugs, glitches and other technical issues that can affect payment processing. If you notice an issue with your payment gateway, contact your acquiring bank in a timely manner.
Contact Instabill for Help
The Instabill team is here to answer your questions and to address any problems you may encounter through your merchant account. For more help with your merchant account and credit card processing problems, contact us online or call us toll-free at 1-800-318-2713, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. US eastern time.
Inquiries after business hours will be addressed as soon as possible.