What to do if your card is declined
This can happen when you attempt to subscribe to a new plan, or when your card is charged on a recurring basis for an existing subscription.
Problem with the card
When a decline is due to a problem with your card we'll usually be able to tell you the reason. The most common reasons you might see are as follows:
- Your card has expired.
- Your card has insufficient funds.
- Your card does not support this type of purchase.
These are matters you will have to resolve with your card issuer, or via the department in your company that provides you with the card. Usually these are the simplest to resolve.
Problem with the payment
Declined payments don't always mean there's a problem with the card itself. The most frustrating situation is when the card is perfectly valid, but your bank denies the payment. This is the case if you simply see the message:
- Your card was declined
In this situation we have no information on why the payment failed. Your bank has simply told our payment provider (Stripe) that they have not honoured the charge. Stripe will not have been given a reason either, so please don't insist we discuss your specific case with them. We've been there many times and there's nothing they can do.
See Stripe's own documentation on understanding declines and failed payments
Here are some of our suggestions for resolving the issue:
Triple check your card details
Slight differences in your name or address can affect payments, so ensure the details you enter are exactly the same that your card is registered to.
Even when previous payments had succeeded we've seen slight tweaks to address information fix this problem. We can't explain it; it could be a coincidence, but it's worth trying.
Wait a few days
When a recurring payment is declined we retry it every day. It's not uncommon for a problem to resolve itself. We've seen payments declined for weeks in a row and then suddenly succeed.
However, please don't wait longer than a few days before contacting your bank. Your account is in danger of being frozen or closed if your subscription remains unpaid. See locked accounts for how we handle arrears.
Contact your card issuer
Usually a bank will only discuss the details of failed transactions with the card or account holder. Please get in touch with them to resolve unexplained declines.
The bank may tell you there's no problem with your card, but be clear to them that the problem is with a specific charge. We can provide you with the exact time that a charge was attempted, but there's nothing more we can do to help them help you.
Loco is based in the UK and Stripe are based in USA. Furthermore, you may not be charged in your own currency. This may be a factor in your bank declining charges, so be sure to mention this to them.
Change your card
If you're unable to resolve the matter with your bank, please change the card that you use for your subscription. You can do that by selecting the "Usage" tab from your team dashboard and clicking "Billing History". There is a "Change card" option on this page.
Please be aware that if you try another card issued by the same bank, you may find the problem persists.
A problem at our end?
If your card issuer tells you the problem is with us or our payment provider, then unfortunately that is a dead end. If we get a decline code from Stripe then our systems are working. There is nothing we can investigate, and Stripe cannot give us any more information than we already have.
Indian banks
Customers in India - please note that auto-debits are likely to fail on a regular basis. Please see Payments from India.