Soft Decline
A soft decline, in contrast with a hard decline, occurs when an issuer temporarily rejects a transaction request. Common reasons for soft declines include momentarily insufficient funds in an account, an incorrect billing address, or technical issues.
To resolve a soft decline, a merchant should verify that the payment details are correct and then simply try processing the transaction again. If the problem persists, the merchant can prompt the cardholder to contact their issuer or ask them to use a different payment method.
Credit card decline codes associated with sift declines include:
- Code 51: Insufficient Funds
- Code 61: Exceeds Issuer Withdrawal Limits
- Code 65: Activity limits Exceeded or Insufficient Funds
Merchants should double-check for data entry errors before submitting a transaction for processing, so as to help avoid soft declines.
