This article serves as a guideline for when to retry transactions and when not to as mandated by the VISA and MASTERCARD schemes. It is important to note that failure to comply will result in fines being issued.
When a transaction fails the response code from VISA/Mastercard will need to be noted as well as which category these codes form a part of.
Take careful note of category 1 transactions as they should not be reattempted under any circumstances.
The categories and what they mean:
- Category 1: Never re-attempt these transactions for both visa and mastercard
- Category 2: Issuer cannot approve at this time. For VISA reattempts should be limited to 15 attempts in the span of 30 days. For Mastercard no more than 10 attempts in a 24 hour period.
- Category 3: Data quality needs to be reevaluated. Check the data being sent and confirm it is correct before reattempting.
- Category 4: Generic response codes
Below is a table documenting the scheme codes and which categories they belong to. For more information on this please see the attached documentation provided by VISA and Mastercard.
| VISA RESPONSE CODE | MASTERCARD RESPONSE CODE | PEACH RESPONSE CODE | RESPONSE DESCRIPTION | CATEGORY |
| 00 | 00 | 000.000.000 | Approved or completed successfully | N/A |
| 01 | 01 | 800.100.152 | Refer to card issuer | Category 4 |
| 02 | 02 | 800.100.152 | Refer to card issuer, special condition | Category 2 |
| 03 | 03 | 800.100.190 | Invalid merchant | Category 4 |
| 04 | 04 | 800.100.171 | Pick-up card | Category 1 |
| 05 | 05 | 800.100.152 | Do not honor | Category 4 |
| 06 | 06 | 800.100.152 | Error | Category 4 |
| 07 | 07 | 800.100.171 | Pick-up card, special condition | Category 1 |
| 08 | 08 | Honor with identification | Category 4 | |
| 09 | 09 | 800.100.152 | Request in progress | Category 4 |
| 10 | 10 | Approved for partial amount | N/A | |
| 11 | 11 | Approved (VIP) | N/A | |
| 12 | 12 | 800.100.154 | Invalid transaction | Category 1 |
| 13 | 13 | 800.100.174 | Invalid amount | Category 4 |
| 14 | 14 | 800.100.151 | Invalid card number (No such number) | Category 1 |
| 15 | 15 | 800.100.152 | No such issuer | Category 1 |
| 16 | 16 | Approved, update track 3 | N/A | |
| 17 | 17 | 800.100.152 | Customer cancellation | Category 4 |
| 18 | 18 | 800.100.152 | Customer dispute | Category 4 |
| 19 | 19 | 800.100.152 | Re-enter transaction | Category 2 |
| 20 | 20 | 800.100.152 | Invalid response | Category 4 |
| 21 | 21 | 800.100.152 | No action taken | Category 4 |
| 22 | 22 | 800.100.152 | Suspected malfunction | Category 4 |
| 23 | 23 | 800.100.152 | Unacceptable transaction fee | Category 4 |
| 24 | 24 | 800.100.152 | File update not supported | Category 4 |
| 25 | 25 | 800.100.167 | Unable to locate record on file | Category 4 |
| 26 | 26 | 800.100.152 | Duplicate record | Category 4 |
| 27 | 27 | 800.100.152 | File update field edit error | Category 4 |
| 28 | 28 | 800.100.152 | File update file locked | Category 4 |
| 29 | 29 | 800.100.152 | File update failed | Category 4 |
| 30 | 30 | 800.100.156 | Format error | Category 4 |
| 31 | 31 | 800.100.152 | Bank not supported | Category 4 |
| 32 | 32 | 800.100.152 | Completed partially | Category 4 |
| 33 | 33 | 800.100.157 | Expired card, pick-up | Category 4 |
| 34 | 33 | 800.100.158 | Suspected fraud, pick-up | Category 4 |
| 35 | 25 | 800.100.152 | Contact acquirer, pick-up | Category 4 |
| 36 | 36 | 800.100.168 | Restricted card, pick-up | Category 4 |
| 37 | 37 | 800.100.152 | Call acquirer security, pick-up | Category 4 |
| 38 | 38 | 800.100.178 | PIN tries exceeded, pick-up | Category 4 |
| 39 | 39 | 800.100.152 | No credit account | Category 4 |
| 40 | 40 | 800.100.152 | Function not supported | Category 4 |
| 41 | 41 | 800.100.165 | Lost card, pick-up | Category 1 |
| 42 | 42 | 800.100.152 | No universal account | Category 4 |
| 43 | 43 | 800.100.159 | Stolen card, pick-up | Category 1 |
| 44 | 44 | 800.100.152 | No investment account | Category 4 |
| 45 | N/A | Account closed | Category 4 | |
| 46 | N/A | Identification required | Category 1 | |
| 47 | N/A | Identification cross-check required | Category 4 | |
| 48 | N/A | No customer record | Category 4 | |
| 51 | 51 | 800.100.155 | Not sufficient funds | Category 2 |
| 52 | 52 | 800.100.152 | No check account | Category 4 |
| 53 | 53 | 800.100.152 | No savings account | Category 4 |
| 54 | 54 | 800.100.157 | Expired card | Category 3 |
| 55 | 55 | 800.100.166 | Incorrect PIN | Category 3 |
| 56 | 56 | 800.100.152 | No card record | Category 4 |
| 57 | 57 | 800.100.170 | Transaction not permitted to cardholder | Category 1 |
| 58 | 58 | 800.100.170 | Transaction not permitted on terminal | Category 4 |
| 59 | 59 | 800.100.158 | Suspected fraud | Category 2 |
| 60 | 60 | 800.100.152 | Contact acquirer | Category 4 |
| 61 | 61 | 800.100.162 | Exceeds withdrawal limit | Category 2 |
| 62 | 62 | 800.100.168 | Restricted card | Category 2 |
| 63 | 63 | 800.100.153 | Security violation | Category 4 |
| 64 | 64 | 800.100.152 | Original amount incorrect | Category 4 |
| 65 | 65 | 800.100.163 | Exceeds withdrawal frequency | Category 2 |
| 66 | 66 | 800.100.152 | Call acquirer security | Category 4 |
| 67 | 67 | 800.100.160 | Hard capture | Category 4 |
| 68 | 68 | 900.100.400 | Response received too late | Category 4 |
| 69 | N/A | 900.100.400 | Advice received too late | Category 4 |
| 70 | N/A | [Europe Region only] PIN data required | Category 3 | |
| 75 | 75 | 800.100.161 | PIN tries exceeded | Category 2 |
| 76 | 76 | Key synchronization error | Category 4 | |
| 77 | 77 | 800.100.152 | Intervene, bank approval required | Category 4 |
| 78 | 78 | 800.100.152 | Intervene, bank approval required for partial amount Visa Reason Code description: Blocked, first used or special condition [account is temporarily blocked] | Category 2 |
| N/A | 79 | Invalid digital signature | Category 4 | |
| N/A | 80 | Stale dated transaction | Category 4 | |
| N/A | 81 | 800.100.100 | Issuer requested standin | Category 4 |
| N/A | 82 | Count exceeds limit | Category 4 | |
| N/A | 83 | Reserved for private use | Category 4 | |
| N/A | 84 | Time limit for pre-authorization reached | Category 4 | |
| N/A | 85 | Issuer has no reason to decline the transaction | N/A | |
| 86 | N/A | Cannot verify PIN | Category 2 | |
| N/A | 87 | Check already posted | N/A | |
| N/A | 88 | Information not on file | Category 4 | |
| N/A | 89 | Card verification value (CVV) verification failed (no pickup) | Category 4 | |
| 90 | 90 | 800.100.152 | Cut-off in progress | Category 4 |
| 91 | 91 | 900.100.400 | Issuer or switch inoperative | Category 2 |
| 92 | 92 | 800.100.152 | Routing error | Category 4 |
| 93 | 93 | 800.100.152 | Violation of law | Category 2 |
| 94 | 94 | 800.110.100 | Duplicate transaction | Category 4 |
| 95 | 95 | 800.100.152 | Reconcile error | Category 4 |
| 96 | 96 | 900.100.600 | System malfunction | Category 2 |
| 1A | 1A | [Europe Region only] Additional customer authentication required | Category 3 | |
| 6P | 6P | Verification Failed (Cardholder ID does not match Issuer records | Category 3 | |
| N3 | N3 | Cash service not available | Category 2 | |
| N4 | N4 | Cash request exceeds issuer or approve limit | Category 2 | |
| N7 | N7 | Decline for CVV2 Failure | Category 3 | |
| R0 | R0 | Stop Payment Order | Category 1 | |
| R1 | R1 | Revocation of Authorisation order | Category 1 | |
| R3 | R3 | Revocation of all Authorisation orders | Category 1 |