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What Is a Do Not Honor Error?

Updated

 

“Do Not Honor” is a decline sent by the cardholder’s bank. It’s the bank’s way of refusing the charge, only the cardholder’s bank will know why they declined.

What causes it

Usually one of:

  • The bank’s fraud system flagged the transaction.
  • The card was never activated.
  • The card is blocked from recurring or stored charges.
  • Insufficient funds, reported vaguely.

What to do at the counter

  1. Check the details once. Card number, expiration, CVV, ZIP. A typo produces the same decline and is the only cause you can fix.
  2. If the details are right, stop retrying. Repeated attempts don’t work and can make the bank’s fraud system more suspicious.
  3. Take payment another way today — a different card, cash, or check — so the person isn’t held up.
  4. Ask them to call their bank. The number is on the back of the card. Only the cardholder can get this lifted.

If it’s on a recurring billing

A card that keeps returning this error will inactivate the recurring billing after 5 consecutive declines. Rather than waiting for that, ask for a different card and use Switch Payment Method on the billing’s details page.

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