Fix Credit Card Do Not Honor Declines: A Merchant Guide

The credit card do not honor decline is the most common but least understood payment error in e-commerce. It occurs when a customer’s bank rejects the transaction silently, preventing revenue capture and frustrating merchants. This guide clarifies why it happens, identifies responsible parties, and provides actionable strategies to recover lost sales and improve payment success rates.

Why my customers couldn’t pay?

The credit card do not honor decline occurs because the customer’s bank refuses the transaction without explaining why. Merchants and payment providers do not trigger this error.

Causes:

1. Insufficient funds - The customer’s account balance may not cover the transaction. Some banks return “do not honor” instead of stating insufficient funds.
2. Suspicious activity - Banks may flag large, unusual, or international purchases as potential fraud.
3. Incorrect card details - Mismatched billing address, CVC, or expiration date can trigger the decline.
4. Card restrictions - Expired cards or daily/transactional limits can block payments.
5. Bank technical issues - Configuration changes or outages on the bank’s side can produce multiple declines.

Top payment providers confirm this error comes from the customer’s bank:

Who should I contact when I see credit card “Do Not Honor”?

The customer must contact their bank. Merchants and payment providers cannot override the refusal. The best option is for the customer to call the number on their card or use their bank’s mobile app.

“Do Not Honor” happens more often in cross-border transactions. Banks treat international payments as higher risk. Global studies show average card declines at 10-15%. Cross-border declines increase to 15-25%.

Providers do not publish exact numbers. Merchant reports show “Do Not Honor” is one of the most common decline codes across Stripe, PayPal/Braintree, Adyen, Worldpay, and Shopify Payments.

Customers in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions see higher “Do Not Honor” rates. Local banking policies, fraud concerns, and weaker payment infrastructure contribute.

Merchants in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, or countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) experience higher “Do Not Honor” rates for cross-border sales.

Payment providers(Stripe, Adyen, PayPal, etc…) cannot remove the decline. They can still:

• Confirm that the error comes from the bank.
• Offer retry tools and cart recovery emails.
• Show decline patterns in reporting dashboards.

How can I recover abandoned carts from credit card “Do Not Honor”?

Merchants can recover revenue lost to “Do Not Honor.” Recovery depends on guiding customers to retry payments or use other methods.

Recovery Tactics:

• Request another card, PayPal, or a digital wallet.
• Encourage customers to call their bank.
• Send automated recovery emails with retry instructions.
• Retry the transaction with updated card details using account updater tools.
• Send push notifications through mobile apps.
• Collect complete billing information and enable 3D Secure (extra cardholder verification) to reduce false fraud declines.

Merchants in forums such as Reddit, Shopify Community, and Stripe Support share these results:

• Customers completed orders by using PayPal or a different card.
• Banks cleared transactions once customers called them.
• Correcting billing address mismatches enabled successful retries.
• Adjusting fraud filters reduced unnecessary declines.

How do I follow up with customers about credit card “Do Not Honor”?

Merchants lose sales when they fail to follow up after declines. The goal is to guide customers with direct instructions.

• Explain that the bank declined the payment. Do not assume insufficient funds.
• Provide steps to retry with correct details.
• Advise the customer to contact their bank.
• Offer PayPal, Apple Pay, or another card option.
• Use automated follow-up emails or Short Message Service (SMS) text messages.
• Maintain a neutral and supportive tone.

Example Email:

Subject: Action Needed to Complete Your Order

Hi [First Name],

Your card was declined with a "Do Not Honor" response from your bank. This happens when banks block a transaction without giving a reason.

You can:

* Call the number on the back of your card to approve the payment.
* Try another card or PayPal.

Once you retry, your order will be processed.

Need help? Reply to this email and we will assist.

Example SMS:

"Your payment was declined by your bank. 
Please call your bank or try another payment method to complete your order: 
[link]."

Conclusion

The “Do Not Honor” error comes from the customer’s bank. Merchants cannot control the refusal. Merchants can still reduce lost sales by:

• Asking customers to call their bank.
• Offering other payment methods.
• Using cart recovery tools.
• Sending clear follow-up messages.

Treat “Do Not Honor” as a communication challenge. Merchants who respond with clear steps recover more sales and protect customer trust.