Our systems use an automated fraud prevention tool-set that blocks any payments that it identifies as high-risk.
We use these to prevent fraud and abuses.
This data-set includes location as indicated by your IP address, date and time of use, language preference, operating system, and browser type.
Payments can fail for a variety of reasons and it’s frustrating when they result in you not completing your payment process and start off your web hosting services.
This billing and payment guide is to tell you why your payment may have failed and what you can do about it.
Your Payment Declined By The Card Issuer
When a charge is submitted to the issuer of your card, they often have automated systems and models that determine whether or not to authorize it.
These systems analyze various signals, such as your spending habits, account balance, and card information such as the expiration date, address information, and CVC.
In some cases, card issuers provide helpful explanations, such as the card number or expiration date being incorrect, or that the customer does not have enough funds available to make the payment.
There is a problem though and it is that most declines are categorized by the card issuer as “generic” and thus, not always possible to know exactly why a payment was declined.
For privacy and security, card issuers can only discuss the specifics of a declined payment with their cardholders – they cannot discuss this with us.
If you believe that the card information you are using is correct, it is best you contact your card issuer and ask them for an explanation of why the payment isn't going through.
Restrictions Placed On Your Card
Some customers may find that their card has restrictions on the type of purchases it can make.
FSA/HSA cards are often limited to certain types of businesses (e.g., healthcare providers), so any other type of purchase would be declined.
In addition, some card issuers may not allow purchases from certain countries or outside of their own.
In either case, please contact your card issuer to check for any restrictions that may be in place.
Your Geographic Location
While we offer services to customers across the world and have offices in Japan, Nigeria, and Georgia, we are a U.S registered company first and foremost.
So naturally, we use U.S Stripe and PayPal as our payment processors.
If you are using cards issued in a different country than the United States, and experience an increased rate of decline, the quickest way to resolve this is for you to contact your issuing bank to authorize the charge.
If you are in Nigeria or West Africa, please use the payment method marked as "Paystack" instead of "Stripe" when checking out.
Successful Payment Indicated But Blocked
There are times that a blocked payment is initially authorized by the card issuer and processed successfully.
Depending on the type of card being used, some customers may see the card issuer’s authorization for the payment amount on their statement.
Please note that even though this event has occurred, our systems didn't really charge the card as it’s likely the payment is fraudulent and could result in a dispute.
The amount has not been charged and no funds have been taken.
The authorization is likely to be removed from your statement by the card issuer within a few days.
Payment Decline As A Result of Invalid CVC and Postal Code
There are also cases where the CVC or AVS checks failed upon adding the card.
Card issuers’ suspicions of fraudulent activity are more challenging to manage.
But if you could provide valid CVC and postal code as registered with the card issue when checking out, this can significantly decrease the number of declines you’re experiencing.
To solve this problem, please do re-check these and then re-attempt your payment.
We have seen several cases where this resolves the issue and the charge resulted in a successful authorization.
What To Do About Declined Payment
If the card you’re attempting to use is declined, please try again.
We recommend you not retry charges more than three (3) times.
Creating additional retries may be seen by issuers as potential fraud and could result in legitimate charges being declined more frequently.
We are continuously working to reduce decline rates for cards processed on our platform with machine learning and experimentation, along with issuer and network outreach to optimize acceptance rates.
If your attempts aren't successful, please use an alternative payment method to complete the payment.
