Charge customers with a Stripe Terminal card reader

Credit card decline reasons are not always obvious. Here's a quick guide with what to look for.

There are several reasons why a credit card can be declined using the Payment for Stripe app. The reasons are generally surfaced in the app after a charge with a descriptive label outlining the reasoning. There are two possible reasons why a credit card payment can fail:

• Payments declined by the card issuer
• Blocked payments (Stripe Radar, fraud, etc)

Payments declined by card issuers

Card issuers have automated systems that determine whether the charge should be authorized or not. The algorithms look at various signals instantaneously, from spending habits, account balance and credit card information, as well as location of the charge. Unfortunately, not all of the information that led to the decline is shared with Stripe, and subsequently to the Payment app. In rare cases, card issuers may also provide helpful explanations, but generally, card decline reasons can be hard to track down.

In some cases, the type of restrictions on the credit card can also cause certain declines. For example, using an FSA/HSA card to create a charge for a non-medical payment.

In addition, geographic location can also play a role in declined or failed payments. If credit cards are issued in a different country than your Stripe account, you may be at a higher risk of fraud, and thus risk a higher rate of failed payments.

Payments blocked by Stripe Radar

Every Stripe account comes with automated fraud verification for every single charge made on the Stripe network. The reason this is helpful is simple: Stripe processes billions of dollars in transactions every single day, scanning and identifying trends that give your Stripe account real time feedback on fraud across a variety of mediums. In addition, the Radar prevention tool can also be used to scale up and down your protection, ultimately putting you in control of how finicky your payment protection should be.

How can card declines be avoided?

One of the easiest ways is by using a PCI-compliant card reader, such as Stripe Terminal. Not only does using a card reader give you an abundance of new ways to collect payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay, but you'll also be able to accept chip-enabled cards; further preventing fraud. Although manually inputting card numbers is supported by the Payment app, they are still treated by payment gateways and issuers like an online purchase would be, as there is no evidence that the card was “present” at the time of the transaction.

In some cases, it may also be helpful to provide additional information with the charge. At the very least, including a billing zip or postal code to be validated with the credit card can help exponentially, but other information including name on the card and billing address can also be validated and checked against known fraudulent transactions. Lastly, providing a billing email address also allows Stripe Radar to check to see if that email address has been used across the Stripe network (globally) for other types of fraud.

What are the bank decline codes?

The list above is directly from Stripe. For a complete list, as well as suggested next steps, please visit: https://stripe.com/docs/declines/codes

Reduce fraud and look more professional with a pre-certified PCI-compliant card reader from Stripe Terminal.

What is PCI Compliance?

Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance is an official policy, created by the major credit card companies and PCI Security Standards Council to ensure the overall security of credit card transactions. The guidelines refer to both technical and operational standards that all businesses must follow to protect consumer credit card data provided by cardholders.

Why is PCI Compliance Important?

PCI compliance helps you, as a merchant, as well as payment gateways, to avoid fraudulent activity and to reduce cardholder data breaches.

Are you responsible as a merchant?

The short answer is no. Stripe assumes this risk on your behalf, as they are the ones that store all cardholder data.

• Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems
• Protect Cardholder Data
• Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
• Implement Strong Access Control Measures
• Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, there are also varying levels of PCI compliance based on the number of transactions processed yearly.

Is Stripe Terminal PCI Compliant?

The BBPOS Chipper 2X BT from Stripe Terminal is pre-certified with Stripe, meaning that there is nothing additional your business will have to do to become PCI compliant. Because the connection from Stripe Terminal only communicates with Stripe, you do not need to store any cardholder information on your own servers. Everything is stored securely at Stripe, with the brightest minds in the industry protecting the data.

Are the Payment for Stripe apps PCI compliant?

The Payment for Stripe apps are Verified Stripe Partners, which have already integrated with Stripe Terminal. In essence, this means that the Payment for Stripe apps, while using all of the proper tooling and software development kits from Stripe, are also pre-certified to be PCI compliant. The Payment for Stripe apps do not store any cardholder data, as all information is just passed along to Stripe using the highest security standards available.

In addition, when manually keying in cardholder information, the Payment for Stripe app has also completed a PCI-DSS Self Assessment (the most recent standard from May 2018) to the satisfaction of both Stripe and the major credit card companies. Since Payment for Stripe does not store any cardholder data, there is no risk of a data breach.

The only company you have to worry about having your cardholder's financial information is Stripe.

Learn more about the Stripe Terminal Card reader for the Payment app: Card Readers

The Payment for Stripe app supports all major credit cards as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Payment for Stripe is the most utilized and trusted point of sale app on the market serving over 60,000 customers all around the globe. The Payment App provides an intuitive dashboard and seamless gateway for businesses to charge customers within 30 seconds or less. Officially partnered with Stripe, the app includes various payment methods and can receive funds in 137 different currencies.

Stripe has disintegrated tedious contractual and operational relationships with the payment scheme, eliminating weeks of review and negotiation. Consumers, paired with Stripe, now have the freedom to smoothly pay for services their way, such as traditional eCommerce, subscription, SaaS and mountains of digital goods.

The Payment App massively extends the features of Stripe payment methods by giving merchants an easy way to charge in-person and online. This article will cover the different payment methods available within the Payment App and when using Stripe services.

Stripe Payment Methods Used by the Payment App

While using the Payment App users can charge for goods and services with the following payment options:

• AMEX
• Visa
• Mastercard
• Discover
• Diners Club
• Maestro
• JCB
• Discover
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay

Each option is fully supported by tapping, sliding, inserting, and manual entry using either the Payment app or BBPOS Chipper 2X BT-a Bluetooth card reader that's PCI and EMV certified. Merchants can track each transaction on their application, email receipts, build their customer list, and fully integrate with any other Stripe payment taken on any platform.

Here are supported payment methods when using the Payment App:

Apple Pay

Apple, a mogul of the technology industry, released Apple Pay in 2014. Upon release, they intended to banish physical wallets for good. Consumers can store and utilize credit and debit cards within the app for frictionless payments. This contactless technology allows users to make payments through profiles set up on their iPhone, iPad, Mac OS, and Apple Watch.

The real benefit when completing transactions through Apple Pay lies in the security features. The application morphs any card stored into a unique card identity stored in Apple's "secure element." Once called upon for a transaction, it renders a unique identification code, followed by one-touch authentication and biometric face or touch ID.

Growing popularity for digital wallets and cardless technology makes Apple Pay essential for businesses to carry as a payment method. Apple Pay is now available in 33 different countries with thousands of supporting banks.

Payment for Stripe readily charges and accepts Apple Pay online and in-person with options like tap-to-pay and PCI compliant card readers.

Debit and Credit Cards

Cards dominate the global marketplace as a form of payment. Banks and other providers offer credit and debit cards such as American Express, Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club, UnionPay, Maestro and Discover. All of these are accepted on the Payment for Stripe app and card reader, but there's a difference between credit and debit:

• Debit cards are linked to a bank account and require proper funds for each transaction.
• Credit cards operate under a "promise to pay" system, which accrues interest if new debt isn't settled within the designated grace period.

Nearly all merchants allow the option to pay-by-card, but some use POS systems running on a different payment platform. Using Payment for Stripe will enable you to take card payments in person, online, and on-the-go, siphoning all business income into one simple account.

Regardless of what cards you're using, a study commissioned by JP Morgan Chase noted only 16 percent of consumers have ever used digital wallets, and only 25 percent of small businesses even accepted these payments. These findings illustrate the slow adoption to these technologies by consumers, making cards imperative for the present and near future transactions.

Google Pay

Google Pay is a digital wallet that allows users to store and pay with cards or bank accounts linked to Google Pay. Every user has access to their funds by selecting Google Pay and using their stored payment of choice. Security features include the use of a "virtual account number," which is shared with merchants upon payment instead of the actual credit or debit cards associated with the user's account.

Customers can deploy this virtual pocketbook to complete fast and secure transactions on the Payment for Stripe App, in-person card readers, online eCommerce stores, and even when sending money through Gmail.

Google Pay's goal is to create the best user and merchant experience utilizing its frictionless payment system, decreasing checkout time, and increasing merchant conversions. The platform's worldwide expansion between 2018 and 2020 is forecasted to increase by 61 million users, putting the total at 100 million.

Learn more about how to collect payments with Stripe: Payment for Stripe Guides