Start from what the customer saw, including a payment declined message, find the matching dashboard record, and take only the next step that record supports.
Who can use this. You need access to Transaction History and to the payment link, payment page, invoice, or terminal list you used. Virtual Terminal visibility and Castle terminal access follow the same rules as those menus.
Before you start. Collect a safe reference only: your business name, the channel, the amount and currency, the date and time with the timezone you are using, and the transaction id or link id if the customer has it. Never ask for the full card number, the security code, or a password.
Steps
- Confirm the header business. Use Switch business if the customer paid a different business.
- Identify the channel: Payment Link, Payment Page, Invoice, Virtual Terminal, Recurring payment, Checkout API, or Terminal.
- Open Report, Transaction History. Set the date range and search the amount or the transaction id.
- If you used a payment link, open Payment Links, open that link, and open Payment Attempts. Do the same from a payment page record or a checkout session. The attempts view is not a separate item in the left menu.
- Read the decision on the attempt and the status on the transaction. They are different records.
- Follow the row you actually found. Do not start a second charge, a void, or a refund until you know whether the first result was approved, declined, or still missing.
| What you see | Meaning | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| No transaction and no attempt | The customer may have opened the wrong link, an expired link, or the wrong business, or the page failed before a card was submitted. | Create a new link only after you confirm there is no APPROVAL for that amount and time. |
| Attempt decision Blocked | Fraud prevention stopped the payment before or instead of a normal approval. | Do not retry the same pattern blindly. Read the fraud article. The customer can try a different card only if you still need the payment and no approval exists. |
| Attempt decision Allowed | The device check did not block the payment. | Look at the transaction status next. Allowed is not the same word as APPROVAL. |
| 3D Secure not authorized, or 3D Secure is not supported for this card | Authentication did not finish. The customer message for an unsupported card is to try a different card. | Authentication failure is not an APPROVAL and is not automatically an issuer decline. Check Transaction History before you charge again. |
| Status ND or another non-approval code | The processor did not approve the sale. | You may send a new payment request. Do not refund this row. |
| Status APPROVAL | The card payment succeeded. | If the customer still sees a failure, the failure is not the payment. Check the receipt notification and the order you fulfill. |
| Link or session Expired | That URL will not take another payment. A link can expire because of too many failed attempts, a 3D Secure failure, phone verification, or the due date. | Send a new link if you still need the money and there is no approval. |
| Pre-Auth without Force | The card was authorized, not captured. | Use Force on that row if you need to capture it. Do not take a second sale for the same order unless the pre-auth will not be captured. |
| Pending invoice or checkout | Invoice filter Pending, or checkout status Pending, means you are still waiting for a successful payment. | Open attempts before you cancel or resend. |
After you save or submit. When you create a replacement link or run Virtual Terminal, you are creating a new charge. Do that only when the earlier record is a decline, a block, an expiry, or truly absent.
Example. Example only: Casey tries to pay 42.00 on a payment link for Example Cafe. Transaction History has one row, source Payment Link, status ND. Payment Attempts shows Allowed, not Blocked. The card was declined. Example Cafe sends a new link. Example Cafe does not click Refund.
Troubleshooting
- The customer says the bank shows a charge but you see ND. Compare the transaction id and the time. Do not refund the ND row. If you still cannot match an APPROVAL, contact support with the safe reference list above.
- The browser timed out. A timeout is not a decline. Search Transaction History before you charge again.
- You want to change settlement settings to fix a checkout error. Do not. Settlement does not repair a failed checkout.
Related
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