A decline means the payment reached the card networks and the customer's card issuer refused it. No money moved, nothing was captured, and there is nothing to refund. In most cases there is also nothing to fix on your store: the decision belongs to the issuing bank.

 

This article covers what a decline looks like on each screen, how to tell a decline apart from a technical failure, and which of the two is yours to act on.

 

 

What you see

At checkout. The customer stays on the checkout page and sees a short message about the card. The order is not marked as paid, so a declined attempt never leaves you with an order that looks paid and is not. This is how the WooCommerce plugin behaves from version 4.10.0.

 

In your WeeConnectPay dashboard. The attempt appears in the Transactions list with the status Declined. Opening the transaction shows a block titled Why this payment did not go through with a plain-language explanation, plus a Code: line and a Processor message: line when the processor supplied them.

 

In your store's order. The order stays unpaid, and the order notes carry what came back for the attempt.

 

 

Declined or Failed

Your dashboard uses two different statuses, and they call for different responses.

 

Status What it means
Declined The card issuer refused the payment. The customer can retry with another card. No action is needed on your side.
Failed The payment could not be processed for a technical reason, not a card refusal. If this repeats, contact WeeConnectPay support.

 

The distinction matters when several payments fail in a row. Scattered declines across different customers are normal on any store. Every card failing, including cards you know are good, points at a technical cause instead. Payments failing at checkout: what to check first walks through those.

 

 

Common reasons

The Why this payment did not go through block shows one of these explanations, in your dashboard's own words.

 

  • The customer's card issuer refused the payment. Nothing is wrong with your store. The customer can retry with another card or contact their bank.
  • The card used has expired. The customer needs to retry with a valid card.
  • The card security code did not match. The customer mistyped their card details.
  • The card number entered was invalid.
  • The billing postal code did not match the card. The customer should re-enter their billing address.
  • A processing problem occurred between Clover and the card network. If this repeats, contact WeeConnectPay support.
  • The card could not be verified with the customer's bank, so the payment was stopped before it reached the issuer for approval. Nothing is wrong with your store. The customer can try again or use a different card.

 

When the processor gives no specific code, the block falls back to a general sentence for the status: a card refusal for Declined, a technical problem for Failed.

 

 

What is yours to act on

Situation What to do
A single customer's card was declined Invite them to try another card or check with their bank. The result is the issuer's decision, and it cannot be approved from your side or ours.
Attempts keep being declined from the same connection The message shown at checkout becomes a general one after three failed attempts from the same connection in a short window. That is a deliberate protection against card testing, and it applies to the wording only. The next genuine attempt is processed normally.
Processing errors keep appearing Email support@weeconnectpay.com with the order number and the time of the attempt.
Declines started suddenly across all cards Treat it as a technical failure and start with Payments failing at checkout: what to check first, then Which currencies your store can charge.

 

 

What a decline costs

Nothing. A declined attempt is not a payment: no money moved, it is excluded from your revenue figures, it cannot be refunded, and it carries no WeeConnectPay per-transaction fee. Declines are still recorded in your dashboard so you can see the whole picture of what your checkout is doing, including the attempts that never became sales.

 

If a transaction shows Declined and your customer tells you their bank approved it, email support@weeconnectpay.com with the order number and the time. We will trace what came back for that attempt.