Visa's Rule Changes for Declined Transaction Codes

Visa is instituting rule changes for declined transaction resubmission on April 17, 2021. These changes, which were first announced in September, relate to authorization response codes and mostly serve to organize those response codes.

One set of changes involves aligning certain response code definitions with descriptions in the V.I.P. System technical manuals. According to Visa’s press release announcing the changes, those response codes are as follows:

• Response Code 62—Restricted card (card invalid in region or country)
• Response Code 78—Blocked, first used (transaction from new cardholder, and card not properly unblocked)
• Response Code 93—Transaction cannot be completed—violation of law

Another set of changes relates to category changes for certain response codes. Category 1 response codes—categorized as “Issuer will never approve” responses—do not allow merchants to reattempt the transaction. Category 2 codes—"Issuer cannot approve at this time"—however, allow merchants to reattempt up to 15 times over a span of 30 days. As a result, the following response codes are being moved from Category 1 to Category 2:

• Response Code 03—Invalid merchant
• Response Code 62—Restricted card (card invalid in region or country)
• Response Code 78—Blocked, first used (transaction from new cardholder, and card not properly unblocked)
• Response Code 93—Transaction cannot be completed—violation of law

Additionally, Response Code 14—"Invalid account number (no such number)"—will be considered as both Category 1 and Category 3. Merchants will not be able to reattempt these transactions but they will be included in transaction counts for data quality monitoring.

While some of these changes may have already been implemented by some issuers and acquirers, Visa’s deadline for them to be implemented by all is April 17, 2021.