When you run a card transaction, we return a response indicating whether the payment was approved or declined. We may also include Address Verification Service (AVS) or Card Verification Value (CVV) results.

For transactions you run using the Virtual Terminal, we return the response on the receipt page.

This article covers:

• Transaction response types
• AVS responses
• CVV responses

Transaction response types

When you run a card transaction, you receive the following types of response:

Approved or Authorized — The issuing bank authorizes the transaction. The amount is within the cardholder's credit limit. We place a hold on the cardholder's funds and ensure that those funds transfer to your account. The number of days for the funds to clear depends on the issuing bank.

Declined or Not Authorized — The bank declines the transaction. Declines have many possible causes, and we don't receive the reason for the decline due to privacy regulations. Only the cardholder can find out why their card was declined.

Pick-up, or Referral A — The card has been reported lost or stolen.

Important: If you receive a pick-up or referral A transaction response during a cardholder present transaction, retain the card and contact your acquiring bank.

Referral B — The bank requires additional information before authorizing. For ecommerce transactions, this response is treated as a decline. For Virtual Terminal transactions that are Mail and Telephone Order (MOTO), follow these steps:

1. Contact your acquiring bank immediately using the referral phone number they provided.
2. Provide the transaction details.
3. In **SelfCare**, enter the authorization code your acquiring bank provides.

AVS responses

AVS codes indicate whether the billing address provided matches the card issuer's records.

CVV responses

CVV codes indicate whether the card's security code matches. These codes are informational and don't usually prevent the transaction from being approved.