Why Is My Debit Card Declining When I Have Money?

If you’ve ever been in a situation, asking yourself “why is my debit card declining when I have money?” you’re not alone.

Our debit cards are our trusted partners for making purchases and when a transaction is declined, even with enough money in your account, you could be left confused.

In this post, we unpack some of the main reasons for declined debit card transactions to ensure you avoid potentially uncomfortable situations. Let’s begin.

Why Is Your Debit Card Declined Even Though You Have Money In It?

Was your debit card declined even though you had sufficient funds in your savings account or checking account? There are several reasons that could be the cause. Here are the most commonly encountered ones.

1. You’ve reached your daily purchase limit

Almost every credit union or financial institution will place a daily limit on purchases. Depending on your financial services provider, this amount can range from several hundred to several thousand pounds.

This means that if you exceed the purchase limit within a 24-hour period, the debit card transaction will be declined even though you have available funds in your account. This preventative measure by your card issuer aims to ensure your money’s safety when shopping, preventing you from exceeding your daily purchase limit.

2. The debit card has expired or is inactive

Another reason why you’re dealing with a declined debit card could be that your debit card has expired or is inactive. To check the expiry date on your card, simply look at your card (usually on the front side). You will see a month and a year of expiry.

Usually, your bank or credit union will notify you about a month in advance before your card reaches its expiration date so that you can collect a new debit card and start using it again. However, another obstacle that you may run into once you’ve collected your newly issued card is that it hasn’t been activated.

To activate your new card, you may need to go to your financial institution’s ATM or go to a physical branch to set a new PIN number for your card. Alternatively, you may simply need to activate it through your mobile banking app to ensure that you don’t face a situation where your debit card is declined.

3. The bank finds the card transaction suspicious

Apart from reaching or exceeding your daily purchase limits, your bank may find your card transaction suspicious.

This is often the case if you are travelling abroad, making transactions in different countries or distant cities without having notified your financial institution or credit union about your trip.

As such, you may find that the transaction fails and that the card is declined if the bank suspects fraud from someone who may have stolen or taken possession of your card and is using it instead of you.

In addition to this, your bank may suspect fraud if you’ve made an unusually large transaction that does not form a part of your regular spending pattern and will decline the transaction.

4. Manual error when typing debit card details

When making contactless payments, there are certain rules in place about how many transactions and at what value you can make a purchase before being prompted to enter your PIN into the merchant’s card reader.

Despite not having a negative balance, you could be facing the challenge of human error. For instance, you may have entered the incorrect PIN number into the point-of-sale (POS) terminal, which will immediately recognise that your PIN and card do not correspond with each other.

Consequently, the transaction will be declined by the bank immediately.

A further potential situation when manual errors may occur with debit cards include cases when you are making online purchases. It is possible and an often occurring event when shopping online that consumers erroneously enter the wrong billing address, expiry date, security code and debit card details such as the PAN number.

5. Technical issue with the debit card payment

Cases of declined transactions with available funds and within the spending limit may be declined due to technical issues with the merchant’s card machine itself. These could be attributed to a broken or poorly configured POS device, an unstable internet connection, power outages or even cases where bank servers are overloaded with transaction requests. Another potential reason is that the merchant’s card doesn’t support chip payments.

6. Your new debit card isn’t activated yet

If you are getting a brand new debit card from your bank or financial institution for the very first time, and you haven’t activated it yet, you may need to do this if you don’t want to face a declined transaction.

7. Your card is suspended

It is also possible that your financial institution may have suspended your card due to detecting activities deemed suspicious. In many cases, this can be done when making online purchases on websites or e-commerce stores that are deemed unsafe due to data breaches where card numbers may have been compromised.

8. Your merchant does not cater to your card

And last but not least, having a declined card could simply be because the merchant you are frequenting does not accept or support your card. This is often a result of incompatibility with payment terminals, which will reject your card. Card networks such as Visa, American Express, Mastercard, Discover and more are commonly used around the world but not all are always accepted.

What to Do If a Debit Card Is Declined

If you find that your debit card is declined, do not panic. Here are some tips to consider:

• Start by examining your card for an expiration date. A card with a valid period before the expiration period has commenced should be fine to use as long as you have money in your bank account.
• If you are prompted to enter a PIN at a POS terminal, be sure that you double-check the four-digit PIN known only by you so that you avoid a declined card.
• If you have just received a new debit card or you’ve had a newly issued debit card, make sure you activate it before making purchases. For this, go to an ATM, your bank’s physical branch, your mobile app or call your bank and speak to a customer support representative. Be sure to follow any activation instructions you are provided with.
• Be extra vigilant in online purchases and only shop with secure online vendors that offer enhanced payment security. If you need to enter information such as your billing address, CVV number or any other card information, always make sure that the details are 100% accurate.
• For those intending to travel abroad, it is worth notifying your bank of your travel plans so that they do not record any transactions made abroad as unusual activity or suspicious activity.
• Before making a payment at a merchant’s physical store, always ask if they accept cards from your card network.

As you can see, insufficient funds are not the only reason for debit card declining. From suspected fraud to technical issues, there are many possible reasons for debit card declines despite having a positive account balance. 

How to Avoid and Prevent Debit Card Denial

To avoid and prevent debit card denial, a few best practices you should consider include:

• Constantly monitor your available balance through your internet banking’s account dashboard or on your bank’s mobile app. If you have overdraft protection, you likely won’t be charged a fee for an overdrawn account balance for less than 24 hours.
• You should at all times have full knowledge of your debit card’s limits and your bank’s daily spending limits. You can request temporary limit increases, depending on the purchase, but this will need to be pre-approved by your bank.
• Make sure you activate a new or replacement card so that you’re never in the awkward position of having a card declined. Be sure to choose a PIN that only you know and don’t make it easy to guess in case an unauthorised person gains access to your card.
• Be sure to keep your bank informed of any travel plans to avoid a declined debit card. Contact your bank before any journeys abroad for more peace of mind.

And there you have it, a few ways in which you can address potential problems of a declined debit card when you are trying to pay a final bill with enough money in your bank account.

Conclusion

Unlike credit card accounts, checking and savings accounts help to keep us in check by not permitting us to overspend beyond our means. Many banks implement additional security measures to ensure that your card doesn’t get into the wrong hands and used unlawfully.

If you’re struggling to understand why your debit card was declined, the chances are that it’s one of the reasons mentioned above. And with the list of safety precautions and checks to keep your money and card safe, you’ll have a more streamlined shopping experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I check if my debit card is blocked?

To check if your debit card is blocked, you can double check your internet banking, your bank’s mobile app, visit your bank’s physical branch or call your bank to speak to a representative who will be able to inform you of the status of your card.

What should I do if my debit card has been blocked?

If your debit card has been blocked, you need to speak to your bank to unblock it. If you do this over the phone, you will need to identify yourself before you are assisted, going through several security checks to verify your identity. It may also be a good idea to go to your bank in person and request that a new debit card is issued to you.

Why is my debit card being declined for online purchases?

Some of the main reasons why your debit card is declined for online purchases, apart from not having sufficient funds in your account balance, include entering incorrect card and payment details on the online store’s payment interface. It’s also possible that the online merchant does not offer fully secure and compliant payment acceptance solutions, ensuring a greater risk of financial fraud.