FINANCE
11 Ways to Fix Debit or Credit Card Declined Issues
11 Ways to Fix Debit or Credit Card Declined Issues
Have you ever had your debit card declined? What came to your mind at that moment? Did you find the reasons why it was declined? Here we explained in detail 11 possible reasons why your card could be declined and how you can resolve the problems.
11 Reasons Your Debit Card Declined
Debit and credit cards no doubt provide convenient ways of making purchases at any point of sale.
However, just like when using credit cards, sometimes the merchant can decline your transaction when you insert your card. Why was my debit card declined? I know that having your credit or debit card declined can be very frustrating.
Someone will ask, “why is my credit or debit card been declined when I have money in my account?” Well, let’s find the answers to these questions together.
Reasons Why Your Card Declined
-
Insufficient funds
The most common reason why your debit card can be declined is not having enough funds in the account from which you want to make withdrawals. This is often the case with people who do not keep consistent track of their spending. People someone times a result of a lack of consistent transaction tracking run out of funds without knowing. This usually happens to people who always send someone to carry out financial transactions for them, either depositing or withdrawing for them. This makes it difficult sometimes for these transactions to be tracked. Especially in a society where mobile network failure could prevent transaction alert delivery.
If you have overdraft protection, you can still go ahead with cash transactions when you run out of money. In other words, if you have overdraft protection, your debit card will not be declined because of a shortage of funds. Overdraft protection ensures your transactions are processed even when you have less amount of money in your account.
Your debit card in some cases can be declined but charged. This is in most cases is a result of pending authorization. It could mean that there you have an unprocessed payment. However, the pending charge disappears after payment is processed.
There are a lot of budget management apps, such as Trim that you can conveniently use to Trim expenses such as your cable TV subscription bill and lots more. Trim is free.
How to prevent card decline as a result of insufficient fund:
For you to effectively prevent your debit card been declined at any point as a result of insufficient balance, you need to keep track of your bank transactions and balance. If you are not using mobile banking or online banking channels, it is time you get started. You need to subscribe to email and mobile transaction alert. These will surely help you keep track of inflow and outflow from your bank accounts.
You can also download the mobile app from your bank. Almost all banks now have mobile apps. This will help you to quickly check your balance at every point in time before initiating any financial transactions. Having at heart your financial strength will save you a lot of embarrassment.
You can also manage your personal finance using certain other apps such as the Personal Capital app. These apps when properly used will ensure you don’t run out of funds.
-
Multiple Incorrect PIN entries
This is another major reason for a declined debit card. Some people at the point of debit card activation generate complex debit card PIN which afterward they find very difficult to remember. Having your debit card PIN at heart is very much important to forestall your debit card been declined. When you enter your debit card incorrectly several times, the ATM may decline and block your debit card.
This usually happens to people who are careless with details such as their debit card PIN. The essence of a PIN for your debit card is to ensure that only you can access the funds in your account using your debit card.
The same way ATM will respond and treat a scammer or someone who wants to make transactions with your card without your authorization is the way it will treat you, the real card owner if you wrongly enter your PIN repeatedly.
Multiple incorrect PIN entries send fraud alerts to the card issuer which makes them decline a transaction and also block the card.
Card issuers, whenever they suspect that a card is stolen or been used with the authorization of the owner, not only decline processing transactions, they also blog such debit cards.
How to prevent card decline as a result of incorrect PIN:
The sure way to avoid your debit card been declined and possibly blocked during a transaction is to memorize the PIN of your card. If you have multiple cards and cannot write the separate PINs in a secure place that online you can access, it is advised that you use a uniform or single PIN for all your debit and credit cards.
If you must write the PIN of your card, let it be in a secure place where you alone can access it. Been careless with card detail has caused a lot of people serious losses.
Bad people can take advantage of your carelessness to empty your bank account.
-
You’ve Reached Your Daily Withdrawal Limit
Often, this happens to people who lost track of their daily transactions or who may not know the daily transaction limit set by their bank.
All regulated financial institutions have a daily financial limit that customers cannot exceed. This limit was given by the Central Bank to the volume of cash in circulation in society. This also was introduced to protect peoples’ accounts against fraudulent transactions. At least when bad people succeed in gaining unauthorized access into the customer’s account, they will not be able to empty such accounts. At least, when they make transactions up to the daily stipulated limit, they will be forced to stop.
Ensure you keep track of your daily transactions to know when you reach the daily transaction limit of your bank.
How to prevent decline as a result of daily limit:
You need to know the daily card transaction limit set by your bank.
Also, just as we pointed out above, you need to keep track of your daily banking transactions. This will enable you to know when you approach your daily transaction limit.
On the other hand, if you plan to carry out a huge withdrawal in a day, you can inform your bank in good time, maybe, they can adjust for your card, the daily transaction limit for that particular day or period.
Alternatively, you can also operate more than a single card so that when you reach the daily transaction limit of one, you switch over to another card.
-
Card Expiration
Banks do inform their customers in good time before the expiration of their card. However some customers, either intentionally or unintentionally do not renew their cards. This for the people who did not know that their card has expired results in their card been declined when they want to carry our transaction.
Debit and credit cards have expiration dates. Trying to perform a transaction with them when expired will not work, will only decline or ceased by the ATM.
Most of the time, when cards are declined for transactions, the last thing that could come to the mind of the customer is the card expiration date.
How to prevent card decline due to expiration:
To prevent your card from being declined for transactions, try as much as you can keep in mind the expiration date of your card. Most banks will notify you at a good time when your card is to expire. If you perform a transaction using the ATM, the will also prompt you with the message that your card will soon expire. If you subscribed to online banking services too, an email will be sent to you. All these are so that you can take decisive steps and actions to get your card renewed at the point of expiration.
If your card cannot be renewed auto-renewed for any reason, maybe because of insufficient funds, you can approach your bank to manually renew your card. Ensure that you destroy every replaced card so as not to give room for a security breach. Your old cards still contain some vital data that can be exploited by bad people.
-
Wrong personal data entry
Incorrect entry of your personal information when performing a transaction with your card could result in your card been declined. This usually happens when carrying out online transactions. Merchants usually request the details on the card such as the name of the card and the card number, if you enter any incorrect detail, your transaction, and your card will be declined
Sometimes, when shopping online, you may be required to enter your zip code, ensure you enter the correct Zip code.
How to prevent card been declined as a result of wrong personal data entry:
Whenever you are performing online transactions, do ensure that you enter information as it appears on the card. For instance, if you don’t enter the card holder’s name the way it appears on the card, maybe you rearrange the names, your card will be declined.
Always update your record with your bank to prevent loss of information as a result of a change of environment.
11 Ways to Fix Debit or Credit Card Declined Issues
- Suspicious Transaction
Most banks have a clause in the customer’s account opening form and card issuance form which gave them the right to decline transactions they see as being suspicious. Suspicious activities may include excessive transactions with a short period. This feature is to protect cardholders from people who may want to steal from them.
How to avoid card decline as a result of suspicious transactions:
Inform your bank in good time before commencing heavy transactions online. Alternatively, split your transactions into smaller amounts spread over a space of time.
-
You’ve made an International Purchase
Banking services are becoming global. You can perform a banking transaction with your credit card from anywhere in the world. This gives room for fraud stars to have access to people to accounts from across the world. These days, you can use your debit card, such as a Visa or MasterCard, anywhere in the world.
When your bank suspects unusual transactions or unauthorized access to your card, they can flag it as unsafe. This is to protect you from online fraud starts.
How to prevent card decline as a result of international transactions:
You don’t necessarily have to let your bank know before you travel. But do ensure that you moderate your transactions. Give time between transactions, this way you would have your card flagged.
Also ensure before you use an ATM outside the country of issuance that you check if the machine will accept your card, this way your card wouldn’t be declined.
-
Technical Issues
Sometimes, your card may be declined due to no fault of yours. Your card can be declined due to technical issues from your bank or the other end of your transaction. Merchants systems may be having network or technical issues processing your transaction.
A merchant may experience for instance:
- Slow internet connection,
- Power failure or
- Transactions overload.
Since the fault is not yours, probably with your bank or merchant, you may not have control over whether or not your card will be declined. If your experience card decline as a result of technical issues from your bank or merchant, you can always:
- Try again after some time,
- Use a different terminal, or
- Wait until the systems are up and running.
-
Your Joint Holder Deactivated Your Card
If you run a joint account with someone, maybe your spouse, business partner, or your family member, if the other person deactivates the card of your joint account, you lose the authority to perform transactions using the said card. Most banks allow a partner to deactivate a card with the consent of the other partner. This is to prevent fraud.
Once a partner deactivates a card, financial transactions can no longer be performed using the said card. This is good especially in the case of theft or misplacement of the card.
How to prevent card decline as a result of deactivation:
If you plan to deactivate a card of a joint account, do ensure that your partner is aware. You can also create a clause at the point of account opening where it will be stated that both partners will sign for any major changes to your account, which of course include card activation or deactivation.
-
You Haven’t Activated the Card Yet
Often time people collect the card from the customer card and head home with activating the card. For security reasons, banks require that cards be activated before they can be used. Good thing this day, bank try as much as possible to assist a customer with card activation at the point of issuance.
To avoid having your debit card declined due to activation, make sure that you follow every instruction given by your bank for activation.
- Card Type not Acceptable
Transactions can be declined if a merchant does not accept payment from your card type. Some checkouts and merchants are selective when it comes to the type they accept for transactions. If you try to use your card on a merchant or ATM that does not accept it, it will surely be declined.
Debit cards declined at any point of sale or ATM could also be a result of not using the payment method that the ATM or POS accept.
Before you insert your card, be sure that the merchant accepts the card type you have.
AFRICA
Nigeria: Federal Govt Sets Up 14-Man Committee to Manage Petroleum Products Supply, Distribution
In a move to find lasting solution to the disruptions in the supply and distribution of petroleum products in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of a 14-man Steering Committee on Petroleum Products Supply and Distribution management, which he will personally chair, the ministry of petroleum resources announced yesterday.
The Steering Committee, which has minister of state for Petroleum Resource, Chief Timipre Sylva as alternate chairman is expected to among other things to ensure transparent and efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.
Other terms of reference are to ensure national strategic stock management, visibility on the NNPC Limited refineries rehabilitation programme and ensure end-end tracking of petroleum products, especial PMS to ascertain daily national consumption and eliminate smuggling.
To further ensure sanity in the supply and distribution across the value chain, Sylva has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure strict compliance with the government approved ex-depot and retail prices for PMS.
The minister has further directed the NMDPRA to ensure that NNPC Limited, which is the supplier of last resort meets the domestic supply obligation of PMS and other petroleum products in the country.
He further directed that the interests of the ordinary Nigerian is protected from price exploitation on other deregulated products such as AGO and DPK and LPG.
The federal government will not allow misguided elements to bring untold hardship upon the citizenry and attempt to discredit government’s efforts in consolidating the gains made thus far in the oil and gas sector of the economy.
Other members of the committee are minister of Finance, permanent secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Economic Adviser to the President, director-general, Department of State Services (DSS), comptroller-general, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Member (EFCC), and commandant-general, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)
Others who made up the Steering Committee are Authority chief executive, Nigerian Midstream and Member Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), group chief executive officer, NNPC Limited, Special Advisor (Special Duties) to the HMSPR while the Technical Advisor (Midstream) to the HMSPR will serve as Secretary.
The cost of Nigeria’s fuel subsidies rose to 525.714 billion naira ($1.22 billion) in August, bringing the total spent this year to 2.568 trillion naira, according to figures submitted to the government by state oil company NNPC.
The ballooning costs of keeping petrol prices low in Africa’s most populous nation are straining the budget and draining revenue from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC).
In April, Nigeria’s parliament approved a 4-trillion-naira petrol subsidy for this year after the government in January reversed a pledge to end its subsidies to avert protests in the run-up to presidential elections in February 2023.
NNPC has not submitted any money to the federal government this year due largely to subsidy costs. August’s bill compared with 448.782 billion naira in July, according to a document NNPC submitted on Friday to the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
Part of the increased cost was down to a bigger daily supply of petrol, which rose to 71.8 million litres, up nearly 10% from July, according to information submitted at the same meeting by regulator Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Oil production in August averaged 1.18 million barrels per day, well below the nation’s OPEC quota of 1.8 million bpd, due in large part to theft from pipelines that has curtailed production.
($1 = 430.0500 naira)
The African continent has emerged as a hotbed for crypto and blockchain activity, with countries like Nigeria and Ethiopia leading the way.
Web3 payments platform Fuse has partnered with ChromePay, an identity-based payment solution, to launch a new suite of payment products in Africa — a move designed to boost financial inclusion on the continent.
The partnership centers around ChromePay’s decentralized identity service, also known as a DID, which the companies claim will enable millions of Africans to participate in the Web3 economy. By utilizing the Fuse blockchain, ChromePay will offer users a variety of Web3 payment services powered by its DID solution. As part of the partnership, Fuse has also awarded ChromePay a grant for an undisclosed amount to build out its decentralized finance (DeFi) and DID services directly on the blockchain.
By integrating with the Fuse blockchain, ChromePay will reportedly enable users to access both traditional and blockchain-based payments directly from their mobile devices.
Founded in 2019, ChromePay launched its payment solutions app in Nigeria in 2021 following a successful pilot. The company’s next milestone is the launch of its Fuse-powered DID in Ethiopia, a country that has made notable strides in its crypto adoption.
As Cointelegraph explains, decentralized identity is an emerging concept within Web3 that enables trusted data exchange. In practice, DIDs allow users to manage and administer their digital identity without reliance on a centralized third party.
Africa has become a hotbed for crypto and blockchain activity, with significant populations in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa turning to digital assets for access to financial services. This trend was identified by the United Nations in a June 2022 policy brief, which described the “unprecedented pace” of crypto adoption during the pandemic.
Finding the right type of business to start up is one of the most difficult things many people have to face. As a result, 9 out of 10 businesses fail in 10 years, and most of the last ones standing do not survive the next 10 years that follow.
The same applies to finding the right type of commodity to export.
The export business in its own right is a highly lucrative business to venture into, but determining the right type of commodity to export depending on the profit margins you’re targeting can sometimes be a problem.
While some exporters are okay with netting profit margins of between 10-30% per non-oil transactions, many others are uncomfortable with that, especially as an export cycle in a country like Nigeria is about 45 days, and so, would want to make the most of the time and possibly make up to or more than 100% profit on the commodity exported.
If you’re looking for high-margin commodities that can take your export business from 0 to 100 in 45 days, here are 2 hot-selling commodities that you can export to make up to or more than 100% profits on every sale:
1. Ginger
Ginger is one of the most traded spices in the world which Nigeria happens to be among the largest producers. Why we are not exporting ginger in large quantity is beyond me. You can start a Trans-Sahara or Trans-Atlantic trade with this goods and be making dollars on regular basis. Garlic is also on top of the list of items you can export from Nigeria.
2. Palm Kernel Oil
Palm Kernel oil is the oil extracted from the pulp of palm fruit which is different from palm oil. Palm Kernel Oil is used for the manufacturing of various cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and confectioneries. The uses of this oil is broad and the mineral contents are said to be rich in protein for various uses. Nigeria has it quantum and makes dollars exporting it to other countries of the world.
3. Textiles and Garments
This industry alone generates close to $32bn as revenue from export from Nigeria. It is also a fact that unlike other products that battles with high strict rules of tests, Nigeria’s textiles enjoy duty free passage into United States where it has the largest market in the world because of its unique designs, ethnic African designs and quality.
4. Cocoa Butter
This is the real sources of chocolates of all types. The fruits of Cocoa is used for the production of various skin care products, health products, and pharmaceutical products. The demand for Cocoa is very high in both America and UK and that is why cocoa farming is very essential in Nigeria.
5. Gallstone
This is a clay-like solid substance gotten from the gallbladder of matured cow and oxen. The size could be as big as chicken egg. Gallstone is a hotcake for foreign pharmaceuticals because they use it for medical purposes. If you could lay your hand a good quantity of well dried gallstone about 100g that is well packaged, ready buyers are waiting for it in either Asia or America.
6. Rubber
Nigeria has put in place proper Central Testing Laboratories to ensure that only certified products leave the country to Europe and America. Nigeria happens to be a significant producer of Rubber in Africa. A cubit meter of fine quality rubber goes for between $400 and $600 presently because of the instability of dollar rate in the market.
7. Sesame Seed
This may sound a bit strange if you are not from the area where it is produced in the country. Sesame seed can be found in quantity in places like Benue and Jigawa states in Nigeria. This product ranks second to cocoa in terms of export volume and foreign exchange earnings. Nigeria is the 5th largest producer of this commodity and shipping it into foreign countries brings dollars exchange.
8. Honey
Pure honey is another export commodity from Nigeria to other countries. Presently, a kilogram of honey costs above $150 in the international markets. Pure natural honey contains trace enzymes as sugar, mineral, vitamins and amino acids. A litre of honey can fetch good dollars in the foreign market.
9. Shrimps
The Niger Delta region in Nigeria is blessed with rich organic deposits of Shrimps. The demands for Shrimps is high in countries like Portugal, France, Belgium, Spain, and USA.
10. Garlic
Garlic is a cash crop which is grown under irrigation by farmers in the Savanna areas in Nigeria. With internationally certified good quantities of garlic, you are sure of foreign hard currencies.
11. Yam Tubers
Nigeria is presently the highest producers of yam. In 2009 alone, yam export accounted for about US$450 million exchange. But due to low quality, it is saddening to know that the country is not maximizing its export potentials of this products. So there is need for prospective exporters of yam to foreign countries to adhere to quality regulations that is guarding the process. Yam farmers must take this into consideration and tap from this opportunity.
12. Charcoal
This is at the fore front in the international market. This product which is produced in good quantity in Nigeria with now perfected technology, has about 50% ROI.Even an individual can own a charcoal production outfit and have exporters shipping it for him. A large market for charcoal exists in ASIA, EU, and USA. A tonne of this product goes for about $1000.
13. Cotton
This sector recently received a boost from the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) of N33 million to rehabilitate it. Cotton is the most natural sources of fiber and it is in demand internationally.
14. Cassava Flour
We already know that Cassava is food for all in Nigeria because of various methods of preparing it. There is need for this in the foreign markets as well. The demand for well processed cassava flour is increasing both in Europe, Middle East and in America.
15. Cashew Nuts
Almost every part of the country has the potential to produce this international commodity. Great quantity of unprocessed raw cashew nuts are exported to India, Brazil and Vietnam where they are processed into kernels and moved to the Northern America and Europe where they are sold for about $2 per pound. The demand is on the increase from these consuming countries.
16. Snail
If you can produce snails in good quantity, there is a ready market for you. Snails are hotcake in European and America. The good thing about this is that it is very easy to rear as it produces rapidly with close to nothing in expenditure for feeding.
17. Chili Pepper
Nigeria is blessed with good weather which supports the proper growths and production of the internationally accepted pepper. If you can grow and source for the export opportunity, you are sure to get it.
18. Fruit Juice
It may sound somewhat strange to many that Nigeria provide export opportunity for fruit juice concentrates. Yes, we have it because Nigeria can boast of so many naturally grown fruits all over the country which provides the best of fruit juice products of great quality. The opportunity for Nigerian fruits concentrate export is huge in USA.
19. Poultry
Forget about the facts that some greedy Nigerians go about smuggling chicken into the country. When we talk about poultry, it involves all domestic birds, egg or meat.
Nigeria poultry farm products are still highly needed both within Africa and Western countries because Nigerian weather conditions for poultry farming still remains the best. Poultry products export from Nigeria is an avenue that is still highly untapped.
20. Cosmetics and Soap
Nigeria has grown in this very important area but the only challenge that is holding us back is procurement of good technology to produce cosmetics in great quantity to compete favorably with other developed countries.
Soap making, which extends to other toiletries, laundries and so on are already export opportunity waiting to be invested in. Nigerian cosmetics products can be exported to other African countries where they are badly needed.
Nigeria has big market in soap industry already which other neighboring countries travels thousands of kilometers to get in big quantities to sell in their countries for good profits. If that area is properly looked into, the investment opportunity there are still virgin. If well harnessed, could mean a huge opportunity for foreign exchange. This exchange will further improve the underused avenues of cosmetics and soap industry in the country.
If the exporters from Nigeria could strictly follow the rules guiding export, more avenues can be opened up for others who are aspiring to join in making export from Nigeria available to other countries around the world.
-
Nigeria Loses 6.5 Million Barrels of Oil to Force Majeure, Sabotage in December. Again (18,693)
-
Hope for Zimbabwe Small Pineapple Farmers After Cyclone Idai’s Rampage (11,914)
-
African Hairstyles for Ladies you Should Try in 2023 (6,626)
-
11 Ways to Fix Debit or Credit Card Declined Issues (6,088)
-
Top 10 African leaders of All Time (5,927)
