"I received an email that says my payment was declined. What is the problem?"
Unfortunately, banks will not give us an exact reason why a payment was declined by themselves. Normally we just get a message like "Data not matched" or "Security Match Only".... both of which are very vague. Therefore, when we decline an order, we cannot usually give details of why it was declined, as we dont know ourselves. Under these circumstances, it is better to contact your bank and see why the payment was declined as they can give you details which they are not allowed to give to us. Common reasons for a payment being declined are listed below:

Insufficient Funds in the account
Card has expired, or sometimes has not come into effect (pre-start date)
The card number or details were entered incorrectly. Usually a mis-type error.
The card has been stolen and therefore deactivated by the bank
You are not a UK resident, and so our bank could not verify your AVS details (see below)
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"I am not based in the UK, and my order status is set to "Auth Required". Why is this?"

Due to our very strict Anti-Fraud policy, we always require card authorisation. This is done in the form of AVS (or Address Verification System), which basically checks the card against its registered address. You can find further details of AVS below. Most times, the reason we require more authorisation is because your bank either doesnt support the AVS system (common on non-UK banks) or the bank refused to give the details. In these circumstances, we will usually ask for additional verification ourselves. This may be in the form of:

An email with a scanned image of the front of the card attached. This is to prove you actually own the card.
A faxed copy of the card, both front and back. Our Fax number is +44 (0)1782 838181
A contact number for you, so we can speak directly with you. This must be a landline, not a mobile phone.
Although this seems a little harsh, we have to adhere strictly to these rules to ensure our Merchant Bank insurance is valid. Our system, although strict, has currently got a 100% anti fraud record, of which we are very proud. Im sure that, as a valued customer, you will appreciate that although it makes life a little more difficult with some transactions for you.... it also makes it much harder for a fraudster. And, the next time, the victim could be you.

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About AVS and Credit Card Authorisation

What is the Address Verification System (AVS)?

The Address Verification System (AVS) is an advanced level of credit card security that is now used to help guard against credit card fraud. When a card is sent to the bank for processing the house number portion of the address and postal code entered with the order must match that of the cardholder on file. This is another way to ensure that the owner of the card is in fact the one using it. If the address does not match then the transaction is declined and sent back to merchant. At that point the merchant has to decide whether to process the transaction anyway or reject it. If the merchant chooses to process the card (even though it's address is invalid) they pay a higher transaction fee. This is called an unqualified transaction. A transaction with an address that verifies is said to be qualified and the merchant is charged their normal transaction fee.

Why do we need the Address Verification System (AVS)?

The answer is what you are using right now - The Internet. Since ECommerce took off in the late 1990's credit card fraud has been on the rise. Fraud was responsible for 700 million dollars in online sales losses in 2001. The reasons range from hacking to the ease of anonymity when online. Many companies were getting burned time and again with stolen credit cards. The Address Verification System has cut down on fraud as it was intended to. As stated before, the AVS system (in most cases) does not block the card from being processed. It first gives a warning to the merchant to which the merchant must decide whether or not to proceed.

What are the pitfalls of using AVS?

Pitfall #1 - Legitimate Declines
If the address entered by the user does not match the address on file with the card then the transaction will be declined. If something is misspelled or the customer has moved the address will not verify. It is difficult to implement AVS when your customer base is Business to Business. The following scenario could happen:

Bob tells Joe to give Suzy the company credit card and rent us a car online. Suzy tries to order the car but the card is declined because the address on the card is wrong. What happened? Does Suzy know the company address? Did she get confused and enter her personal address instead of the billing address of the card? Is the address on the card wrong? The car company may have just lost a sale.

Such a scenario above is highly probable. Protecting against fraud could cost you business. Then again if you process the number of transactions that an online rental car company does you would be foolish not to use AVS. The more orders you take, the more likely you will find someone using a stolen card.

Pitfall #2 - Unqualified is not guaranteed with all banks
Some banks will not allow an unqualified transaction at all. Also, in addition, some banks do not support the AVS system, and therefore your bank will not be able to authorise your address to the card. In this case, we normally ask for additional information ourselves.