Authorisation Response
When you need to determine why a transaction was not successful, the authorisation response from the acquirer tells you the exact reason.
Where to find the authorisation response
You find it in the VCS Log, available in the terminal overview under VCS Logs — make sure you set the correct time frame first.
Search the log for the transaction in question. The acquirer's response is the entry tagged content = AuthorisationResponse. It contains several parameters; authorisationResult holds the exact result of the authorisation attempt as a numeric code.
How to read the codes
The codes are grouped in ranges, so the first digit already tells you what happened:
| Range | Meaning |
|---|---|
0–99 | Transaction approved — the payment went through, possibly with a remark. |
100–199 | Transaction declined — the payment was refused. |
200–299 | Transaction referral — the acquirer requires a manual authorisation step. |
300–399 | Capture card — the acquirer instructs the terminal to retain the card. |
The Environment column indicates whether a code applies only to e-commerce transactions, only to card-present (terminal) transactions, or to both. RFU means "reserved for future use".
Response codes
| Code | Meaning | Environment |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Transaction approved | |
| 1 | Transaction approved - Duplicate operation | not for e-commerce |
| 2 | Transaction approved - no liability shift | only e-commerce |
| 3 | Transaction approved - Address is correct, Postal Code is incorrect | only e-commerce |
| 4 | Transaction approved - Neither Address nor Postal Code is correct | only e-commerce |
| 5 | Transaction approved - Retry, temporary unavailable | only e-commerce |
| 6 | Transaction approved - Service not allowed, Acquirer not certified | only e-commerce |
| 7 | Transaction approved - Information unavailable, Automated Address Verification is not supported by the issuer | only e-commerce |
| 8 | Transaction approved - both Address and Postal Code are correct | only e-commerce |
| 9 | Transaction approved - Postal Code is correct, Address incorrect or Address not included in request | only e-commerce |
| 10 | Transaction approved - Original Reservation Data included | not for e-commerce |
| 11 | Transaction approved - Restricted approval | not for e-commerce |
| 12 | Transaction approved - PIN changed | not for e-commerce |
| 13 | Transaction approved - Partial approval | not for e-commerce |
| 14 | Transaction approved - Partial and restricted approval | not for e-commerce |
| 99 | Transaction approved - RFU | |
| 100 | Transaction declined - Generic | |
| 101 | Transaction declined - Card error | not for e-commerce |
| 102 | Transaction declined - Card expired | |
| 103 | Transaction declined - Card unknown | |
| 104 | Transaction declined - Duplicate transaction | |
| 105 | Transaction declined - Funds too low | |
| 106 | Transaction declined - Amount invalid | |
| 107 | Transaction declined - Transaction invalid | |
| 108 | Transaction declined - PIN incorrect | |
| 109 | Transaction declined - System error | |
| 110 | Transaction declined - Transaction repetition | not for e-commerce |
| 111 | Transaction declined - Try later | |
| 112 | Transaction declined - Withdrawal amount exceeded | |
| 113 | Transaction declined - Withdrawal frequency exceeded | |
| 114 | Transaction declined - Allowable number of PIN tries exceeded | not for e-commerce |
| 115 | Transaction declined - Card blocked | not for e-commerce |
| 116 | Transaction declined - PIN mandatory | not for e-commerce |
| 117 | Transaction declined - Cashback amount exceeded | not for e-commerce |
| 118 | Transaction declined - Cashback not allowed | not for e-commerce |
| 119 | Transaction declined - Try another interface | not for e-commerce |
| 160 | Transaction declined - Wrong card number | only for e-commerce |
| 161 | Transaction declined - Wrong card expiry date | only for e-commerce |
| 162 | Transaction declined - Authentication failed | only for e-commerce |
| 163 | Reserved for Datatrans | only for e-commerce |
| 164 | Reserved for Datatrans | only for e-commerce |
| 165 | Transaction declined - Address is correct, Postal Code is incorrect | only e-commerce |
| 166 | Transaction declined - Neither Address nor Postal Code is correct | only e-commerce |
| 167 | Transaction declined - Retry, temporary unavailable | only e-commerce |
| 168 | Transaction declined - Service not allowed, Acquirer not certified | only e-commerce |
| 169 | Transaction declined - Information unavailable, Automated Address Verification is not supported by the issuer | only e-commerce |
| 170 | Transaction declined - both Address and Postal Code are correct | only e-commerce |
| 171 | Transaction declined - Postal Code is correct, Address incorrect or Address not included in request | only e-commerce |
| 199 | Transaction declined - RFU | |
| 200 | Transaction referral - Generic | not for e-commerce |
| 201 | Transaction referral - Referral declined, wrong <Authorisation Code> | not for e-commerce |
| 202 | Transaction referral - Referral declined, wrong <Amount, Authorised (numeric)> | not for e-commerce |
| 203 | Transaction referral - Referral declined, other reasons | not for e-commerce |
| 299 | Transaction referral - RFU | |
| 300 | Capture card - Generic | not for e-commerce |
| 301 | Capture card - Information to the client | not for e-commerce |
| 302 | Capture card - Order to the client | not for e-commerce |
| 303 | Capture card - Timeout removing card from terminal | not for e-commerce |
| 399 | Capture card - RFU |
Related topics
- Transaction States (the chapter this page belongs to) — a declined authorisation moves the transaction to the
Failedstate; the charge attempts linked to the transaction hold the detailed reason. - Delivery Indications — whether an order may be fulfilled after a successful authorisation.