You can encounter situations where card transactions are unsupported or fail to complete successfully.
This article outlines the most common reasons card transactions can be unsupported or fail, and provides recommended actions to address each scenario.
Unsupported card transactions
The following sections present specific card transaction types and scenarios that are restricted or closely monitored when using your Payhawk card.
Account funding and quasi-cash transactions
Payhawk blocks certain types of card transactions to prevent misuse of company funds. Due to regulatory concerns, fraud risk, and policy compliance, the following are often restricted:
Card transactions that attempt to transfer money to other financial instruments will be declined, including money orders, wire transfers, and funding digital wallets (for example, PayPal).
Quasi-cash card transactions that can be easily converted to cash will be declined, including gambling, lottery ticket purchases, and casino chips.
High-value transactions and monitoring
For security reasons, high-value transactions may be temporarily blocked and reviewed by Payhawk’s Monitoring team.
You and the Payhawk administrators at your company will be contacted via email for confirmation.
Once confirmed, the transaction will be processed.
Unsupported countries
Payhawk may restrict transactions in certain countries for regulatory reasons - for example, Zimbabwe. To solve this issue, use an alternative payment method or contact a Payhawk Administrator at your company for guidance.
Payhawk Administrators set spend policy restrictions on country and region at the policy level. If transactions to a specific country are declined due to country restrictions, Administrators can resolve this by updating the spend policy.
To update the spend policy:
In the Payhawk Web Portal, go to Cards.
Navigate to Spend policies.
Locate the spend policy applied to the affected cardholder or card and select the appropriate Spend policy name.
Navigate to Advanced controls and click on Edit.
Update the Country & region restrictions by adding the specific country to the list of allowed countries.
Save your changes. These updates ensure that transactions in the specific country can be processed, given they are compliant with organizational policies.
Spending policy for merchant restrictions
Transactions may be blocked due to restrictions set by a Payhawk administrator at your company, such as:
Merchant category restrictions
Blocked countries or regions
Defined spend limits
To check whether such restrictions have been imposed on your card, view your card limits, and see how a defined spend policy at your company can affect your cards.
Payhawk Administrators can also make granular changes per card to avoid affecting all users globally.
To do this, they can:
Remove the spend policy applied to a specific card.
Set individual limits or controls for the card through the Cards section.
Failed card transactions
Card transactions can fail for several reasons, and understanding the specific cause will help you quickly resolve the issue.
Inputting incorrect CVV or expiration date
Inputting incorrect CVV or expiration date can lead to failed transactions or temporary card blocks. To solve this issue, review your card details and retry with the correct information.
If you encounter an incorrect expiration date error when using your Payhawk card, even though the details are correct, follow the steps:
Enter the expiration date exactly as printed on your Payhawk card and ensure the correct month/year order and format.
Retry the transaction later or at a different merchant, as some payment terminals or merchant systems can be outdated or incompatible.
Remove and re-add your Payhawk card in the merchant’s saved payment method or checkout system, and then try again.
Attempt the payment from a different web browser or in private or incognito mode to rule out caching or autofill issues.
Authentication failed Error
If you receive an authentication failed error while linking your Visa card to Payhawk, follow the steps:
Verify that the card details are entered correctly.
Wait for a short period and retry, as temporary security checks can cause the error.
If the issue persists, contact your card-issuing bank to check for any security blocks or authorization holds that can prevent the card from being linked.
If your bank confirms there are no issues, contact Payhawk Support for further investigation.
Card enrollment failed Error
This error occurs when you try to link a card that is not supported by Payhawk.
To resolve this:
Verify your card type with your bank.
Ensure the card is classified as corporate or business before you attempt to link it.
Try linking the card again.