A declined payment means the transaction was not approved — by the issuing bank, by a data validation, or by security controls. In most cases, the solution is on the buyer's side: another method, another card, or contacting their bank.
Symptom
The transaction appears with the status Declined in the Conekta Panel, and your customer sees an error message when trying to pay.
Most likely causes
- Funds or limits: insufficient funds, online purchase limit, or daily limit reached.
- Incorrect data: card number, expiration date, or security code entered incorrectly.
- Bank blocks: card blocked, not enabled for online purchases, or the bank flagged the purchase as unusual.
- Security validations: the transaction didn't pass fraud prevention checks — from Conekta or from the issuing bank.
What to recommend to the buyer
- Check that the card details were entered correctly.
- Try again — just one retry; repeated retries can reinforce the block.
- Try another card or another method (cash or bank transfer).
- If the decline persists, call their bank: only the issuer knows the exact cause.
Information for escalating
If you notice mass declines or an unusual pattern (all cards from one bank, all attempts for one product), contact Support with the transaction IDs, dates, and the error message — this makes it possible to rule out a configuration problem or an incident.
Declines you can't explain?
The Support team can review specific transactions and confirm whether there is a cause on Conekta's side.