Why is my credit or debit card being declined?

Common reasons why credit and debit card transactions are declined include:

The card is a prepaid card

We don’t accept prepaid cards. We only accept major credit and debit cards.

The purchase is being made from a country we don’t support

We currently only support customers in the following regions:

  • United States
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Iceland
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Israel
  • Taiwan
  • South Korea
  • Japan
  • Singapore
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • United Kingdom
  • Switzerland
  • European Union

The purchase is being made while you’re connected to a VPN

Purchases made while using a VPN are flagged as suspicious.

The card issuer is denying our pre-authorization charge

We make a $10 pre-authorization charge to a card before accepting it for payment, similar to how gas stations and hotels do. If the card issuer denies the pre-authorization charge, then we can’t accept the card for payment.

Wrong CVV or ZIP Code is being entered

Card purchases won’t go through if the CVV (security code) is entered incorrectly. Also, card purchases will be denied if the ZIP Code doesn’t match with the card billing address.

If none of these are applicable to you, contact the Lambda Support team for help.


Last modified February 11, 2023: Use more popular name (8ae4ab5)