Troubleshooting common payment issues

There are some reasons why your payment may fail. This article describes some common payment issues and how to resolve them.

This article contains the topics below:

Credit card declined

Credit card payment fails

I don't see the forms to update the payment method

3D Secure payment method issues

Client-side payment method troubleshooting

Credit card declined

Symptoms

I try to submit my credit card details, but I receive a generic error such as Your credit card was declined.

Resolution

Review the article Resolving payment errors for the full list of card rejection reasons.

Move to section Client-side payment method troubleshooting for next steps.

If you try to add a pre-paid credit card, it may fail due to local policies. If this happens, try to add a different payment method such as PayPal, ACH, or a different credit card.

If all other troubleshooting steps fail, reach out to the issuing bank to confirm the card is available to use for purchases.

Credit card payment fails

Symptoms

I successfully added my credit card to my account but the payment failed.

Resolution

This can happen for a variety of reasons:

Insufficient funds, or transaction amount above limit

Card expiration

Card deactivated or replaced

High risk transaction determined by the payment processor and issuing bank

To solve this issue

Review the article Resolving issues when your credit card fails for the full list of reasons of a card rejection

In many cases Zendesk doesn't receive details of a payment rejection. If this is the case, reach out to the issuing bank of the credit card for full details of the payment failure.

If available, try a different payment method, such as PayPal, ACH, or a different credit card.

If all else fails, reach out to Zendesk Customer Support to resolve the issue.

I don't see the forms to update the payment method

Symptoms

I followed the instructions in the article Managing payment, but I don't see the forms to update the payment method.

Resolution

You don't have account owner permissions. Reach out to the account owner on your account to update your payment method.

Your account isn't eligible to self-manage your payment, and you need assistance from an account representative or Zendesk Sales. In this case, you won't see the edit button under the Payment method section. Instead, contact your account representative or  Zendesk Customer Support to resolve the issue.

3D Secure payment method issues

Symptoms

I completed the 3D Secure verification but the payment still fails.

Resolution steps

Some banks require additional verification before you can add a credit card as a payment method. This uses a protocol called 3D Secure (3DS) to complete the verification. If enabled, after you enter the credit card details, you'll see a pop-up from your bank to request you log in and confirm the connection.

In rare cases, communication between Zendesk, our payment processor, and the issuing bank can get interrupted. This can prevent the addition of the payment method to your account.

To solve these issues

Follow the steps in the Client-side payment method troubleshooting in this article.

Contact the issuing bank, so they can confirm the reception of the authorization, or if anything blocked the approval.

Client-side payment method troubleshooting

Symptoms

My payment method fails to save for unknown reasons, or the form times out with no response.

Resolution

This could be an indication of a client-side or browser issue. This can happen for a variety of reasons, where the content blocks or interferes with the authorization of the new payment method.

Your browser blocks pop-ups. Sometimes this will display up as a warning message in the browser's address bar, or as a dialog box.

The extensions, plugins, or VPN block network traffic.

To solve this issue

Clear the browser cache and cookies.

Try from a different browser. This can help confirm if it’s not a problem with the browser configuration and provides a quick workaround.

Try from a different device entirely. This can help confirm that it’s not a problem with the network configuration on the original device.

Once the issue is resolved, be sure to restore all your necessary network security safeguards.