Payments & Settlement

Decline

A transaction the customer's bank refuses to authorize. Declines can be soft (temporary, worth retrying) or hard (permanent, do not retry). Managing them well recovers revenue that would otherwise be lost at checkout.

Not every decline is final. Distinguishing recoverable declines from permanent ones — and retrying only the recoverable ones sensibly — protects both revenue and your relationship with the networks.

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Related terms

Payments & Settlement

Authorization

The step where a customer's bank confirms a card is valid and has funds available, placing a hold on the amount. Authorization approves the sale but does not yet move money — that happens at capture and settlement.

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Payments & Settlement

Retry Logic

The rules that govern when and how a failed payment is retried, especially for subscriptions. Thoughtful retry timing recovers genuinely recoverable declines without hammering the networks, which protects revenue and account standing.

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Payment Methods

Card-Not-Present

A transaction where the card is not physically presented — online, over the phone, or in-app. CNP sales carry higher fraud and chargeback risk than in-person sales, which is why they rely on fraud tools like CVV, AVS, and 3-D Secure.

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