Card Declined — Understanding Decline Reasons
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⚠️ At a card terminal — always press CREDIT, not Debit
When a merchant terminal asks "debit or credit?" after you tap or swipe your Truss card, always select Credit. Truss cards operate on the signature credit network. Selecting "Debit" routes the transaction through the PIN debit network, which Truss is not configured for — this causes an immediate decline that shows up as a timeout or network error, not a standard decline message.
Common decline messages
"Do Not Honor"
The merchant's bank rejected the transaction. This is the most generic decline. Try:
- A different virtual card for online purchases
- Chip insert instead of tap-to-pay at the terminal
- A different payment method at that merchant
- Contact support with the merchant name and we can pull the exact reason
"Insufficient Funds" / spending limit reached
Your available balance or card limit is less than the transaction amount. Check your balance in Accounts → Cash and your card limit in Accounts → Card.
Gas station declines
Gas stations pre-authorize cards for $100–$150 (the max possible fill-up) even if you only plan to spend $20. If your balance or limit is below that pre-auth amount, the card declines. Fix: Pay inside at the register, or use a card with a higher available balance.
"Your card was declined for making repeated attempts too frequently"
The card processor flagged rapid retry attempts. Wait 15–30 minutes before trying again. Contact support if it continues.
Transaction not showing in dashboard
Transactions can take a few minutes to appear. If it's been 30+ minutes and the merchant confirms the charge went through, contact support with the merchant name, date, and amount.
Heads up: If a virtual card declines and no transaction appears in your Truss dashboard, the decline happened before reaching us — it's a network or merchant-side issue. Verify the exact card number, expiry, and CVV in the app.