Why is my VISA Gift Card being declined?
Why is my VISA Gift Card being declined?
Why is my VISA Gift Card being declined?: Embarrassing situations. Take a moment to imagine you are at that nice restaurant with your pretty girlfriend and the waitress brings the bill or just when that matte lipstick you have been eyeing finally gets in your hands and with all glamour, you pull out your VISA Gift Card ready to pay, then it keeps getting declined. How humiliating. If you have been in a situation like this and you are curious as to why that happened, and how to avoid it, you have definitely come to the right place.
Before we start though, let us say a few things about VISA Gift Cards.
The VISA Gift Card is a non-reloadable prepaid card issued by MetaBank. It is a known fact that gift cards are in style and if at any time, you are confused on what to get for any event or to congratulate a loved for weddings, birthdays, or to commemorate a joyful moment, a VISA Gift Card is the best present any gender or age and the smiles on their faces will definitely be worth it.
It is worthy of note too that VISA Gift Cards come with a single fee only on acquisition. For instance, a $10 to $74.99 VISA Gift Card will have a $2.95 fee, however, with a VISA Gift Card, you can be assured it stops there, no recurring fees or dues.
Let us move now into the main point of discourse.
Here are reasons your VISA Gift Card may be declined – VISA Gift Card being declined?:
–Places they are used and Insufficient Funds:
Basically, A VISA Gift Card can be used where they are accepted; retail stores, supermarkets, local shops, that allow them as a form of payment. However, there are minor exceptions you should take note of.
- Restaurant: At a place like this, We all know about gratuities and little addition to our bills. There might be an automatic deduction unknown to you as your VISA Gift Card is swiped by the service merchant. The increment in bills may be up to 10% more of your initial bill, which may be more than the amount on your card. This will automatically lead to your VISA Gift Card being declined. In this case, you can ask the merchant to subtract the increment while running the slot system and you pay the balance in another way. This works too at similar places like grooming salons.
- Hotels: Similarly, a charge can be added to your bills for the telephone usage during your stay or room service. The final amount can be more than the balance on your VISA Gift Card, this can cause your VISA Gift Card to be declined. You can likewise tell the cashier or merchant to deduct the bills and let you pay in a different way.
- Filling stations: This can happen at filling stations (petrol/gas stations) which can sometimes pump an additional fee(pre-authorization fee) which in total with your normal fee can be greater than the card’s value.
Apart from the three places mentioned above, transactions with your VISA Gift Card for adult sites, recurring bills such as electricity bills, money transfer services, and online gambling sites will definitely be declined.
–VISA Gift Card Activation: This is a very important reason as to why your VISA Gift Card is being declined. Whether your VISA Gift Card was purchased online as an e-gift card or at a retail store as a plastic Gift Card, it must be activated prior to usage. Unactivated gift cards will have transactions done with them disapproved.
To activate your gift card, your Card Verification Number (CVN) and your 16-digit gift card number will be needed, you can either activate online on the VISA Gift Card Website or through an automated phone system.
–Waiting Period: It is possible also your VISA Gift Card has a particular time restriction on it. For example, if your VISA Gift Card was purchased at a local retail store, a time period of a day or two may have been placed on your card. This is done in case the gift card gets into the hands of a fraudster or a scammer, this buys enough time to get the card blocked. To know if your VISA Gift Card has a time period, check the Terms and Conditions on the gift card or the receipt obtained from the purchase of the Gift Card. Once the time period has elapsed, your gift card can then be activated.
–Incorrect Details:
One cannot overemphasize the need to be careful when inputting personal details of the gift card while trying to make payment, let us specifically talk about online transactions.
On the checkout page of a website you are trying to make final payment, it is important to ensure your Card Verification Number (CVN) and your PIN numbers are carefully typed in the fields specified for them. Infact, recheck them to ensure they are correct before trying to complete the purchase.
In addition to all that was said, it is imperative to always check the balance of your VISA Gift Card before and after every purchase. This will help you to stay within budget and ensure your VISA Gift Card’s value is sufficient for the payment you are about to make.
We hope this helps you to understand why your VISA Gift Card keeps getting declined.
Enjoy!.
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