--- title: "Understanding Hard Declines vs Soft Declines" slug: "understanding-hard-declines-and-soft-declines" description: "Understand hard declines and soft declines in transactions, their causes, and how to resolve issues like card validity, fraud, and account status for successful payments." updated: 2026-08-07T07:46:21Z published: 2026-08-07T07:46:21Z canonical: "help.frisbii.com/understanding-hard-declines-and-soft-declines" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.frisbii.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Understanding Hard Declines vs Soft Declines Transactions are classified into two decline categories based on whether they can be successfully retried. ## Hard Decline **vs** Soft Decline | Aspect | Hard Decline | Soft Decline | | --- | --- | --- | | **Meaning** | Permanent rejection | Temporary rejection | | **Can be retried?** | ❌ No - will fail again | ✅ Yes - may succeed later | | **Root Cause** | Card/account status issue | Temporary condition | | **Examples** | Expired card, fraud, lost/stolen | Insufficient funds, network timeout | | **Resolution** | Customer must take action | May resolve automatically | | **Dunning Retry** | ❌ Will not retry | ✅ Can retry | --- ## Hard Declines ### Primary reasons for hard declines #### 1. Card Validity Issues **Expired Card:** - Card has passed its expiration date - Card cannot be used until customer provides new card details ⚠️ **Action Required:** Customer must update payment method **Card Not Found:** - Payment method reference no longer exists - Card may have been deleted from the issuer's system ⚠️ **Action Required:** Customer must add new payment method --- #### 2. Security & Fraud Issues **Lost or Stolen Card:** - Card has been reported lost or stolen by cardholder - Issuer has blocked the card permanently ⚠️ **Action Required:** Customer must provide a different card **Suspected Fraud:** - Issuer's fraud detection flagged the transaction - Card is blocked due to suspicious activity pattern ⚠️ **Action Required:** Customer must contact the issuer to resolve the issue and use a different card **Fraud/Risk Blocks:** - Merchant's or processor's fraud prevention system blocked the transaction - Transaction characteristics match fraud patterns ⚠️ **Action Required:** Manual review or alternative payment method --- #### 3. Account Status Issues **Card Account Closed:** - The bank account linked to the card is closed - Card cannot be used for any transactions ⚠️ **Action Required:** Customer must provide an active payment method **Authorization Issues:** - Previous authorization has expired and cannot be used - Attempt to settle more than authorized - Authorization was canceled/voided ⚠️ **Action Required:** New authorization or payment method needed --- #### 4. Payment Processor Rejections **Acquirer** **Rejected:** - Payment processor permanently rejected the transaction - May be due to merchant account restrictions or card type incompatibility ⚠️ **Action Required:** Contact payment processor or use different payment method --- #### 5. Compliance Issues **SCA (Strong Customer Authentication)** **Required:** - Strong Customer Authentication (3D Secure) is required but wasn't completed - Regulatory requirement (PSD2 in Europe) was not met ⚠️ **Action Required:** Customer must complete authentication or provide compliant payment method --- **How Frisbii handles hard declines** **For Subscription Invoices:** 1. **Dunning retries are stopped** - Hard declines won't succeed on retry 2. **Customer notification** - Must update payment method 3. **Subscription at risk** - May expire if issue is not resolved 4. **Manual intervention needed** **For One-Time/Charge Invoices:** 1. **Immediate failure** - Transaction cannot be completed 2. **Alternative payment required** - New payment method must be provided 3. **Manual follow-up needed** --- ### Best Practices for Hard Declines #### 1. Don't retry automatically - Hard declines indicate permanent issues - Retrying wastes processing fees and resources - May trigger additional fraud alerts #### 2. Immediate Customer Communication - Notify customer of the specific issue - Request updated payment information - Provide clear steps to resolve the issue #### 3. Update Payment Method workflows - For expired cards, proactively request updates before expiration - For fraud blocks, direct customer to contact their bank - For lost/stolen cards, require new payment method immediately #### 4. Monitor Hard Decline Patterns - High hard decline rates may indicate: - Outdated payment methods on file - Customer base with high fraud risk - Need for proactive payment method updates #### 5. Distinguish in Dunning Plans - Configure [dunning](/frisbii/docs/dunning-management#create-a-new-dunning-plan) to recognize hard vs soft declines - Skip retries for known hard decline error codes - Focus recovery efforts on resolvable issues --- ## Soft Decline Examples **Card/issuer-side soft declines** - `insufficient_funds` - not enough balance/credit available at the time of the attempt - `declined_by_acquirer` - a generic temporary decline from the card network/acquirer, often due to a fraud score, velocity check, or issuer system hiccup rather than a hard block - `do_not_honor` / `temporary_hold` - issuer-side flag that isn't permanent (e.g. a temporary spending limit or a card marked for review) - `Try_again_later` - issuer explicitly signals a retry may succeed **Processing/technical errors** - `ACQUIRER_ERROR`/ `ACQUIRER_COMMUNICATION_ERROR` - network/communication failure between Frisbii and the acquirer - `ACQUIRER_AUTHENTICATION_ERROR` / `ACQUIRER_CONFIGURATION_ERROR` / `ACQUIRER_INTEGRATION_ERROR` - technical integration issues on the acquirer side - `ACQUIRER_REJECTED_ERROR` – acquirer rejected the request itself (not the cardholder's payment), typically transient - `SETTLE_BLOCKED` – settlement temporarily blocked (e.g. a scheme/processor-side hold) - `SCA_REQUIRED` – Strong Customer Authentication (3D Secure) wasn't completed; retried in case the customer completes it or a frictionless path becomes available --- ## How Frisbii handles soft declines When a subscription payment is soft declined, Frisbii doesn't fail the invoice right away. Instead, it automatically retries the charge on a built-in schedule designed to recover the payment without any manual action. ### Automatic retry schedule 1. **Next retry in 24 hours** - By default, Frisbii retries a soft-declined payment approximately once per day. 2. **Faster retries near the billing period end** - If a scheduled retry would otherwise fall in the last few days of the calendar month, Frisbii adds an extra attempt earlier that same day (between 08:00-09:00) or just after midnight the next day, to maximize the chance of success before the subscription period closes. 3. **Retries slow down over time** - After 5 failed attempts, retries space out to once every 2 days. This keeps retry volume within card network limits (Visa allows up to 20 attempts per card per month, Mastercard up to 32). 4. **Retries stop after 62 days** - If a payment method keeps failing for 62 consecutive days in a row, Frisbii stops retrying and marks it as failed. The customer is then notified and must update their payment details, just like with a hard decline. 5. **Automatic recovery** - As soon as one retry succeeds, the payment method is reactivated immediately and its retry history is cleared. ### For one-time/charge invoices A soft-declined one-time charge fails immediately and isn't automatically retried by Frisbii - the customer needs to attempt the payment again. The payment method's retry status is still updated in the background, though, so if the same card is later used for a subscription, or the customer retries manually, the schedule above applies. > [!NOTE] > **Note** > > The retry schedule applies to the payment method itself, not to a single invoice. This means a recovered payment method is immediately available for all future subscription charges, not only the one that originally failed. --- ## How Frisbii handles processing errors Not every failed payment is a card decline. Sometimes a charge can't be completed because of a technical hiccup between Frisbii and the bank - for example, a communication timeout, a step that requires the customer to re-authenticate (SCA), or the settlement being temporarily blocked on the bank's side. Frisbii treats these **processing errors** separately from soft and hard declines, since the cause and the best retry timing are different. ### Retry timing by error type Each type of processing error has its own retry pace, tuned to how quickly that kind of issue is typically resolved: | Issue | Retries every | Then re-evaluated after | Then retries every | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `ACQUIRER_ERROR` Bank communication issue | 1 hour | 3 hours | 24 hours | | `ACQUIRER_REJECTED_ERROR` Bank rejected the request | 3 hours | 9 hours | 48 hours | | `SETTLE_BLOCKED` Settlement temporarily blocked | 12 hours | 48 hours | 72 hours | | `SCA_REQUIRED` Additional authentication required (SCA) | 3 hours | 72 hours | 24 hours | ### What happens if it keeps failing If the issue isn't resolved within that initial window, Frisbii doesn't give up right away. It spaces retries out further and further - starting around once a week, and eventually stretching up to every 90 days - before finally marking the transaction as failed. > **Good to know** > > Processing errors are handled independently of a card's own soft-decline retry history. A card can be mid-way through its soft-decline retry schedule and still have a separate processing error resolve (or fail) on its own timeline. --- ## Summary Transactions are **hard declined** when there's a **permanent, unresolvable issue** with the payment method or transaction that makes it impossible to succeed without customer intervention. Unlike soft declines (temporary issues), hard declines require the customer to take action, such as updating their card, resolving fraud blocks, or providing an alternative payment method, before any payment can be successfully processed. A permanent transaction decline that cannot be resolved by retrying the payment. Common causes include a stolen or blocked card, a closed account, or suspected fraud. Retrying a hard-declined transaction will not succeed and may increase the risk of further declines. A temporary transaction decline that can be resolved by retrying the payment, often with additional authentication (such as 3D Secure). Common causes include a requirement for Strong Customer Authentication or a temporary issue on the issuer's side. The financial institution or licensed entity that processes card transactions on a merchant's behalf, enabling the merchant to accept card payments. The acquirer forwards transaction data to the relevant card network and settles funds into the merchant's account. A security requirement under the EU's PSD2 regulation that requires two or more independent authentication factors (such as a password and a one-time code) to verify a customer's identity for electronic payments. Typically implemented via 3D Secure.