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Square Payment Error Codes

The following is a list of possible error codes and their explanation while processing a payment:

    ADDRESS_VERIFICATION_FAILURE: The card issuer declined the request because the postal code is invalid.
    ALLOWABLE_PIN_TRIES_EXCEEDED: The card has exhausted its available pin entry retries set by the card issuer. Resolving the error typically requires the card holder to contact the card issuer.
    BAD_EXPIRATION: The card expiration date is either missing or incorrectly formatted.
    CARDHOLDER_INSUFFICIENT_PERMISSIONS: The card issuer has declined the transaction due to restrictions on where the card can be used. For example, a gift card is limited to a single merchant.
    CARD_EXPIRED: The card issuer declined the request because the card is expired.
    CARD_PROCESSING_NOT_ENABLED: The location provided in the API call is not enabled for credit card processing.
    CARD_NOT_SUPPORTED: The card is not supported either in the geographic region or by the MCC merchant category code.
    CARD_TOKEN_EXPIRED: The provided card token (nonce) has expired.
    CARD_TOKEN_USED: The provided card token (nonce) was already used to process payment.
    CHIP_INSERTION_REQUIRED: The card issuer requires that the card be read using a chip reader.
    CVV_FAILURE: The card issuer declined the request because the CVV value is invalid.
    EXPIRATION_FAILURE: The card expiration date is either invalid or indicates that the card is expired.
    GENERIC_DECLINE: Square received a decline from the cardholder's bank without any additional information. If the card information seems correct, the card holder can contact their card issuer to ask for more information.
    GIFT_CARD_AVAILABLE_AMOUNT: When a Gift Card is a payment source, you can allow taking a partial payment by adding the accept_partial_authorizationparameter in the request. However, taking such a partial payment does not work if your request also includes tip_money, app_fee_money, or both. Square declines such payments and returns the GIFT_CARD_AVAILABLE_AMOUNT error. For more information, see CreatePayment errors (additional information).
    INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS: The funding source has insufficient funds to cover the payment.
    INSUFFICIENT_PERMISSIONS: The Square account does not have the permissions to accept this payment. For example, Square may limit which merchants are allowed to receive gift card payments.
    INVALID_ACCOUNT: The card issuer was not able to locate account on record.
    INVALID_CARD: The credit card cannot be validated based on the provided details.
    INVALID_CARD_DATA: Generic error - the provided card data is invalid.
    INVALID_EMAIL_ADDRESS: The provided email address is invalid.
    INVALID_EXPIRATION: The expiration date for the payment card is invalid. For example, it indicates a date in the past.
    INVALID_FEES: The app fee money on a payment is too high.
    INVALID_LOCATION: The Square account cannot take payments in the specified region. A Square account can take payments only from the region where the account was created.
    INVALID_PIN: The card issuer declined the request because the PIN is invalid.
    INVALID_POSTAL_CODE: The postal code is incorrectly formatted.
    MANUALLY_ENTERED_PAYMENT_NOT_SUPPORTED: The card must be swiped, tapped, or dipped. Payments attempted by manually entering the card number are declined.
    PAN_FAILURE: The specified card number is invalid. For example, it is of incorrect length or is incorrectly formatted.
    PAYMENT_LIMIT_EXCEEDED: Square declined the request because the payment amount exceeded the processing limit for this merchant.
    TEMPORARY_ERROR: A temporary internal error occurred. You can safely retry your call using the same idempotency key.
    TRANSACTION_LIMIT: The card issuer has determined the payment amount is either too high or too low. The API returns the error code mostly for credit cards (for example, the card reached the credit limit). However, sometimes the issuer bank can indicate the error for debit or prepaid cards (for example, card has insufficient funds).
    VOICE_FAILURE: The card issuer declined the request because the issuer requires voice authorization from the cardholder.

Other common errors:

    "Missing FNS ID for EBT payment": Failed when trying to pay with an EBT card and the information provided was not complete.