By: Natasha Archary

There’s nothing worse than hearing, “Yoh! It’s declined!” when you get to the till to pay.
A colleague had this embarassing encounter while paying for a purchase over the weekend when her card declined.
Yes, over pay day weekend. It wasn’t that she didn’t have any money in her bank account but rather that she unknowingly tried paying with an expired credit card instead of her cheque card.
An innocent mistake that is not as uncommon as you think, as Skhumba also went through the same thing just last week.
It was only when he landed in Durban did the Kaya 959 presenter realize that his card was expired, and his back up card was frozen due to reasons he’d rather not divulge.
Left with no other option but to borrow cash during his trip, Skhumba said there’s nothing worse than getting looked at like, “hawu, you don’t have money in your account?”
Insufficient funds isn’t the only reason a card will decline however, and sometimes your bank will stop your card if they suspect fraudulent activities on your card.
Another reason your card may decline at the till is that you have forgotten your pin. So, while transactions within a specified amount may not require a pin, and you can simply tap and go, sometimes you will be required to punch in a pin and if you don’t remember your pin, the payment will not go through.
Enter the wrong pin a few times and your card will be blocked, as was the case for one of the listeners.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Drive:
“Yoh! It’s declined!” What to do if your card declines?
If your card declines while you’re trying to make a payment don’t panic, there can be a number of reasons why your payment wasn’t approved.
- The speedpoint machine is offline
- Double check your card info ie. expiry date, card numbers etc
- Check the daily or monthly limit on your card
- Contact your bank to see if everything is okay with your account. Sometimes, due to FICA rules, you may need to go into the branch to verify your information
Also read: How to wind up deceased estate of my spouse



