A "decline 51" on a credit or debit card transaction means "Insufficient Funds," indicating the cardholder's account lacks enough money or available credit to cover the purchase, prompting the card issuer to reject it, often requiring the customer to use a different card or add funds.
51 – Insufficient funds
The customer's issuing bank has denied the transaction because either the customer is already over their credit limit or that transaction will put the customer's credit card over the limit.
Insufficient Account Balance
The most common cause of Decline Code 51 is quite straightforward—the account holder simply lacks the necessary funds to cover the requested transaction amount.
Code 51: Insufficient Funds
This could be due to a low account balance or reaching your credit limit. To resolve this, you use a different alternative payment method, contact your card issuer to increase your credit limit, pay down your balance, or check your balance before future transactions.
Decline codes are short alphanumeric error messages from banks or payment processors explaining why a card transaction failed, helping merchants and cardholders identify issues like insufficient funds (Code 51), an expired card (Code 54), or suspected fraud, guiding whether to retry, ask the customer for action, or cancel the transaction. They range from "soft" declines (temporary issues) to "hard" declines (permanent problems like an invalid card) and are crucial for improving payment success and customer satisfaction.
Response Code: 51 - Insufficient Funds. The customer's card issuer has declined the transaction as the credit card does not have sufficient funds. Advise your customer of this fact, and they should either use an alternate card or contact their bank.
“Issuer decline” means that the bank that issued your payment card has rejected the transaction, usually due to reasons like insufficient funds, potential fraud, or expired cards. It signifies that the bank is unable or unwilling to approve the payment request at that time.
Types of credit card declines
Code 51—Insufficient funds: The cardholder does not have enough money to cover the transaction in the account associated with the credit card.
For example, Visa cards are identified by starting with the number “4.” Mastercard credit cards are identified by multiple number strings starting with “2221-2720” or “51-55.”
Insufficient Funds: This decline code indicates that the customer's bank account or credit card does not have sufficient funds to cover the transaction. For example, Code 51 signifies that the cardholder has surpassed their available balance or credit limit.
The [51] Decline code error means that there are insufficient funds on your credit card to process the payment. To fix this issue, submit your payment using a different credit card or call your credit card issuer (the phone number is usually on the back of your card).
To fix a declined debit card, first check the basics: correct card details, sufficient funds, and a valid expiration date; then, try the transaction again, but if it fails, contact your bank immediately to check for fraud blocks, ATM limits, or other security issues, as they can often unblock it after verifying your identity.
51 - Not sufficient funds. There are insufficient funds.
A declined 05 code is a general Do Not Honor declined response. What does this decline mean? This is the most common and general declined message for transactions that are blocked by the bank that issued the card.
The first digit of a Visa card is always 4, identifying it as part of the Visa network, while the subsequent digits (part of the first 6-8, the Issuer Identification Number (IIN) or Bank Identification Number (BIN)) specify the issuing bank, like 4147 or 403766, helping to determine the financial institution.
Best practices for security
Verify the identity of the recipient: Before sharing your Credit Card details, confirm that you're dealing with a legitimate and trustworthy person. Ask for the name of the person you're speaking with, their position in the organisation, and any relevant identification or reference numbers.
Card payments fail due to incorrect details (number, CVV, address), insufficient funds/credit, fraud alerts from unusual activity (like large or international purchases), expired cards, daily limits, or technical issues with the bank or merchant, with calling the number on the back of the card being the best way to find the specific reason.
If you're unsure why your debit card is declining, call your financial institution to investigate what is causing the issue. It could be an expired or damaged card, a negative balance or any of the scenarios listed above. Often, a customer support representative can help you resolve the issue quickly.
to fail or dwindle; sink or fade away. to decline in popularity. to descend, as to an unworthy level; stoop.
Some common reasons your credit card might be declined include having the card's credit limit maxed out, accidentally triggering the card's fraud protections and even entering incorrect payment information on a website.
Penalties against either team are declined by rule. (Exceptions: Penalties for flagrant personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, dead-ball personal fouls and live-ball fouls treated as dead-ball fouls are enforced on the succeeding play).