Reference
Payment Certification Levels
A practical guide to EMVCo L1 / L2 / L3 terminal certifications, PCI DSS merchant compliance tiers, and the standards that govern every card-present transaction.
ISO 8583 Response Codes — DE39 Reference
DE39 (Response Code) is a 2-character field returned in every authorization and financial response. Standard values are defined in ISO 8583; each scheme extends with proprietary codes. The terminal uses this to determine receipt printing, cardholder messaging, and retry logic.
Approval
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
00
Approved
Transaction approved. Honor the card.
No (success)
08
Honor With Identification
Approved but merchant must verify cardholder ID
No (success)
10
Partial Approval
Approved for less than requested amount (debit / prepaid)
No (partial success)
85
No Reason to Decline
Approved for balance inquiry, account verification, or zero-dollar auth
No (success)
Referral
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
01
Refer to Card Issuer
Call voice authorization center
Yes (after voice auth)
02
Refer to Card Issuer, Special Condition
Call voice auth; possible fraud flag on account
Yes (after voice auth)
04
Pick Up Card
Card reported; do not return to cardholder
No
07
Pick Up Card, Special Condition
Hot card / confirmed fraud; confiscate if safe to do so
No
Do Not Honor
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
05
Do Not Honor
Generic soft decline; issuer policy. Most common decline code.
Sometimes (different card / lower amount)
12
Invalid Transaction
Transaction type not permitted for this card
No
13
Invalid Amount
Amount is zero, negative, or exceeds limit
No
14
Invalid Account Number
PAN fails validation or not on file
No
15
No Such Issuer
BIN not recognized by network
No
41
Lost Card
Reported lost by cardholder
No
43
Stolen Card
Reported stolen
No
57
Transaction Not Permitted to Cardholder
Card product restrictions — e.g. no cash advances
No
58
Transaction Not Permitted to Terminal
Merchant not set up for this transaction type
No
62
Restricted Card
Card on restricted or blocked list
No
Insufficient Funds / Limits
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
51
Insufficient Funds
Balance or credit limit insufficient
Yes (retry later or use different payment)
61
Exceeds Withdrawal Amount Limit
Single transaction limit exceeded
Sometimes (lower amount)
65
Exceeds Withdrawal Frequency Limit
Too many transactions in time period
Yes (wait for limit reset)
75
Allowable PIN Tries Exceeded
PIN blocked; too many wrong PIN attempts
No
Card / PIN Errors
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
54
Expired Card
Past expiration date
No (re-enter correct expiry or use new card)
55
Incorrect PIN
Wrong PIN entered; counter not yet exhausted
Cardholder may re-enter the PIN
75
PIN Tries Exceeded
Allowable number of PIN tries exceeded; PIN blocked until the issuer resets it
No
System / Technical
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
68
Response Received Too Late
Timed out; reversal may be needed
Yes (with reversal)
91
Issuer or Switch Inoperative
Issuer host unreachable
Yes (retry after delay)
92
Unable to Route Transaction
No route found to issuer
Yes
96
System Malfunction
Generic technical / internal error
Yes
EMV & Scheme-Specific
Code
Name
Description
Retriable
82
Negative CAM, dCVV, iCVV or CVV (Visa)
Visa: chip cryptogram or CVV/dCVV/iCVV check failed. Mastercard uses 82 for a policy decline (read the Merchant Advice Code)
No
B1
Visa — Surcharge Not Permitted
U.S. acquirers only: a surcharge was included where it is not allowed
No (resubmit without the surcharge)
1A
Visa — Additional Authentication Required
EEA/UK soft decline for strong customer authentication
Yes (after 3-D Secure)
N0
Visa — Force STIP
Issuer cannot authorize and asks Visa to stand in; not an approval
No
P5
Visa — PIN Change/Unblock Declined
The issuer declined a PIN change or PIN unblock request
No
Retriability Quick Reference
Never Retry
- 04, 07, 12, 13, 14, 15 — invalid card/transaction
- 41, 43, 62 — lost/stolen/restricted
- 54 — expired card
- 75, 76 — PIN blocked
- 82 — cryptogram failure
Sometimes Retry
- 05 — try different card or lower amount
- 51 — retry after funds added
- 61 — retry with lower amount
- 65 — retry after limit reset period
- 68 — retry after sending reversal
Retry After Delay
- 91 — issuer inoperative; retry 30–60s
- 92 — route not found; retry or re-route
- 96 — system malfunction; retry after delay
- 01, 02 — after successful voice auth
Related Tools
Use these tools to work with the cryptographic primitives that underpin terminal and card security.