Why is my card not authorized?

I have had that occur a few times. It has happened more than once because the connection “Burped”, and failed the transaction. A retry was all that was needed. I have also had it happen because the cashier didn’t know how to process the transaction properly, and it failed. It could be you just needed to give it another go. If you don’t get it to work with another try, you should check into it. Banks have had to do a LOT of reissues because of that. It could be that with so many, your bank may have had some overload glitch.

Were you processing the purchase as a credit or a debit (which requires you to physically input your PIN number).

The times when I’ve had any problems were typically when doing a credit transaction. If I tried again as a debit and input my PIN, that usually solvedi the problem.

My bank is very very security conscious and things get squirrelly if any of my purchases are atypical of my normal pattern or place of use. That’s fine by me. I’d much rather they were too careful than not careful enough.

The first time it happened it was puzzling, but fortunately they have an 800 number which is available 24/7 so you can ask a live person what’s going on. So, they told me to process it using my PIN no. and that’s what I always do now whenever there’s a glitch.

Since it is a new debit card I guess the bank may not have updated their records yet. Please call your bank and make sure that the payment option that you’re using was activated, that it has available funds, and that the transaction is not being blocked for some reason.

Does it need to be activated?

Call that ‘800’ number on the back of the card and ask them why it doesn’t appear to be ‘authorized’ despite that you have activated it.

There’s nothing wrong with doing that at the point of purchase if it’s been denied.
If you know your card is legitimate and ‘the system’ says otherwise push to get that straightened out back at the source (the bank that issued the card).

I called and they said it was on the merchants end probably (I tried it multiple times). I’m annoyed because now I have to try it again before I pay for something important. It is really concerning not knowing if I can easily access my funds.

I can’t drive or I’d be trying it out now. Anyway that’s the follow up.