Transaction response codes

It is highly unlikely that you will receive many of these response codes; as a general rule you should use the provided summary response code to determine whether a transaction is approved or declined. Valid response codes are of a two digit alphanumeric format.

If an unknown response code is returned please contact Westpac with the appropriate transaction details.

Please note that there are no response codes specific to card verification number mismatches. This is because no financial institutions within Australia currently return any such information if declining a transaction for security reasons. Response Codes are generally returned from the customer's issuing bank.

Credit card transaction response codes

Successful card transactions will generally have a response code of 00 - Approved or completed successfully or 08 - Honour with Identification. Other statuses indicate a problem processing the transaction. If you receive a status code starting with 'Q' that you do not understand, you should contact your Client Enquiry Manager with the transaction details.

For non-approved transaction statuses that do not start with 'Q' the cardholder will likely need to contact their issuing financial institution for more information about the rejected transaction.

When doing so you can recommend they:

• provide the date and amount of the transaction.
• request specific information regarding the transaction rejection.

00 - Approved

This indicates that the transaction has been authorised.

What authorisation DOES mean:-

• The card number is valid
• The card has not been reported lost or stolen (although it may in fact be lost, stolen or compromised [card details improperly obtained or copied] and the card owner is unaware)
• There are sufficient funds available to cover the transaction.

What authorisation DOES NOT mean:-

• An authorisation does NOT confirm that the person providing the card number is the legitimate cardholder. The risk remains that the person providing the card number has either stolen or improperly obtained the card.

01 - Refer to card issuer

This indicates an error or problem from the card issuer. The problem may be related to the cardholder's account. This response code is often a result of one of the following:-

• Suspected Fraud
• Stolen Card
• Expired Card
• Invalid CVN
• Any other rule imposed by the card issuer that causes a decline (e.g. daily limit exceeded, minimum monthly payment not made, duplicate transaction suspected, etc.)

03 - Invalid merchant

This can indicate a problem with merchant configuration. This can also be returned for AMEX transactions when there is a problem with the setup at American Express. This code can be returned from an issuing bank if they don't like the acquiring bank. An example of this would be someone trying to pay their speeding fine with an overseas card. The overseas issuing bank would return a 03, indicating that they wouldn't allow the transaction over the internet for an Australian bank.

04 - Pickup Card.

This can mean the card has been reported as lost or stolen. The cardholder should contact their issuing bank.

05 - Do not honour

This indicates an error or problem from the card issuer.

The problem may be related to the cardholder's account. In general, the reason for this response code may be any of the following:

• Suspected Fraud
• Insufficient Funds
• Stolen Card
• Expired Card
• Invalid CVN
• Any other rule imposed by the card issuer that causes a decline. For example, daily limit exceeded, minimum monthly payment not made, duplicate transaction suspected, etc.

You should not retry the transaction.

If you want to attempt to charge the cardholder again then you must consider the following:

1. Check that the cardholder's details are correct. It is likely you will need to change some of their details.
2. Check for suspected fraudulent activity and re-attempt using authentication, such as 3-D Secure.

08 - Honor with identification

This indicates that the transaction has been authorised.

What authorisation DOES mean:-

• The card number is valid
• The card has not been reported lost or stolen (although it may in fact be lost, stolen or compromised card details improperly obtained or copied and the card owner is unaware)
• There are sufficient funds available to cover the transaction.

What authorisation DOES NOT mean:-

• An authorisation does NOT confirm that the person providing the card number is the legitimate cardholder. The risk remains that the person providing the card number has either stolen or improperly obtained the card.

12 - Invalid transaction

This code is often returned from the issuer when they do not accept the transaction. This can possibly be when a transaction for the same amount and merchant is attempted multiple times quickly for the same card. The cardholder should contact their issuing bank.

14 - Invalid card number (no such number)

This code indicates that the card number does not exist. Also returned code if an AMEX card is used, but the merchant is not setup for AMEX cards.

17 - Customer cancellation

This code will be returned if a user "voids" a transaction through the QuickStream interface or REST API (or "refunds" a transaction the same day it was created before the settlement cut-off). In essence a reversal is performed.

22 - Suspected Malfunction

This code normally indicates that the card number was invalid.

42 - No Universal Account

This error is returned from some issuers when the credit account does not exist at the issuing bank. This situation is similar to the 14 response code.

54 - Expired Card

This error is returned when the card has expired. Check that the expiry date is correct, and attempt the transaction again. If the transaction still does not work, check with the cardholder to see if they have a new card with a new expiry date.

61 - Exceeds withdrawal amount limits

This error is returned when the cardholder does not have enough credit to pay the specified amount. Ask the cardholder if they have another card to use for the payment.

79 - Reserved for private use

Applies for Mastercard only. The customer's bank (Card Issuer) has declined the transaction due to invalid card data. The customer should check the card information entered and try again, or use an alternate credit card.

82 - Reserved for private use

Applies for Mastercard only. The customer's bank (Card Issuer) has declined the transaction due to a policy reason. The customer should check the card information entered and try again, or use an alternate credit card.

83 - Reserved for private use

Applies for Mastercard only. The customer's bank (Card Issuer) has declined the transaction due to a security reason. The customer should check the card information entered and try again, or use an alternate credit card.

91 - Issuer or switch is inoperative

This code is used to indicate that the next party in a card transaction timed out and the transaction has been reversed. This may happen between QuickStream and Westpac, or further down the chain. This response may also be returned for pre-authorisation transactions that are manually reversed.

92 - Financial institution or intermediate network facility cannot be found for routing

The card number is incorrect. The first 6 digits of the card number indicate which bank issued the card. These are used for routing card requests through the card network to the issuing bank. This error indicates that there is no bank that corresponds to the first 6 digits of the card number.

No Account

The QuickVault account token used for the transaction was not found or is not enabled. Please check that the QuickVault account exists and is enabled. You can do this in via the REST API, QuickGateway or by signing into QuickStream.

Payment response files with a 2-character response code field may report this as No rather than No account.

Q3 - Payment Gateway Unavailable

The downstream card gateway was unavailable. The card transaction was not attempted and the transaction record will not exist. When you receive this response code, the transaction will not exist in QuickStream.

QI - Transaction incomplete

This status code indicates that a request message was sent to the QuickStream server but no response was received within the timeout period.

QQ - Invalid Card

The QQ error code indicates that the card details (card number, expiry date or CVN) are invalid. This could be because the card number does not meet check digit validation, an invalid expiry date was entered, or an invalid CVN was entered.

QY - Card Type not accepted

The QY error code indicates that the merchant is not enabled for the particular card scheme. This error code is normally returned for American Express and Diners Club cards, or when a UnionPay debit card is used. Only UnionPay cards are supported.

Bank account transaction response codes

(aka Direct Entry Transaction Response Codes)

In all cases where the response code requires the account holder to contact their bank, it will help if they can provide a date and amount of the failed attempted transaction and specifically ask the bank why they returned that status for the attempted transaction. Otherwise, the issuing bank staff may just check the available funds in the account.

Successful Direct Entry transactions will generally have a response code of G - WBC Exception Processing released successfully.

2 - Payment Stopped

The account holder has requested that their bank stop any direct debit transactions. Contact the customer to determine an alternate payment mechanism, or if they wish to stop their service.

3 - Account Closed

The account holder has closed their account. Contact your customer to ask for new account details.

5 - No Account/Incorrect Account#

Contact your customer to determine if the BSB and account number you have is correct. It may be useful for them to fax you the first page of their bank account statement so that you can check you have the correct BSB and account number.

6 - Refer to Customer

Contact your customer to determine if they have sufficient funds in their account, if the BSB and account number you have is correct, and if their account allows direct debit transactions.

9 - Other

The banks use this response code as they see fit. If you receive this response code for a customer, and you have never had a successful debit for that customer, first check the BSB and account number. This could indicate one of the following:

• Account does not allow Direct Debit
• Incorrect Account Number
• Insufficient Funds
• Suspected Fraud
• Any other rule imposed by the account holder's bank that causes a decline (e.g. daily limit exceeded, duplicate transaction suspected, etc)

G - WBC Exception Processing released successfully

The transaction is being processed by Westpac. If the debit is from another bank, Westpac has sent the transaction to that bank. When a direct entry transaction is successful, it remains in this response code. When a transaction is declined and returned, the response will be set to a different response code.

CANCELLED - Customer cancellation

This code will be returned if a user "voids" a transaction through the QuickStream interface or REST API. In essence a reversal is performed.

PayTo transaction response codes

A PayTo transaction may transition between Pending response codes before reaching an Approved or Declined status. It is highly unlikely that you will receive many of the Declined codes.