A declined payment can result from the card, its funding account, the payment details, or the merchant’s own checks.
Check the cause before trying repeatedly. Declined attempts may carry fees, and an Ads Card is frozen after three consecutive declined operations.
Check | What to confirm |
1. Payment attempt | The attempt appears in Transactions and any reason shown |
2. Card | Card is active and within its daily, monthly, and organization limits |
3. Funding account | Sufficient available funds for the payment and charges |
4. Payment details | Card details, billing information, and 3D Secure |
5. Merchant | Merchant is supported and hasn’t rejected the card itself |
1. Find the Payment Attempt
Open Transactions and look for the card, merchant, amount, and approximate time.
Open the transaction and read any reason or message shown.
If there’s no record, the attempt may not have reached Kolo. Confirm the details with the merchant rather than assuming the charge was processed.
2. Check the Card
Confirm that the card is active and hasn’t reached its daily or monthly spending limit. Also check whether your organization has reached its total monthly spending limit. See Ads Cards Limits for how these limits apply.
Use Set or Change a Card’s Spending Limits if a limit needs attention. For a frozen card, see the automatic freezing rule below.
3. Check the Funding Account
Make sure the account has sufficient available funds for the payment and applicable charges.
Review Understand Your Account Balance and Set Spending Priority if the account holds several assets or the available amount is unclear.
4. Check the Payment Details
Use the card number, expiry date, CVV, cardholder name, and billing information shown on the card.
If 3D Secure was requested, confirm whether it was completed in time. See Confirm a Payment with 3D Secure.
5. Check the Merchant
Review Supported Merchants for Ads Cards. A supported advertising platform may still reject a card through its own payment or risk checks.
Ask the merchant for the reason if no corresponding attempt appears in Kolo.
Automatic Freezing After Repeated Declines
An Ads Card is frozen after three consecutive declined operations.
Identify and address the cause before unfreezing. Otherwise, another attempt may fail for the same reason. Follow Freeze or Unfreeze a Card to restore the card when ready.
Good to know: automatic freezing is a card state. It doesn’t mean your organization has been closed.
Keep Your Decline Rate Low
Keep your organization’s decline rate below 20%. Check the cause before retrying a declined payment, as repeated attempts raise the rate. You can track it on the dashboard — see Track Spending on the Dashboard.
Need Help?
Contact us through the support widget or at [email protected] with the card’s last four digits, merchant, amount, currency, time, and Transaction ID if available. Don’t send the full card number or CVV. See Contact Kolo.