Reason code

11.2 Declined Authorization

[Authorization]

Details

Visa reason code 11.2 is used when a merchant processes a transaction after receiving a decline response from the card issuer. Even if the customer insists on retrying or switching terminals, processing a charge after a decline—without obtaining a new valid approval—violates Visa’s rules and can result in a chargeback.

These disputes usually occur when a merchant misunderstands a decline code, retries without a fresh approval, or bypasses the system through offline/manual entry. Once a transaction is declined, it must not be reprocessed without proper reauthorization.

Timing to raise the dispute (Issuer/Cardholder)

120daysn/a

Timing to respond to the dispute (Acquirer/Merchant)

30daysn/a

How to respond?

If a valid authorization was obtained after the decline, submit documentation showing that a new approval was received:

  • Provide the authorization code and timestamp for the approved transaction

  • Include terminal logs showing the original decline and subsequent valid authorization

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How to prevent?

Always obtain a fresh authorization approval before retrying a declined transaction:

  • Train staff not to override declines or retry without new authorization

  • Use systems that require new approval codes for every attempted transaction

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