Common Error Messages

When a donor attempts to pay with Stripe and gets an error message, it’s returned directly on the form. To the uninitiated, this can be confusing or vague. This document provides some context for those error messages so that you can help your donors understand the problem, and resolve it.

For each message displayed on the front end of the site, there is a corresponding error message from Stripe that lends more clarity. See the full list of errors that the Stripe API can return. Use that link as a reference for each of the codes below.

The card number is incorrect

This error corresponds with incorrect_number and usually happens as a result of a card number being input incorrectly. This error is very specific and won’t return for more general errors. Try a different card.

The card number is not a valid credit card number.

This error corresponds with invalid_number and usually means that the card number has not been input correctly. This error is very specific and won’t return for more general issues.

The card’s expiration month is invalid.

This error corresponds with invalid_expiry_month and indicates that the expiration month for the card is card. Check the expiration date or use a different card. This error will not return for more general issues.

The card’s expiration year is invalid.

This error corresponds with invalid_expiry_year and indicates that the expiration year for the card is invalid. Check the expiration date or use a different card. This error will not return for more general issues.

The card’s security code is invalid.

This error corresponds with invalid_cvc and indicates that the CVC code entered is invalid. Check the CVC or use a different card. This error will not return for more general issues.

The card has expired.

This error corresponds with expired_card and usually means that the card has expired. Sometimes it will return this error for a test card (e.g. 4242 4242 4242 4242) used in a live environment.

The card’s security code is incorrect.

This error corresponds with incorrect_cvc and means that the CVC code is not the correct one for the card. The difference between this and invalid_cvc is that the system tried the code and it’s not the right one, vs not trying the code because it’s invalid. This error is more commong for GiveWP users than invalid, since the method we use for submitting the CVC checks for formatting issues before submitting.

The card’s zip code failed validation.

This error corresponds with incorrect_zip and indicates that the system attempted to verify the billing ZIP code and the one entered is not correct. To resolve this, diable ZIP code verification on Stripe’s side, or provide the correct ZIP for the card. This error can display when the option to Collect Billing Info is not selected in the GiveWP Stripe Settings.

The card was declined.

This error corresponds with card_declined and usually means that the card has been declined. A card decline can mane many different things, and is triggered by the issuing bank/card provider and often Stripe or other merchants are not given the reason for a card decline. This error also sometime is returned for a test card (e.g. 4242 4242 4242 4242) being used while GiveWP is not in Test Mode.

There is no card on a customer that is being charged.

This error corresponds with missing

and means that when GiveWP sent the transaction to Stripe, it passed along a customer ID that, while valid, didn’t have a card saved on it. Because of the way Stripe’s API works, it needs instead to create a new customer. This can happen for various reasons (deleting a card from a customer manually, using an old version of the Stripe API, etc.) THe fix from GiveWP’s side is to log into the admin interface and navigate to the Donor in question, and delete the Stripe customer ID from the donor. This can only be done by a site administrator.

An error occurred while processing the card.

This error corresponds with processing_error and is the most general error Stripe will return. It can mean either that multiple issues occurred, or that the bank/card issuer ran into a problem and returned a vague error to Stripe, and Stripe follows suit by returning a vague error to GiveWP. Try a different card.

An error occurred due to requests hitting the API too quickly. Please let us know if you’re consistently running into this error.

This error corresponds with rate_limit and is either really good news (you’re getting thousands of donations a minute) or that your site has been targeted by a carding attack. See the documentation on dealing with Donor Spam for mitigating a carding attack.