Understand Credit Card Processing and Declines

A credit card payment is a simple and secure way to electronically transfer funds from a credit card to a merchant. Instead of using a bank account, funds are transferred directly from the card using the card number, expiration date, and security code. When a customer processes credit card transactions through a payment processor, they can expect the funds to appear on their credit card statement for the exact amount that was submitted for payment.

Payment descriptor on statement

When charging credit card customers using Maxio Payments, the descriptor for the charge matches your business name. The charge amount matches the amount listed for the payment in Advanced Billing, Core, and Maxio Payments.

Credit card processing

Processing a customer's card using Maxio Payments is no different than running it through any other payment processor. This includes automatic payments and manual ones. Automatic payments occur based on the scheduling of payments within the system (recurring invoices in Maxio Platform, product-based automatic billing in Advanced Billing). Manual payments can also occur within Advanced Billing, using the self-service page. Find more details on these processes below:

To learn about invoicing, see Get Started with Invoicing.

To learn about billing methods, see Manage Transactions in Advanced Billing.

A credit card transaction using Maxio Payments on the Advanced Billing platform must follow the normal prerequisites used in any other payment transaction to be processed successfully:

• The selected site needs to be live or in Production status.
• A customer must exist within the site.
• The customer must have a valid Payment Method saved to their account.
• The customer must be associated with a Subscription that is Active.
• An outstanding invoice must exist for the subscription.

Fee exemption for low-value transactions

Usually, a transaction fee of $0.30 applies to payments processed through Maxio Payments. However, if the transaction amount is less than or equal to the standard fee, Maxio does not assess the fee. This prevents failed transactions when the fee deduction results in a negative or zero-value payment.

Timing of charges to customer card

In most circumstances, the charge should be immediately available on the customer's statement. Customers can expect the funds to be withdrawn within a maximum of 48 business hours.

Debit cards as credit cards

Debit cards linked to a bank account can be used in place of a credit card, and are processed in the same manner as a credit card.

Missing transactions

Certain Maxio Payments transactions may be missing in Advanced Billing. These are records reflecting updates to their saved payment methods through Maxio Payments. These transactions do not appear on the card's statement. Records for these updates can be found within Advanced Billing via your Gateway Logs.

Similarly, there might be transactions with an amount of -$0.00. These transactions occur when one of the payment method updates is not successfully completed. These -$0.00 transactions are a part of the Maxio Payments process and are nothing to worry about. They are not reflected on the associated card's statement, and do not appear in Advanced Billing as separate transactions.

Credit card declines

A credit card decline indicates a credit card payment that did not successfully process. Declines may occur due to issues with the information entered by the customer, certain limitations placed on the card by the financial institution which issued the card, or an error during the attempt to process the payment.

When a credit card payment is declined, you receive a message from the customer's bank explaining the reason for the decline. These messages, known as reason codes, can help you understand why the payment was not approved.

Common reasons for declines

For a full list of decline reasons you may encounter, see PaySimple's list of credit card decline codes. If you are unsure about the reason for a decline, you can contact the payment provider for more information.

Fraud-related credit card declines

Fraud-related declines occur when a credit card payment fails due to fraud indicators or restrictions imposed by the card network. To protect your business and prevent repeated declines, Maxio Payments automatically disables the Payment Profile when a fraud-related decline is received.

Once disabled, the payment method is not used for future automatic charges, and the customer needs to provide an alternative payment method to continue service and settle outstanding invoices.

Maxio assistance with declines

If you're experiencing any issues with a payment that was processed through our Maxio Payments gateway, reach out to us at payments@maxio.com for assistance. If you're facing any issues with a payment processed through any other gateway, our Customer Success Team can help. You can open a ticket with them through Zendesk.

Payment failure notifications

Maxio Payments includes email notifications for failed payment events. This allows you to proactively monitor unsuccessful transactions, such as ACH rejections and credit card declines, and take timely action with customers.

You can configure your email preferences through the User Profile settings in the Payments Portal. The customer's name appears in the notification's subject line, and each notification includes relevant transaction details such as:

• Customer Name
• Cardholder's Name
• Transaction ID
• Payment Method
• Date
• Amount
• Status