What to do if your Pleo card is declined
Causes and solutions for when a transaction is declined
Angela avatar
Written by Angela
Updated over a week ago

This article explains why your Pleo card might be declined (and how to get it to work again).

We understand that it would be easier if the exact reason for a declined transaction was displayed in the app. At the moment, the Pleo app does not show a record of declined transactions. You will however receive an email when a transaction is declined, stating that "Something went wrong" with the purchase. If you would like to see improvements to this, please reach out to our support team. The more feedback we receive, the higher priority the improvements will get.

In the meantime, finding the reason for a decline is a matter of a process of elimination. If you'd prefer to get some help going through this list, please get in touch with support.

  • You haven't paired you plastic card to your account

The cause: Before your card can be used, you need to pair it to your Pleo account.

The solution: Activate your card by pairing it to your Pleo account. Here's how.

  • The PIN for your plastic card was entered incorrectly

The cause: Sometimes our customers accidentally mix up the passcode they use for logging into the app with the PIN for their plastic card.

The solution: You can always view your PIN in the Pleo app. Here's how.

  • The expiry date or CVC was entered incorrectly

The cause: When making an online purchase, occasionally a customer will mistype either the expiry date or CVC. If this happens, the merchant's website will usually prompt you to double-check the card details.

The solution: Double-check that you've not accidentally mistyped the security code and/or swapped the expiry month and year.

  • Your card is frozen

The cause: Either you froze your card, your admin or reviewer froze your card (perhaps because they thought a transaction looked suspicious), or you have exceeded your spend limits.

The solution: If you froze your card, you can also un-freeze it. Here's how. If you can't unfreeze your card in the app, then please contact a reviewer or admin to ask them to unfreeze your card.

  • The transaction exceeded your spend limits

The cause: Either you've already gone over your monthly spend limit, or the amount is higher than your per-purchase limit.

The solution: Check your limits and reach out to a reviewer or admin to ask them to adjust your limits. Here's how.

  • You need to re-add your card to Apple Pay

The cause: If you previously added a Pleo card to Apple Pay and the card was frozen, it won't work (even if the card has since been un-frozen).

  • Insufficient funds in the company Wallet

The cause: Your organisation's Pleo account doesn't have enough funds in the Wallet. If this is the case, you might see a "LOW WALLET BALANCE" banner in the mobile app.

The solution: Contact your Pleo admin to ask them when the Wallet will be topped up.

  • Contactless payment is not supported by the merchant

The cause: In certain countries, contactless payment is less commonly supported as a form of payment.

The solution: Try paying with chip and PIN. If the card is still declined, alternative solutions are to:

  1. Pull out cash with a Pleo card, keep hold of any receipts, and balance out any cash purchases with Pocket expenses.

  2. Ask the merchant to "force" a presentment (i.e., skip the initial payment authorisation). The merchant might ask you to sign a receipt in such a case.


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