"Restricted card" decline (code 62): what it means and what to do

A “restricted card” decline means the card cannot be used for this payment: the bank, the cardholder or the card’s own rules block it. The card may be limited to its home country, blocked for online or foreign payments, restricted to certain kinds of merchants, or flagged after being reported lost or stolen. On most card networks, it comes back as response code 62.

For a subscription renewal, retrying the same card on a schedule rarely helps. The customer needs to lift the restriction with their bank or switch to another card.

This guide uses what payment providers document themselves: Stripe’s decline codes, card declines and network decline codes pages, Braintree’s declines article and authorization responses, and Recurly’s transaction errors. All accessed 9 November 2026.

What does “restricted card” mean?

When a card payment is sent for authorization, the bank that issued the card answers with a response code. A “restricted card” code says the card exists, but this particular payment is not allowed on it.

Stripe describes restricted_card as: “The customer can’t use this card to make this payment (it’s possible it was reported lost or stolen).” Its advice is that “the customer needs to contact their card issuer for more information.” The bank does not tell the merchant which restriction applies.

Why is a card restricted?

The code does not say, but the providers’ docs list the usual reasons:

• Country or region. Visa’s code 62 reads “Restricted card (card invalid in this region or country)”. Stripe’s card declines guide adds that “some card issuers might not allow purchases from certain countries or outside of their own.”
• Type of merchant. Stripe gives the example of FSA or HSA cards in the US, which are “often limited to certain types of businesses (for example, healthcare providers)”.
• Type of card. Recurly’s restricted_card error says the card “has restrictions that prevent it from being used with your merchant account. It is likely a corporate card.”
• A block set by the cardholder or the bank. Braintree’s response 2057 reads “Issuer or Cardholder has put a restriction on the card”. Many banking apps let cardholders switch off online or foreign payments themselves.
• A lost or stolen report. Stripe notes the card may have been reported lost or stolen.

Which code is “restricted card” on each network and provider?

Where	What you see
Visa network code	62 “Restricted card (card invalid in this region or country)”
Mastercard network code	62 “Restricted card”; 57 “Transaction not permitted to issuer / cardholder”
Discover network code	62 “Restricted card”
Stripe	decline_code: restricted_card, plus network_decline_code and an advice_code
Braintree	2057 “Issuer or Cardholder has put a restriction on the card” (soft)
Recurly	restricted_card; also restricted_card_chargeback

The network codes come from Stripe’s network decline codes page, which lists 62 as a restricted card on Visa, Mastercard, Discover, JCB, UnionPay and others. Recurly’s restricted_card_chargeback is a special case: “The card has a restriction preventing approval if there are any chargebacks against it.”

Billing platforms that sit on top of a gateway, such as Chargebee, Zuora or Maxio, pass on or translate the gateway’s response. If you sell through a merchant of record like Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Polar, or through the App Store or Google Play, the platform collects the money and runs its own recovery, so you may only see the result.

Is “restricted card” a hard or a soft decline?

It depends on who you ask, which is why the advice code matters more than the label.

• Braintree marks 2057 as soft, and Visa puts it in Category 2, “Issuer Cannot Approve At this Time (Reattempt Allowed)”. Braintree’s declines article says to “limit retries to 15 retries over a rolling 30 day period” for that category. Above that threshold, Visa charges $0.10 per domestic and $0.15 per international transaction.
• Stripe does not label restricted_card itself. It gives an advice_code on the charge outcome: try_again_later (you can retry), do_not_try_again (do not use the card again for this transaction) or confirm_card_data (some card details are wrong).
• Recurly tells the customer “Your card cannot be accepted. Please contact your issuing bank for details or try another card.”

In practice, a retry only works if something changes on the customer’s side: they call the bank, remove a block in their app, or the bank lifts a temporary restriction. A retry schedule that runs while nothing has changed spends your retry budget. See payment retry schedules compared.

What should you tell the customer?

Tell them what to do, without guessing the cause. If the code is lost_card or stolen_card rather than restricted_card, Stripe says not to give the specific reason and to present it as a generic decline.

A renewal email for this case can look like this:

Subject: Your card can't be used for your [Product] payment

Hi [First name],

Your bank declined today's payment of [amount] for [Product] because your card is restricted for this type of payment.

Two quick ways to fix it:
1. Check your banking app for blocks on online or foreign payments, or call the number on the back of your card.
2. Or use another card here: [update payment link]

Your account stays active until [date].

[Sign-off]

Three details help:

• Mention online and foreign payments. They are the restrictions customers can often lift themselves, in a few taps.
• Say where you are based if you bill from another country. The customer’s bank may block foreign merchants by default.
• Make the other-card option one click. A corporate card or an HSA card will stay restricted; the fix is a different card. See dunning email templates.

Can you reduce “restricted card” declines?

Some of them, yes:

1. Check the card at signup. A card that cannot pay you should fail when the customer is still on the page, not at the first renewal. On Stripe, setting up a card for future use can include checking “the card’s validity with the customer’s bank”, according to its SetupIntents docs.
2. Watch which card types and countries decline. Stripe’s card declines guide says cards issued in a different country from your account “might see an increased rate of declines”. If a large share of your customers is in one market, Stripe suggests processing locally there.
3. Offer another payment method. Wallets, bank debits or local methods avoid some card restrictions. See prepaid and virtual cards for how card type relates to failed payments.
4. Log the network code, not only the provider’s label, so you can see whether restricted cards come from one country, one bank or one card type. See Stripe decline codes.

FAQ

What does “restricted card” mean?

The card exists, but this payment is not allowed on it: by the bank, by the cardholder, or by the card’s own rules (country, merchant type, card type).

What is decline code 62?

On Visa, 62 means “Restricted card (card invalid in this region or country)”. Mastercard, Discover and several other networks also use 62 for a restricted card.

Can I retry a restricted card payment?

Only within the network limits, and it only helps if the restriction has been lifted. Braintree classes 2057 as soft and Visa allows up to 15 retries in 30 days for that category. A retry after the customer has contacted their bank is the one most likely to work.

How does a customer unrestrict their card?

By checking their banking app for blocks on online, foreign or certain types of payments, or by calling the number on the back of the card. Only the bank can say which restriction applies.

Is a restricted card the same as a blocked card?

Not quite. A restricted card can still work for other payments; it is blocked for this one. Some networks have a separate code for a fully blocked card, for example Girocard’s 62 “Card blocked”.

Does “restricted card” mean fraud?

Not necessarily. Most restrictions are settings or card types. Stripe mentions that the card may have been reported lost or stolen, which is one possible reason among others.

How NoChurn helps

NoChurn reads every failed payment and its decline code. For a restricted card, it does not hammer the same card: it sends an AI-written recovery email, which you review, that asks the customer to check their card’s restrictions or switch cards, with a link to update the payment method. The decline shows on the customer’s timeline, and the churn score from 0 to 100 takes the payment method into account from signup.

It connects to Stripe in one click and works with Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly, Paddle and others, or with any billing through the API. Pricing depends only on MRR, with no commission (a custom sending domain needs a paid plan, from $9). See failed payments.