What Adyen "Refused 05" Means
Adyen is one of the world's largest payment processing gateways, used by companies like Booking.com, Spotify, eBay, and many others. Decline code 05 (Do Not Honor) is the most general and common error code.
Literally, "Do Not Honor" means: your card's issuing bank refused to authorize the transaction without giving a specific reason. This decision is made by the bank, not Adyen itself — the processor merely passes the response back.
Why Error 05 Occurs
Issuing bank declined the transaction. Bank-side reasons vary: suspicious activity, limit exceeded, technical issues.
Insufficient funds. With certain card settings, insufficient funds return code 05 instead of 51.
Daily or transaction limit exceeded. You've reached a limit set by your bank.
Card blocked or restricted. The bank may have temporarily blocked the card for internal reasons.
Transaction flagged as suspicious. The bank's risk system assigned the transaction a high score.
3D Secure authentication not completed. If the merchant uses 3DS and the user didn't finish the process, the bank returns 05.
Card type not supported by the merchant. Prepaid, virtual, or corporate cards — some merchants configure restrictions on these.
Step-by-Step Fix
Step 1 — Contact your bank
Call the number on the back of your card. Ask whether the decline was initiated by the bank and why. Sometimes it's enough to confirm the transaction was yours.
Step 2 — Check balance and limits
Make sure your card has sufficient funds and you haven't exceeded the daily spending limit.
Step 3 — Check online payment settings
In your bank's mobile app, make sure online transactions and international payments are enabled.
Step 4 — Try again after some time
Sometimes code 05 is temporary and related to technical issues on the bank's side. Retry after 1–2 hours.
Step 5 — Try a different card
If the bank gives no explanation and the problem persists, use a different card. Marix virtual cards work with Adyen merchants without the 05 error.
Step 6 — Use an alternative payment method
Most Adyen-powered sites offer PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay — try those instead.
FAQ
Is code 05 a permanent or temporary decline?
It depends on the cause. If it's a bank-side technical issue, retrying in a few hours may work. If the card is blocked, it won't.
Can the merchant fix a code 05 error?
No. Code 05 comes from the card-issuing bank. The merchant and Adyen cannot override this decision.
Can I find out the exact reason for code 05?
Only the bank knows the exact reason. Contact your card's issuing bank.
Need a card that goes through Adyen without errors? Marix: virtual cards for international payments.