Decline Code 05: Do Not Honor
Decline code 05 — "Do Not Honor" — is the most frustrating code for merchants because it's a generic catch-all. The issuing bank is declining the transaction but not providing a specific reason. It can function as either a soft or hard decline depending on the underlying cause, which the bank keeps private. This code accounts for roughly 15% of all declines and requires a more nuanced recovery approach since you're working without clear information.
Affected Percentage
~15% of all declines
Recovery Rate
40-60% recoverable
Recommended Action
Retry with strategy
Common Causes
Bank's internal risk rules triggered
The issuing bank's fraud detection or risk management system flagged the transaction based on amount, merchant category, geography, or spending pattern. The bank declines without revealing its internal logic.
Temporary hold or spending limit
The cardholder may have hit a daily or per-transaction spending limit set by their bank. The bank returns "do not honor" rather than a more specific code.
Address or CVV mismatch
Some banks return code 05 when the billing address or CVV doesn't match, instead of returning the specific AVS or CVV failure codes.
Account under review
The cardholder's account might be flagged for review due to suspicious activity, a dispute, or a payment plan. Until the review is resolved, all transactions are declined.
International transaction restrictions
Some cards have international transaction blocks enabled by default. If your business is in a different country than the cardholder, the bank may decline with a generic "do not honor" code.
Recommended Retry Strategy
Timing
Retry once after 24 hours, then again after 3-5 days. If both fail, treat as a hard decline and shift to customer outreach.
Max Retries
2-3 retries over 7 days, then outreach
Reasoning
Since "Do Not Honor" can be either temporary (spending limit, risk flag) or permanent (account issue), a cautious retry approach is best. If 2-3 retries fail, the underlying cause is likely not going to resolve on its own and the customer needs to contact their bank.
Best Practices
- 1
Retry cautiously — treat the first retry as diagnostic. If it fails again with the same code, escalate to customer outreach.
- 2
When contacting the customer, suggest they call their bank to ask why the transaction was blocked. Provide the exact transaction amount and date to help.
- 3
Ensure you're sending correct billing address and CVV data, as mismatches are a common hidden cause of "do not honor" declines.
- 4
If you see a pattern of "do not honor" from a specific issuing bank or BIN range, consider adjusting your payment routing.
- 5
Offer an alternative payment method in your outreach — sometimes the issue is specific to one card and the customer can pay with another.
How Rezoki Handles This Automatically
Rezoki treats "Do Not Honor" declines with a two-phase approach. First, Rezoki performs 2-3 intelligent retries over 7 days, varying the retry time to test whether the decline is timing-dependent. If retries fail, Rezoki transitions to a customer outreach sequence that acknowledges the vague nature of the decline and helpfully suggests the customer contact their bank or try an alternative payment method. Rezoki's AI analyzes patterns across your customer base to identify which "Do Not Honor" declines are likely temporary versus permanent, optimizing the balance between retries and outreach.