Decline Code 43: Stolen Card
Decline code 43 indicates the cardholder has reported their card as stolen to the issuing bank. This is a sensitive hard decline — the card is permanently blocked and any further charge attempts may be flagged as potential fraud. Unlike a lost card, stolen card situations carry additional security concerns because the card may be in a criminal's possession. Recovery is possible but requires a careful, respectful approach.
Affected Percentage
~2% of all declines
Recovery Rate
20-30% recoverable
Recommended Action
Do not retry
Common Causes
Cardholder reported card stolen
The customer notified their bank that the card was taken by someone else. The bank immediately freezes the account and begins fraud investigation.
Bank detected unauthorized usage
The bank's fraud detection system identified transactions that don't match the cardholder's patterns and proactively flagged the card as compromised.
Data breach exposure
The card details may have been exposed in a data breach. Banks monitor known compromised card lists and proactively block affected cards.
Recommended Retry Strategy
Timing
Never retry. Stop all attempts immediately. Wait at least 10-14 days before any outreach.
Max Retries
0 — retrying is prohibited
Reasoning
Retrying a stolen card is the worst thing you can do. It can trigger fraud alerts, damage your merchant reputation, and potentially expose you to liability. The customer is dealing with a stressful security situation and needs space.
Best Practices
- 1
Cease all payment attempts immediately. Do not retry under any circumstances.
- 2
Wait at least 10-14 days before outreach — the customer is dealing with their bank's fraud process and won't be receptive to payment requests right away.
- 3
When you do reach out, be extremely empathetic. Focus on helping them maintain access to your service, not on collecting payment.
- 4
Never mention "stolen card" in communications. Use neutral language like "we noticed a payment issue" to avoid adding stress.
- 5
Implement card updater services to passively receive new card details when the replacement is issued, avoiding the need for awkward outreach entirely.
How Rezoki Handles This Automatically
Rezoki treats stolen card declines with maximum sensitivity. All retry attempts are immediately and permanently halted. Rezoki enters an extended waiting period of 10-14 days, recognizing that the customer is managing a stressful fraud situation. After this cooling period, Rezoki checks card updater services first — if new card details are available, it silently retries without bothering the customer. Only if card updater yields no results does Rezoki send a carefully worded, empathetic email that makes no reference to the stolen card, simply noting a payment issue and offering an easy way to update payment details when ready.