If you’re trying to accept a credit card payment and receive back an error message, it could be due to error code 13. When a card cannot be processed, the terminal or payment gateway will return one of many decline, error, or hold codes. Error code 13 is one such code that is common to receive back. Read on to discover what error code 13 means and why an invalid amount field can lead to an error.
What is an Error Code?
An error code is an alert you receive from your credit card terminal when a transaction cannot go through. When a credit card is declined, you receive a decline code. However, if there’s an issue with the information input or other reason the transaction will not go through, the credit card terminal or payment gateway will return an error code. Each error code corresponds to a reason. Based on the number of the code, you can identify the reason for the error.
What is Error Code 13?
Simply put, error code 13 is when a customer or employee enters an invalid purchase amount. This happens when a negative or illegible symbol is entered by accident or because of another typo. For example, say you have to place an expiration date in a field that instructs the user to enter a 2 digit number for the month and 2 digits for the year. If the customer accidentally entered an “@” into the field, error code 13 will appear.
It is common that in the hustle and bustle of the day, someone may input credit card information incorrectly. For a brick-and-mortar business owner, this can mean a little extra time at the register. However, error codes can cause online customers to abandon their cart if the user has little time and grows frustrated. 30% of online shoppers will abandon their cart if they have to re-enter their card information and 25% of users will abandon it if they have to re-enter shipping information.
How to Resolve the Invalid Amount Code
Resolving error code 13 alerts is quite simple. The user will need to carefully scan through all field inputs and verify that the characters or symbols they put in are appropriate for each field. It’s also important to make sure there aren’t any negatives or incorrect symbols. Once you or your customer find the incorrect information, you can simply update it and try the transaction again.
Whether you receive an error code 13 or any other decline code, it’s important to understand what each one means. Knowing how best to resolve these issues is critical to your customer satisfaction and success. Now that you know how to resolve decline code 13 issues, you can quickly and easily resolve these issues for your customers and help them successfully complete their transactions.
