Decline code
Do not honor: what it means and what to do
The card issuer declined the payment for an unknown reason. What Stripe says, how it differs from generic_decline, and what Dunity does.
- $29/month, flat
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- Restricted Stripe key only
What it means
Stripe returns do_not_honor when the card issuer declined the payment for an unknown reason. It uses the same description as generic_decline and gives the same next step: the customer contacts their card issuer.
Stripe also lists an older, deprecated code, do_not_try_again, with the same description.
From Stripe’s decline codes and card declines docs.
Should you retry it?
It isn’t on Stripe’s list of hard declines, so a retry isn’t ruled out. Because the issuer gave no reason, the surest fix is for the customer to contact their bank or use another card.
From Stripe’s Smart Retries and card declines docs.
What to do about it
What the customer needs to do
- Contact their card issuer for more information, which is Stripe’s advice for this code.
- Or use a different card.
What you can do
- Ask the customer to contact their bank rather than guessing at the cause.
- Give them a page where they can add another card.
What Dunity does
- Dunity records the decline code and emails your customer once, with a link to update their card. It then retries the charge 24 hours later, up to 5 attempts.
- Dunity doesn’t treat this code differently when it retries: same delay, same number of attempts.
- The dashboard files it under “Retry-worthy”.
What Dunity does is read from its code, not assumed. The whole flow is on how Dunity works, and every code is on the decline codes hub.
Related decline codes
Do not honor questions
What people ask about this code.
What is the difference between do_not_honor and generic_decline?
Stripe describes both as a decline for an unknown reason and gives the same next step. The one difference in its docs is that generic_decline also covers payments blocked by Stripe Radar or Adaptive Acceptance.
Does do_not_honor mean the card was lost or stolen?
The decline doesn’t say. Stripe has separate codes for a card reported lost (lost_card) or stolen (stolen_card). do_not_honor means the issuer gave no reason.