UnionPay Response Code 1: Refer to Card Issuer
Transaction rejected by the issuer. The exact reason is held by the card issuer. The customer must contact their card-issuing bank for the specific reason. Do not retry without cardholder action.
What it means
UnionPay response code 1 indicates that the issuing bank has actively declined the transaction and requires the cardholder to contact them for further details. The specific reason for the decline is not shared with the merchant or acquirer. This is an issuer-side decision rather than a technical error, meaning the authorization was blocked by the customer's bank.
Classification & retryability
Do not automatically retry this transaction, as repeated attempts without issuer resolution will fail and may appear suspicious. Only retry the charge manually after the customer explicitly confirms they have spoken to their bank and the restriction has been lifted.
Common causes
- The issuing bank flagged the transaction as potentially fraudulent or unusually high-risk.
- The issuer's internal security policies require verbal confirmation from the cardholder before approving the charge.
- There is an undisclosed temporary hold or restriction placed on the cardholder's account.
How to resolve it
Because the exact reason for the decline is held exclusively by the issuing bank, this error cannot be resolved on the merchant or gateway side. The issue can only be cleared if the cardholder contacts their bank directly to verify the transaction and requests that the block be removed.
For merchants
Halt all automated retry attempts for this transaction immediately to avoid network penalties. Display a polite checkout message advising the customer to call their bank to authorize the charge. Always provide an option to complete the purchase using an alternative payment method to save the sale.
For customers
Contact your issuing bank using the phone number on the back of your card to ask why the transaction was declined. Instruct the bank to allow charges from this merchant, then attempt the payment again, or use a different payment method to complete your purchase immediately.