Payment Glossary: 70+ Payment Terms and Definitions for 2026

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• Decline

  A payment decline happens when an issuer refuses an authorization request. For merchants, understanding soft vs hard declines helps recover revenue, reduce false declines, and improve checkout performance.

  Decline›

  declined payment, transaction decline, authorization decline

• Decline Code

  Decline codes explain why a card payment failed and whether it is worth retrying. For payment teams, they are a key input for reducing false declines, controlling retry costs, and recovering revenue.

  Decline Code›

  issuer response code, payment decline code, authorization decline code