If an Altitude Card purchase did not go through, it is usually one of four causes. Work through the checks below.
Common reasons a card is declined
Reason | What to check | How to fix |
Not enough available balance | The card's available balance is lower than the purchase, or pending authorizations are holding funds. Some merchants also authorize more than the purchase price, so you need a little headroom above the amount. | Deposit funds into the card account, or wait for pending transactions to settle or reverse. |
Spending limit reached | The purchase is over the per authorization limit, or the rolling 7 day, 30 day or all time limit is used up. | Check the card's spend against its limit and raise it if appropriate. |
Card is not active | The card is frozen, canceled, not yet activated, or still pending setup or approval. | Unfreeze the card, finish activation, or issue a new card if it was terminated. |
Restricted merchant or country | The purchase is in a merchant category or country that is not permitted. These are platform rules, not your card's settings. | Review the Altitude Card Prohibitions List and Supported countries. |
Adding funds, changing a spending limit, unfreezing a card or issuing a new one are admin-only. If you are a cardholder, ask a card admin to make these changes.
Why a hold can be larger than the purchase
Some merchants (restaurants, bars, hotels, fuel and car rental) authorize up to around 20% more than the purchase amount to cover a possible tip or incidental. That extra amount is held against your available balance until the purchase settles, usually the next business day (T+1), when the unused part is released. If a card has only just enough to cover the purchase, this hold can cause a decline, so keep a little buffer above the price.
Still not working?
If none of these apply, contact support and include the merchant name, the amount and the date of the attempted purchase.
Note: A healthy total balance does not always mean spend is available. Pending authorizations and rolling limits both reduce what a card can spend right now.