> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Decline Rate, Authorize.net > Decline Rate for Authorize.net stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Payment Gateway](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > The percentage of attempted Authorize.Net transactions that **failed** (issuer-declined, voided pre-settlement, or FDS-rejected). High decline rates suppress revenue directly. | | | | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `COUNT(declined + voided + FDS-rejected) / COUNT(all attempts) * 100`. Numerator includes `transactionStatus IN (declined, expired, voided, FDSPendingReview-then-declined)`. | | **API endpoint** | [`getTransactionListRequest`](https://developer.authorize.net/api/reference/index.html#transaction-reporting) with all statuses. | | **Currency** | Currency-neutral (rate). | | **Reason-code split** | This is a single rate; per-reason split in [`aut_top_decline_reasons`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/top-decline-reasons). | | **3DS-failed** | Counts as decline. | | **3DS-abandoned** | Tracked separately in [`aut_threedsecure_abandon_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/3ds-abandonment-rate). | | **Refunds** | Not relevant. | | **Disputes** | Not relevant. | | **eCheck.Net (ACH) returns** | Counted as declines on the original date when the bank returns the eCheck (NACHA reason codes R01, R02, etc.). | | **Healthy baseline** | 4 to 8% for US card-not-present mid-market. B2B with CIM tokens 1 to 4%. New-customer web checkout 6 to 10%. | | **Time window** | `7D vsP`. | | **Alert trigger** | `>8%` absolute OR `+25%` relative spike vs prior week. | | **Sentiment key** | `gauge_inverse: good<=5, warn>8` | | **Roles** | owner, finance, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Authorize.net data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example "Heartland Hardware Co.", week 26 Apr 26 to 02 May 26. | Channel | Settled | Declined (incl voided/FDS) | Decline rate | | ---------------- | ------- | -------------------------- | -------------------- | | Web (Accept.js) | 423 | 49 | 49 / 472 = **10.4%** | | B2B portal (CIM) | 142 | 5 | 5 / 147 = **3.4%** | | ARB recurring | 42 | 3 | 3 / 45 = **6.7%** | | MOTO phone | 73 | 3 | 3 / 76 = **3.9%** | | **Blended** | **680** | **60** | **60 / 740 = 8.1%** | What the merchant should notice: 1. **Blended at 8.1% triggers alert.** Threshold is 8%; this is at the threshold edge. Open [`aut_top_decline_reasons`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/top-decline-reasons) immediately. 2. **Web channel at 10.4% is the cause.** B2B at 3.4% is healthy; the drag is web. Likely candidates: a fraud-cluster spike (one BIN flagged as risky), a recent FDS rule tightening, or a marketing campaign attracting low-quality traffic. 3. **A wave of `DO_NOT_HONOR` (reason code 2) from one BIN is the most common pattern.** Issuer fraud-flag triggered by a velocity pattern. Whitelist the merchant in the issuer risk system, or work with the acquirer to push BIN-level Visa Stand-In Processing. 4. **ARB at 6.7% hides expired-card and insufficient-funds.** Enable Account Updater. The 3 declines on 45 attempts is normal but trending upward indicates aging stored cards. 5. **A single bad day with 30% web decline rate would push the 7-day average to 13%.** That triggers `+25% relative spike` alert. Operational pattern: gateway rotation incident or commerce-platform deploy break checkout for 60 to 90 minutes. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Decline Rate | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | [`aut_success_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/success-rate) | Complementary view. | | [`aut_top_decline_reasons`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/top-decline-reasons) | Reason-code split, first card to open on a spike. | | [`aut_threedsecure_abandon_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/3ds-abandonment-rate) | 3DS-side of failure (different fix). | | [`aut_top_payment_methods`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/top-payment-methods) | Network mix often explains rate movement. | | Stripe [`stripe_decline_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stripe/decline-rate) / PayPal [`pp_decline_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/paypal/decline-failure-rate) | Cross-PSP comparison. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in the Authorize.Net Dashboard:** [account.authorize.net](https://account.authorize.net) → **Reports → Transaction Statistics → Statistics by Submission Date**, filter "Status: Declined" + "Status: Held" + "Status: Voided" plus the same Settled denominator. Or **Risk Management → Fraud Detection Suite → Statistics** for the FDS-side view. **Why our number may differ:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ----------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | **Voided treatment** | Either | Some Dashboard views exclude voided as failure; we include. | | **FDS held vs decline** | Either | Held-then-released-then-settled flips state. | | **Time zone** | Boundary days off | Pacific batch cut-off vs UTC. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Comparison | Expected | Why | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | `aut_decline_rate` ↔ [`stripe.stripe_decline_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/stripe/decline-rate) | Within 1 to 3pp | Same Visa-network routing for Visa cards. | | `aut_decline_rate` ↔ [`paypal.pp_decline_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/paypal/decline-failure-rate) | PayPal usually lower | PayPal balance flows have no issuer decision. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Decline rate spiked overnight, what to check first?** Open [`aut_top_decline_reasons`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/top-decline-reasons). Spike patterns: (1) a single reason code dominates (issuer-side fraud-filter wave on one BIN), (2) reason spread evenly across codes (ad campaign attracted high-risk traffic), (3) FDS-side spike (Authorize.Net's Fraud Detection Suite tightened, visible in Risk Management dashboard). **Why is `DO_NOT_HONOR` (reason code 2) so common?** It's the issuer's generic "we declined and won't tell you why" code, often issued for borderline-fraud signals. Some issuers use it for `INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS` to hide the true reason. A cluster from one BIN suggests fraud-flag at the issuer. **Are 3DS abandons declines?** No. A 3DS abandonment is the customer abandoning at the bank's challenge prompt; tracked in [`aut_threedsecure_abandon_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/authorize-net/3ds-abandonment-rate). Different fix (UX work) than issuer-decline (BIN routing). **Recurring rebill failures, do they count?** Yes. ARB rebill failure is `transactionStatus = declined`, counted here. Account Updater plus a smart retry strategy (3 attempts over 7 days, varying time of day) recovers 30 to 50% of initial declines. **eCheck.Net (ACH) decline rate, how counted?** ACH "decline" is delayed; the eCheck is initially `settledSuccessfully` then bank-returned (NACHA codes R01 = insufficient funds, R02 = account closed, R10 = unauthorised) within 2 to 60 days. The return is captured as a separate transaction reversing the original. ACH return rate (typically 0.5 to 1.5%) is tracked separately when the engine processes the return event. **FDS hold vs decline, what's the difference?** Hold = "we don't know yet, merchant please review". Decline = "we definitely declined". Held transactions are counted neither as success nor decline until released (success) or declined (failure) by merchant or by FDS auto-rule. **Visa ownership of Authorize.Net, decline-rate impact?** None observable. The gateway operates at parity with Stripe/Braintree on the Visa-card path. The Visa ownership does not give Authorize.Net merchants special "Visa-friendly" routing. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Decline Rate* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Authorize.net and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.