adyen payment refused with 113 referral: call the issuer

Adyen payment refused with 113 referral: call the issuer

TL;DR

Refusal code 113 means the issuer is asking the cardholder to call them before the payment can go through. It is not a technical failure and retrying the same card will just fail again. Tell the shopper to call the number on the back of their card, then offer an alternative payment method so the order is not lost.

adyen payment refused with 113 referral: call the issuer

Steps

1. Check the refusalReason in the /payments response. If it is 113 (often shown with a "referral" label), confirm this is the issuer-requested-call case. Success check: your logs show refusalReason 113, not a different code.
2. Do NOT auto-retry the same card. The issuer has flagged this transaction and repeated attempts will keep failing and can look like fraud. Success check: your retry logic excludes 113 from automatic retries.
3. Show the shopper a specific message: "Your bank needs you to confirm this payment. Please call the number on the back of your card, then try again." Success check: the UI names the bank call explicitly instead of a generic "card declined."
4. Offer an alternative payment method on the same screen (different card, bank transfer, wallet). Success check: shoppers who hit 113 can complete the order another way without starting over.
5. If the shopper calls their bank and tries the same card again later, allow it; a fresh attempt after issuer approval usually succeeds. Success check: a later manual retry with the same card can reach Authorised.

When this applies

• /payments returns resultCode REFUSED with refusalReason 113.
• You need shopper-facing copy for referral declines.
• Your agent flow retries declines automatically and you want 113 excluded.

When it doesn't

• Other refusal codes (do not honor, insufficient funds, expired card); each has its own handling.
• Fraud rejections or risk holds from Adyen's own risk engine.
• CANCELLED or ERROR resultCodes; those are shopper or system issues.

Tool + version compatibility

Adyen Checkout API v68+, any payment method where the issuer can issue a referral (cards primarily).

"adyen 113 referral declined"

Same handling. The number to call is the issuer's, on the back of the physical card.

"adyen call issuer refusal"

This phrasing also covers voice-authorization flows at point of sale; online, the fix is the shopper calling their bank.

"adyen referral code 113 retry"

Do not retry immediately. Retry only after the shopper confirms they spoke to their bank.

Why it happens

Issuers use referral codes when a transaction trips a manual-review flag: unusual amount, unusual merchant, or a risk rule that needs a human conversation. Instead of declining outright, the issuer asks the cardholder to call in and verify, which is why no amount of automated retrying helps.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Some shoppers will not call their bank; the alternative-payment-method fallback is what saves the order.
• 113 is rare in test; you will mostly encounter it in live traffic, so make sure the messaging path is tested with a mocked refusalReason.
• Log 113 separately from other refusals; a spike often means a specific issuer tightened rules, not a problem with your integration.
• Never tell the shopper to "just keep trying"; repeated 113 attempts can trigger a real fraud block on their card.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_iSlgBbMBaSxY8ner1290kw

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_iSlgBbMBaSxY8ner1290kw

Thread query: adyen payment refused with 113 referral: call the issuer

TL;DR: Refusal code 113 means the issuer is asking the cardholder to call them before the payment can go through. It is not a technical failure and retrying the same card will just fail again. Tell the shopper to call the number on the back of their card, then offer an alternative payment method so the order is not lost.