Mastercard is an international financial service company that was founded in the United States. It was created as a response to Bank of America’s Bank Americard that later transformed into Visa.
Nowadays, online transactions are essential for the society we live in. Thus, when your card is not working online, you may need to figure out why rather quickly.
In this article, we’ll show you the most common issues that might make your Mastercard not work for online transactions. Let’s begin!
Why Is Your Mastercard Not Working Online?
If you’re sure your card is active and you have input the right card information, then the problem might be a technology issue or some issues with connection to your bank account. Also, specific transactions that are considered illegal by financial institutions might be rejected by your bank.
There are several other reasons why your Mastercard is not working online, and we’ll cover all of them in the following sections.
Illegal Transactions Or Gambling
Not all banks approve transactions on gambling sites, since this is one of the types of transactions that might be illegal.
Usually, there are governmentally-accepted gambling websites, so you should always choose those if you like online gambling. This issue takes place because banks don’t want to participate in potentially illegal transactions.
Fraud Protection
Sometimes, your Mastercard is not working online because your bank notices something suspicious. It can be anything from a very large transaction to an unusual number of transactions that have been made in a short period of time.
Your card issuer has access to your purchases and transactions. Nowadays, the processes of reviewing operations are automatic, and the bank’s system can shut down online transactions if something suspicious pops up. If that’s the case, contact your bank and clear up the situation.
On the other hand, there are some banks that offer stricter security measures. They ask card owners to confirm transactions before running them to ensure that the transactions are not fraudulent.
Online Transactions Are Disabled
Some banks issue Mastercard debit and credit cards with online transactions disabled by default. If you have access to mobile or online banking, you can quickly turn online purchases on. Otherwise, you will have to call your bank to activate online transactions.
Sometimes, online transactions are enabled by default, but they have limitations. You can also use mobile or online banking to set your own limits or lift them entirely.
Withdrawal Or Expense Limit Reached
Your Mastercard might have been issued with withdrawal or expense limitations, and there could be daily or monthly limits set by default. Usually, you will receive a notification from your banks or card issuer whenever you reach the limit.
To avoid these situations, be familiar with your limitations. You can contact your bank to raise the limits or use mobile or online banking to do that.
Your Mastercard Is Expired
Maybe you forgot when your card expired and didn’t receive a notification from your bank. Whenever you try making an online transaction, your card won’t work.
If your purchase was declined, check the expiration date. If the card is expired, contact the bank to see if your new card is already available.
International Purchases
Sometimes, banks have strict rules against international purchases. Whether it is a Mastercard or a Visa, your card might be declined whenever used for online transactions overseas or ATM withdrawals abroad.
This issue can also be solved via the mobile banking app or online banking. You can also contact your bank and sort out the problem.
Technical Issues
From now and then, your bank or the merchant might have technical glitches that might decline online transactions. When you’re sure that you’ve input the right information for your Mastercard, but the transactions are still declined, then it could be an issue on the other end.
It would help if you waited for a few minutes and then tried again. Most likely, everything will work just fine after two or three attempts.
Summary
Mastercard is one of the most used credit and debit card brands globally, along with Visa. Lately, more and more people are turning to online transactions to pay bills, make purchases, and more.
Sometimes, these operations don’t work as expected. The situations presented above are the most common reasons why. Hopefully, you now know why your Mastercard is not working online and how to avoid those situations.
If you are looking at getting a store credit card to use online, check out these perks.
