There are a few reasons why prepaid Visa or Mastercards cards may not work with certain merchants.
Some merchants have strict fraud policies which block prepaid cards outright, especially cards which are not 3DS enabled (that is, because the card does not have a name or address associated with it).
Additionally, sometimes merchants block prepaid cards based on VPN use or the location a user is in when they are trying to spend the card.
Other times the payment rejection relates to the service you're purchasing. For example, subscription-based services like Spotify, Patreon, Kickstarter, etc cannot be paid for with prepaid cards. Our prepaid cards also cannot be used to top up cash-related services like PayPal, Venmo, Revolut, or be used at ATMs.
Another problem which can cause the card to be declined is when the merchant places a "hold" on a dollar value greater than whatever you are purchasing which exceeds the card limit. In this case, you need to ensure your card's available funds are greater than this hold amount. This can occur at gas stations, restaurants, bars, and hotels, which will often place a temporary hold on the card of $100 or more.
Unfortunately, as these issues relate to specific merchant policies, there is nothing we can do to make a merchant accept the payment. However, you do have a few options:
Reach out to the merchant directly and often they will accept your payment by processing it manually and bypassing their fraud systems.
Try adding the card to Google Pay or Apple Pay and charging it that way, but sometimes the merchant will still deny it.
Find another merchant to spend the card funds with.
Let us know how you go - your feedback helps us find better products and providers to allow everyone globally to access our services.