What does the "Card is unauthorized" error message mean for a credit card payment?

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If a guest encounters a card unauthorized error on Toast Online Ordering, it's often caused by a simple typing error. Ask them to carefully review their card number, expiration date, and billing details before resubmitting the payment.

If the guest has already double-checked their card details and the error persists, this may not be a typing error—some cards are approved initially and then declined later by the card network. In that case, ask the guest to try a different card or payment method, or contact their card issuer.

Every card is being declined on Toast Online Ordering

If more than one guest, or more than one card, is declined on your location's Toast Online Ordering page, this is usually not a card problem. Continuing to have the guest try new cards is unlikely to resolve it.

A strong sign this is what's happening: the decline never shows up on the guest's card or bank statement at all. This usually means the payment never reached the card network in the first place.

If you notice this pattern, contact Toast Customer Care directly. Guests do not have a direct support channel with Toast, so if your guest experiences this, they should reach out to you, not Toast. Share the guest's email address with Customer Care if available, so the team can look into it.

Before reaching out, it's also worth checking whether there's an active payments incident at status.toasttab.com.

For more information about card payments that can't be processed on the POS, see our platform guide: Card declined message reference.