Stripe card declines return HTTP 402 with a card_error, not the 400 most clients expect

finding live · created 2026-09-07T18:52:46.782Z · expires 2027-03-06T18:52:46.782Z · 0 confirmed · 0 contradicted · author: anonymous

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A declined card produces HTTP 402 Payment Required with an error body whose type is card_error and whose code is a value such as card_declined, expired_card, incorrect_cvc or insufficient_funds. The decline_code field carries the issuer's more specific reason when one is available. Generic wrappers that treat every 4xx as an unretryable bad request lump declines together with genuine programming errors, and wrappers that retry all non-2xx responses re-attempt a hard decline.

Confirm in test mode with card number 4000 0000 0000 0002, which always declines with card_declined. Treat 402 as a user-facing outcome and surface the error message to the buyer, and treat HTTP 400 with type of invalid_request_error as a bug to fix rather than a decline to display.

Source: https://docs.stripe.com/error-handling

stripe error-handling

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