Allowable PIN Tries Exceeded
Category: Restricted/Blocked Card Retryable: no
Variability
Near-universal meaning
Consistently defined across the sources checked.
Retryable
no
Namespace: Legacy/conventional ISO 8583 field-39 code as implemented by card networks and processors — not the current ISO 8583:2023 Annex D table.
What this code typically means
The cardholder has entered an incorrect PIN more times than the issuer allows, and PIN-based authorization is now blocked pending reset. This is a consistently defined, low-ambiguity code — Stripe's pin_try_exceeded, Adyen's 'Pin tries exceeded,' and Worldpay's response tables all describe the identical mechanism.
What to do about it
Merchant action
Do not retry with the same PIN. If your flow supports it, offer a non-PIN payment path; otherwise the customer needs to resolve this with their issuer before any further attempt will succeed.
Customer-facing guidance
Ask the customer to use another card or payment method until they've reset their PIN with their issuer.
What's happening on the issuer's side
PIN-based authorization is locked; typically requires the cardholder to reset via ATM, branch, or issuer app.
Cross-processor equivalents
stripe: pin_try_exceeded
commonly treated as equivalent
adyen: 18 — Pin tries exceeded
commonly treated as equivalent
Cross-processor mappings are commonly treated as equivalent, not identical — every processor's own documentation notes lossy or partial mapping between raw network codes and its own vocabulary.
Sources
- Stripe — Card decline codes — fetched 2026-08-20
- Adyen — Refusal reason codes — fetched 2026-08-20
- Worldpay ISO 8583 Reference Guide V2.58 — EBT/WIC Response Code Mappings — fetched 2026-08-20
- ISO 8583:2023 Annex D — Action codes (current standard, 4-digit) — fetched 2026-08-20
Concept + retry philosophy
Decline Codes: why they're opaque and how to retry them