“Why isn’t my card working?”
“What was that attempted charge for?”
“Why do they keep charging my card?”
“How did that charge even happen?”
Most card issues aren’t random — they leave clues. If you know where to look, you can solve them in seconds. After helping families track down card issues for over 13 years, we’ve found three clues to be especially useful:
- Decline reason — why it failed. FamZoo is unusual in its transparency — we show every declined purchase attempt in your transaction history, not just successful ones. Most financial apps don’t. A quick review of the latest decline reason is often all it takes to solve most card mysteries. There are many different reasons for declines, but the 10 most common ones are:
- Purchase amount exceeds card balance.
- Incorrect billing address.
- Invalid card expiration date.
- Using old replaced card.
- Card is currently locked.
- Security block applied after 3 incorrect PIN entries.
- Merchant is a current fraud risk.
- Incorrect PIN.
- Incorrect card security code.
- The card’s security chip counter needs resetting.
- Decline amount — what they tried to charge. When a transaction is declined, the posted amount is zero, and there is no change to the available balance on the card. To find out the amount that a merchant attempted to charge, you must consult the decline amount. That amount often sheds light on what the attempted charge was for. Strings of declines for the same attempted amount often point to an unintended or unwanted subscription that needs your attention.
- Entry mode — how the charge was attempted. The entry mode indicates how the purchase was made. It could be in person by dipping the chip, tapping a mobile wallet, or swiping the magnetic stripe. Or, it could be remotely by typing the card info into a website or app or using a stored payment method. The entry mode can often be very insightful when chasing down unexpected charges. Some examples of cases we’ve tracked down:
- A child’s card was stored on the family Amazon account leading to unexpected charges later. (Entry mode = Stored Payment Method.)
- A card was skimmed at a vending machine leading to subsequent unauthorized charges from a fraudster. (Entry mode = Magnetic Stripe Read.)
- The expedited delivery option was selected at checkout resulting in unexpected Prime subscription charges. (Entry mode = Online/App Entry followed by Stored Payment Method 30 days later.)
The decline reason, decline amount, and entry mode values have been available in FamZoo for a while. Until now, you had to dig to find them. Now they’re surfaced directly in search results—no extra clicks required.
No need to visit Actions ⟩ Select Columns to surface those critical columns anymore.
Try it now — it takes 10 seconds.
→ Sign into FamZoo.com on your computer.
→ Select Bank ⟩ Accounts.
→ Press Enter in the search box.
(If you’re in the FamZoo app, see this trick for getting to the Desktop UI from a mobile phone.)
You’ll see the following columns in the results: Date, Description/Memo, Type, Status, Amount, Decline Amount, Decline Message, Entry Mode, and Account.
Pro tip #1: Spot problems instantly. Visit the Accounts screen, type “declined” in the search box, and press Enter to quickly check for signs of card struggles across your family.
Pro tip #2: Click for the fix. Click on the Status value in the search results to see full transaction details — including the suggested remedy for resolving any decline issue. It’s the same set of details you see when you click a Pending, Settled, or Declined status button on the Transactions screen.
If you still can’t decipher a card mystery, contact us. We’ll help you get to the bottom of it.
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