Response Code 04: Pick up card

HARD DECLINE DO NOT RETRY ISO 8583 FIELD 39

The issuer has flagged this card for capture. Potentially fraudulent.

What Does Code 04 Mean?

Response code 04 is a fraud-related code. The issuing bank has flagged this card and is requesting that a physical merchant confiscate it. In e-commerce, this is impossible, so it functions as a permanent block.

This code is rare in online transactions but when it appears, it signals that the issuer has high confidence the card is being used fraudulently. The card may have been reported compromised through a data breach, or the issuer's fraud system detected a pattern consistent with unauthorized use. Unlike code 41 (lost) or 43 (stolen), code 04 is a general capture request that can cover multiple fraud scenarios.

Why You Should Not Retry

Terminal Decline

Do not retry. The card has been permanently blocked.

Common Causes

Card flagged as compromised in a data breach
Issuer fraud detection system triggered a capture request
Card reported for unauthorized transactions by the legitimate cardholder

Network Behavior

The same response code can mean different things depending on the card network. Here is how each network treats Code 04:

Network	Retry?	Limit	Notes
Visa	No	No retries permitted	Visa Category 1: issuer will never approve. Any retry attempt triggers the excessive reattempt fee ($0.10 domestic, $0.15 cross-border).
Mastercard MAC 03	No	Do not retry	Hard stop. MAC 03 (do not try again). Retrying within 30 days incurs Mastercard TPE penalty fees (currently $0.50 per excess attempt).
Amex	No		Very rare on Amex. When Amex flags fraud, they typically return Code 05 rather than revealing the specific fraud signal.
Discover	No		Permanent decline. Discover forbids merchants from contacting the cardholder about the issue.

Platform Mappings

This code surfaces under different names depending on the payment platform:

ISO 8583	`04` - Pick up card
Stripe	`pickup_card`

Related Decline Codes

Related Guides

See This Code in Action

Watch how response code 04 flows through a complete ISO 8583 authorization lifecycle.

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