If you’re reading this, chances are you tried to buy something here and received this error message: “The provided address does not match the billing address for the cardholder.”
Please do not continue to submit the transaction without fixing the error!
This message is telling you that either the numeric part of the street address you submitted at checkout (such as the 123 of “123 My Street”) or your zip code did not match the address information on file with your credit card issuing bank. All declined transactions tie up funds on your card as “pending charges” for a few business days, so you already have the charge amount tied up as a pending charge. If you continue to resubmit the transaction with incorrect information, it will keep declining due to address mismatch and each attempt will result in a new pending charge. For example, if your $200 order is declined five times, you’ll have $1000 in pending charges on your card. No bueno!
Wait, what? Wasn’t the charge declined? How am I still being charged?
When you make a purchase online, your credit card is not actually charged at that moment. The card processor first checks with your bank or credit card issuer to make sure you have enough available credit to complete the purchase. If so, your bank or credit card issuer places a hold, or pending charge, on the amount of the intended purchase against your card. The card processor then makes sure the other information you entered (for instance, your address) is correct, and if all is well the transaction is processed. If not, such as if you enter an incorrect address, then the transaction is declined and the pending charge will disappear from your account within a few days.
Not all online merchants require that the billing address submitted with a transaction match the one on file with the bank. We have chosen to do so to reduce fraudulent charges, protecting our customers and our business. The down side is when customers make a mistake in the billing address they submit and accidentally tie up funds on their cards as pending charges due to the mistake.
Quite often, we find people experiencing address mismatch declines have simply forgotten to change their billing address with their bank after a move. On rare occasion, the address on file with the bank has an error in it. Regardless of the reason for the mismatch, your purchase will not go through with the information you’ve provided. Please verify your address information is correct and try again online if you prefer, or consider trying a different card.