Are you among those who are wondering “why is my Greenlight card being declined” despite several attempts? Here’s everything you need to know.
Greenlight cards are very useful tools for parents to monitor their children’s expenses and spending habits. These cards can be issued to each of the children and can be managed from the Parent’s dashboard. The parents can place rules and restrictions on how their children can use the card. Unfortunately, this leads to the cards being declined on several occasions.
If your Greenlight card also declined, the primary reason can be the restrictions placed on the Parent’s dashboard. Besides this, there can be various other reasons that lead to the decline of the Greenlight card. We will discuss the probable reason why your Greenlight card declined and also try out some solutions to fix those problems.
So let’s go ahead and diagnose the issue that got your Greenlight card declined. Also, please ensure you read the whole article so that you wouldn’t miss anything that could have been the solution to your problem.
Why Is My Greenlight Card Being Declined?
First, we need to understand what a Greenlight card is and how you can use these cards before diagnosing the issue.
Greenlight cards are debit cards issued by Parents for their children. Parents can set up a Greenlight account and issue these cards to their children. They can manage the cards from the Parent’s dashboard on the Greenlight app.
Parents can choose how these cards can be used by their children and allocate funds for chores, savings, and expenses. This helps them effectively manage their children’s spending and spending habits.
So if your Greenlight card is declined, then these restrictions or how the funds are allocated can be the primary reason. Besides this, other factors such as the store you are trying to use it on or the product you are trying to buy can also be a reason.
The health of the card, the restrictions from parents, restrictions from Greenlight itself, and the category of the product or service you are paying for are the possible reasons your Greenlight card is being declined.
And other factors should also be considered when trying to determine the cause of this decline. That is, where is the card being declined?
- Greenlight Card Declined At ATM
- Greenlight Card Declined At Offline Stores
- Greenlight Card Declined Online
- Greenlight Card Declined Everywhere
The above scenarios are the only possible scenarios where your card can decline. So first, try to use it in all the places where you can use the card and see where the card is being declined.
Once you are certain that the card is being declined in ATM, Online, or in Stores, you can go forward and find some possible reasons for that. There is also the possibility of your card being declined from everywhere, which is why you are wondering why is my Greenlight card being declined.
So, let’s go ahead and find the possible reason for ‘why is My Greenlight Card being declined’.
Possible Reasons Why is my Greenlight Card being Declined
Although Greenlight cards are Mastercard, these cards do not function the same as other Mastercard. In addition, since these cards are meant to be issued to minors, there are various safety measures placed on them by Greenlight and the Parents themselves.
There can also be other reasons related to technical issues. However, we have listed some reasons that have a high probability of happening and causing your Greenlight card to decline.
Let’s go ahead and learn about the possible reasons.
1. Incorrect PIN Entered While Using The Greenlight Card
First and foremost, this is one of the common reasons for why you might be facing the issue of why is my Greenlight card being declined. If you are using the card at an ATM or paying for something in the store, you need to input the PIN for the transaction. Most of the time, people tend to forget the PIN of their card, and the card gets declined.
And if you have several cards, the cards and PINs get mixed, and you end up putting the wrong PIN and face the issue of why is my Greenlight card being declined again and again.
Some POS machines tell you if the PIN is incorrect but not everywhere. In addition, the card can be declined in some POS machines and ATMs, and you may not see the message. So, make sure you are using the correct PIN for the correct card. It is better to write it physically and hide it inside your wallet.
2. Greenlight Card Physically Damaged
We have ingrained ourselves in this digital world so much that we often forget some things are not digital but mechanical. And mechanical items tend to break down or get damaged. Same with the Greenlight card. The magnetic strip behind the card is very prone to scratch. So the cards will not work properly if there is a sizable scratch or any other physical damage.
The magnetic stripe or the chip on the front contains data that the POS machine or ATM needs to read. And if there is any sort of damage to the magnetic strip or the chip, there is a high chance that the card will not work and sometimes declines after initially working.
So, just make sure that the card is not physically damaged. If there is damage, you should not use that card as it will only decline and can cause temporary disabling of your account due to suspected abuse.
3. Insufficient Balance In Your Greenlight Card’s Spend Anywhere Fund
Greenlight cards have several types of funds. Spend anywhere, selected stores, selected products, savings, etc. Also, Parents can create their type of fund and load the amount on them. They can restrict the use of the fund on occasions other than they are created for.
So, if you have $20 for groceries and want to spend that amount on buying chocolates, the card will be declined. The only fund you can use to buy anything you want is the ‘Spend Anywhere’ fund. So, make sure the amount you want to spend is on the Spend Anywhere fund.
4. Card Turned Off From Parent’s Dashboard
Yes, this is another place where the Parents win. They can turn off any of their children’s cards within two seconds from the Greenlight Parent’s dashboard. So if the child is not doing what has been asked and is creating trouble, parents can just log into the Greenlight app and turn off the child’s card. This deactivation can lead you to wondering why is my Greenlight card being declined.
If the card is turned off, it will be declined. So, if your card is declining several times, you may want to check the Parent’s dashboard to see if the card is turned off from there.
5. Store/Purchase Not Compliant With Greenlight’s Terms Of Service
Greenlight has its Terms of Service, where it defines the categories of spending where you cannot use the Greenlight card. If you use the Greenlight card in stores that Greenlight bars, the card gets declined. Places such as dating services, online casinos, and lotteries are barred from Greenlight card use. Greenlight, by default, do not let you use the card on stores/product/services of such nature.
If your card is being declined, check if the store/purchase comes under such a transaction category. If yes, then you won’t be able to use it there no matter how much you try. The restrictions are in place to protect children from danger and harmful activities.
6. Store/Purchase Not Approved/Restricted From Parents Dashboard
On top of the Greenlight restrictions, you will also have the restrictions from the parents. Parents can place restrictions on the card from their Parent’s dashboard on the usage of funds. For example, they can select stores you can use the card, items that are not allowed to be purchased or limit the usage of the cards only to some stores they trust. This is also a primary reason for why is my Greenlight card being declined issue occurs for many.
If your card gets declined, you can check the Parent’s dashboard for any restrictions that are placed on the card. Most of the time, your issue gets solved here.
Solutions For Greenlight Card Being Declined
Once you find out the key issue with your card, it would be easy to implement a solution. May it be a damaged card, or any other undiagnosed issue, we have listed some major solutions that you can use to solve the ‘Greenlight card being declined’ issue.
Let’s start with the basic solution to solving why is my Greenlight card being declined error.
1. Confirm/Change The PIN Of Greenlight Card
First, confirm the PIN of your Greenlight card. You can check on any past references you kept while setting up the PIN. If you cannot find the reference and are convinced that you forgot the PIN, you can reset the Greenlight card PIN easily.
Just head over to the Child’s Greenlight Dashboard, Tap on the debit card icon next to “Manage Card” to open their card management page, and Tap “Reset debit card PIN.” From there, simply enter a new four-digit PIN, verify the number by re-entering it, save, and you are done. You successfully reset the PIN.
2. Replace The Greenlight Card
As stated earlier, most of the time, the Greenlight card gets damaged because of scratches. If the scratch is big enough, you must replace the Greenlight card. You can simply contact Greenlight customer support and ask them for a replacement. There can be a small charge that Greenlight can take for the replacement.
3. Check Greenlight’s Restricted Store/Spending Category
Greenlight places several restrictions on some transaction categories. Some restrictions include using the card on Gambling sites, Dating and escort services, Money orders and transfers, betting sites, etc.
You can check the list of restricted categories here. If the reason for the card decline is due to Greenlight’s restriction, you cannot do anything about it, and you have to pay for the purchase from other means.
4. Check The Balance And Spend Control From Parent’s Dashboard
Most of the time, the card declines because you do not have sufficient balance for the purchase. In the case of Greenlight card, several funds, categories such as Spend Anywhere, Selected Stores, Groceries, etc., make it even more complicated. You need to have enough funds for the category of purchase you are doing.
For example, if you are purchasing groceries, you must have enough balance on the Grocery fund. And if you are purchasing something that is not in the category, you need to have enough balance on the Spend Anywhere fund.
So, if the Greenlight card is declining, you can check the respective fund to see if there is enough balance. You should also check if there is any sort of Spending control placed from the Parent’s dashboard on the purchase you are making.
When a Spend Control is set from the Parent’s dashboard and the “Pull Overages from Spend Anywhere” toggle is off there, your Greenlight card will be declined if you try to spend money beyond the Spend Control or Spending Category limit. You can learn more about Spending Control here.
To solve this issue, you can either remove the restrictions imposed from the Parent’s dashboard or find other means to pay for the purchase.
5. Try Spending In An Approved Store
The easiest method to find out if the card is declined due to a technical issue or restriction is to use the card in an Approved store. Go to any store where the card used to work earlier and try to use it there. If the card works, you can be sure that the decline earlier is due to some form of restriction from Greenlight or Parent’s Spending Control.
If you are still wondering why is my Greenlight card being declined then there is certainly some technical issue with the card. To solve the technical issue, you can contact Greenlight customer Support.
6. Contact Greenlight Support
The best way to solve any Greenlight issue is to directly contact their customer support and report the issue. It is surely a time saver and saves you from headaches.
So, head to the Greenlight app or website and report to them. Click here to go to the Greenlight help center. Alternatively, you can call 888-483-2645 and register your complaint with them.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can You Use Greenlight Card At Walmart?
Yes, you can use Greenlight card anywhere Mastercard is accepted. You can use it in Walmart, too, unless any restrictions are placed on the Parent’s dashboard.
2. Can You Put Money On A Greenlight Card At An ATM?
No, Greenlight does not accept direct deposits at the moment. So, you cannot directly fund the Greenlight card from ATM. However, you can use a bank account to fund the Parent’s account and transfer the fund to the card from there.
3. Can Greenlight Card Be Used For Apple Pay?
Yes, you can use Greenlight cards for apple pay. You can also use in Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. However, the kids should be above 13 years old to connect Greenlight cards with these platforms.
Conclusion
Therefore, you could be facing why is my Greenlight card being declined for various reasons such as any technical error, physical damage, or primarily from the restrictions imposed by the Parents or Greenlight itself. In such cases, you need to find out the exact reason for the decline and solve it accordingly.
Hope we have answered your question and helped you find the exact reason for the decline of your Greenlight card.
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