Error: Invalid Amount

You receive the error Invalid Amount when trying to process a credit card. Similar responses include An error occurred converting amount or Invalid Amount field.

Non-corporate or non-company cards

1. The most common cause of this error is entering a $ sign as part of the amount. Simply enter the actual amount, e.g. 111.25.
2. If you entered the amount correctly, the most likely cause is that the card holder's bank is rejecting the card due to the amount. While rare, this can happen when the amount is larger than the customer normally charges and caused the bank's computer system to flag the transaction. Your customer must contact their bank to find out why the card was declined.
3. You will also receive an error Invalid Credit Amount if the amount you attempted to process was either already refunded to the cardholder or it is more than the original sale amount. To resolve this issue:
   • Access the Merchant Service Center and see if you already refunded the customer.
   • Decrease the amount so it equals or is less than the original sale amount.
4. This message also appears when a non-credit card type number is entered in to a merchant service account:
   • Debit only cards
   • Gift cards or gift certificate cards
   • Travelers Check cards
   • EBT
   • International cards that are not configured for United States Denominations (USD)
   • Any other type of card that has the appearance of credit card but is not actually a credit card

Corporate or company credit cards

1. The most common cause of this error is entering a $ sign as part of the amount. Simply enter the actual amount, e.g. 111.25.
2. The transaction amount may be too high for the card. Ask the card holder what you can charge on the card.
3. You will also receive an error Invalid Credit Amount if the amount you attempted to process was either already refunded to the cardholder or it is more than the original sale amount. To resolve this issue:
   • Access the Merchant Service Center and see if you already refunded the customer.
   • Decrease the amount so it equals or is less than the original sale amount.
4. The card holder may not have permission to use the company card for your business type. Confirm with the card holder that the card can support your business type.
5. Visa and MasterCard are asking for a sales tax amount.
   1. The sales tax amount cannot be 00.00. The sales tax information is not processed, but is used in a calculation by the card companies.  They are requesting,  "what would the sales tax be if you were to charge it?"
   2. The amount entered should be between .01% and 21% of the transaction amount.
   3. Also, mark the transaction as a commercial card and put in a sales tax amount.
   4. In addition you will need to put a purchase order number in.  This purchase order number will be sent to the issuing bank.
6. This message also appears when a non-credit card type number is entered in to a merchant service account, such as:
   • Debit only cards
   • Gift cards or gift certificate cards
   • Travelers Check cards
   • EBT
   • International cards that are not configured for United States Denominations (USD)
   • Any other type of card that has the appearance of credit card but is not actually a credit card