Card Declined? Paying from India
If your card was declined at checkout and you are paying from India, this page will almost certainly fix it. The problem is on your bank's side, not yours, and it takes about thirty seconds to sort out.
Why Indian cards get declined on international sites
Since March 2020, the Reserve Bank of India has required that every newly issued or reissued Indian debit and credit card has international transactions switched off by default.
Your card works perfectly for anything domestic: Amazon India, Swiggy, UPI, all of it. But the moment you try to pay a business registered outside India, the transaction is blocked before it even reaches us. We never see it. There is nothing wrong with your card, your balance, or your details.
DailyDebian is registered in Singapore, so every purchase here counts as an international transaction.
How to enable international payments
The setting lives in your bank's app or net banking portal. The exact wording differs by bank, but the path is nearly always the same:
- Open your bank's mobile app or log in to net banking.
- Find Cards, sometimes called Debit Card Services, Credit Card Services, or Manage Cards.
- Look for Card Controls, Manage Card Usage, Set Card Limits, or Transaction Settings.
- Turn on International and Online / E-commerce usage. Both matter, because enabling one does not always enable the other.
- Set an international transaction limit if the app asks. Anything above USD 50 covers your order.
Changes usually take effect immediately, occasionally after a few minutes. Some banks turn international usage back off automatically after a set period, so if you have enabled it before and it is failing again, check the setting rather than assuming it is still on.
Where to look, by bank
- HDFC Bank: App, then Cards, then select card, then Manage Card, then Set Card Limits, then enable International and Online
- ICICI Bank: iMobile, then Cards & Loans, then select card, then Manage Card Limits, then International Usage
- State Bank of India: YONO, then Service Request, then ATM/Debit Card Services, then Manage Card, then International Usage
- Axis Bank: App, then Cards, then select card, then Card Controls, then International Transactions
- Kotak: App, then Service Requests, then Cards, then Card Settings, then International Usage
- Other banks: search your bank's app for "international", or call the number on the back of your card and ask them to enable international online transactions.
Then just try again
Once international usage is on, go back to your cart and complete the order normally. Your questions are delivered to your email immediately after payment clears.
Still not working?
A few other things worth trying:
- Try a different card. Cards issued before March 2020, and many corporate or business cards, often have international usage enabled already.
- Check the OTP. International transactions sometimes send the verification code to a mobile number your bank has on file, which may not be the phone you are holding.
- Use PayPal. It is available at our checkout and routes differently from a direct card payment.
If none of that works, email support@dailydebian.com and we will sort it out with you directly. We would rather find you a way to pay than lose you over a bank setting.