Home / Decline codes / pickup_card
What does the Stripe pickup_card decline code mean?
pickup_card Needs the customer to actWhat it means
Stripe's description: "The customer can't use this card to make this payment (it's possible it was reported lost or stolen)." The name itself is a bit of a historical artifact from physical point-of-sale terminals, where a "pickup" instruction told a cashier to retain the card. Online, it simply flags the card as restricted, with Stripe explicitly noting a lost or stolen report as a likely cause.
Will retries fix it?
No. Stripe's own next step is for the customer to contact their card issuer, not to retry the charge. That's a clear signal this is a standing restriction on the card, not a one-off timing issue.
What you should do
Ask the customer for a different card. Given Stripe's own note that this often ties back to a lost-or-stolen report, there's a reasonable chance the customer is already aware the card isn't usable, similar to the lost_card and stolen_card situations.
Where Valkyrie helps: pickup_card is a hard decline, and we treat it the same way we treat lost_card and stolen_card: outreach asking the customer for an updated card, billed only on what we actually recover.
Your net monthly gain
300% ROIEvery $1 you pay us puts $3 back in your pocket.
Estimates based on industry averages. Connect your Stripe to see your real number.
See my actual numberRelated decline codes
Questions, answered
Does pickup_card mean I should try to physically retrieve a card?
No, despite the name. For an online subscription business this is purely a decline code; the "pickup" language is a holdover from in-person card terminal history, where a merchant terminal could flag a card for physical retrieval. Online, it just means the card can't be used.
Is this the same as lost_card or stolen_card?
Related but listed separately by Stripe. Stripe's description for pickup_card says the card "can't be used to make this payment (it's possible it was reported lost or stolen)." It's the same underlying family of restriction, worded slightly more cautiously than the dedicated lost_card and stolen_card codes.
Will retrying the charge work eventually?
No. Stripe's guidance is for the customer to contact their card issuer, which points to a standing restriction on the card rather than a temporary, retry-able condition.
Source: Stripe decline codes documentation, checked October 2026.