Card & Bank support

A card payment can be declined for many reasons. The most common by far is simply not enough money on the card at the moment of payment — including cases where an earlier hold or pending charge is still reserving part of your balance.

Other frequent causes are a wrong PIN or CVC/expiry entered, a card that is frozen or not yet activated, a merchant or country that is restricted, or the bank’s fraud checks stepping in on an unusual transaction.

The message shown at the terminal or in the app tells you which of these applied. See the decline-message reference below for the exact meaning of each one.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Here is what each decline message means in plain language:

If a payment keeps failing and none of these fit, contact Nuri support with the date, amount and merchant so we can look it up.

Reference: Wirex documentation

The most common reason is a hold (pre-authorisation) that is still reserving part of your balance from an earlier payment — for example a fuel station, hotel or car rental. That reserved amount isn’t available to spend until the hold clears or expires.

Check your recent activity for a pending item. See “Holds & pending charges” below for how long each type lasts.

Reference: Wirex documentation

For security, the card is blocked after 4 wrong PIN attempts (message: AllowedNumberOfPINTriesIsExceeded).

Contact Nuri support to unblock the card and confirm or reset your PIN. Don’t keep retrying — that won’t help once the limit is reached.

Reference: Wirex documentation

This is almost always a hold (pre-authorisation), not a final charge. Merchants like fuel stations, hotels and car-rental companies temporarily reserve an amount to make sure the funds are there. The reserved money isn’t gone — it’s held until the real charge (the “clearing”) arrives, at which point the hold is released and replaced by the actual amount.

The sections below explain the most common holds and how long they last.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Car-rental and trailer-rental companies typically place a hold of around 20% on top of the authorised amount, as a buffer for possible extras such as fuel, tolls, fines or late returns.

When the final charge arrives, any excess is released automatically. If the final amount is higher than the original authorisation, the difference is charged; otherwise the 20% buffer is returned to you.

Reference: Wirex documentation

At pay-at-pump fuel dispensers the card is pre-authorised before you know the final amount, so a fixed hold is placed first — sometimes €1/£1, sometimes as much as €99/£99 depending on the network. This is a hold, not the final charge.

When the station sends the real amount (the clearing), the hold is released and replaced by what you actually spent.

Fuel pre-authorisation holds can last up to 32 days by design. If no clearing arrives within 32 days, the hold expires and the money is released automatically. It can’t be released manually before then unless the merchant sends the clearing.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Some merchants — notably transit systems like Transport for London — process transactions offline and submit them for payment after your journey. If your balance is too low when that charge finally clears, it can still go through and leave the card with a negative balance. This is initiated by the merchant or card network, not by Nuri or Wirex, and can’t be blocked or reversed at that stage.

To fix it, top up the card to clear the negative balance — there’s no minimum; even a small negative amount must be covered. The card stays restricted until the balance is positive again.

If you’re unsure of the exact amount, contact Nuri support and we’ll confirm it. Once topped up, the card is unblocked automatically.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Refunds for failed transactions are completed within 32 calendar days. This window is fixed — it doesn’t change with the transaction type or the reason it failed.

A reversal sometimes happens sooner, but 32 days is the maximum you should expect.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Contact Nuri support with the transaction details (date, amount, merchant) and what went wrong. We raise a dispute ticket for that specific transaction, and you can track its status through the same ticket.

A chargeback then moves through five stages: (1) review and analysis of your explanation and the transaction; (2) submission to the processor and card scheme (Visa/Mastercard); (3) the merchant may accept it or send a rebuttal with evidence; (4) that evidence is reviewed; (5) a final outcome — if won, the funds are returned to you; if lost, they stay with the merchant.

Reference: Wirex documentation

• Filing deadline: no later than 120 days from the transaction date.
• Eligible transactions: successful transactions only.
• Typical processing time: 60–90 days from the transaction date.

Because chargebacks run on the card schemes’ timelines, they can’t be rushed. File as early as you can within the 120-day window.

Reference: Wirex documentation

A $25 administration fee applies only if the dispute is lost. If you win, no fee is charged at all.

Reference: Wirex documentation

This is standard, not a new or duplicate charge. When a chargeback is opened, the disputed amount is credited back to your balance and a temporary hold is placed on it while the case is investigated.

When the case is resolved, the hold is either released (you won — the money is yours) or removed so the debit stands (you lost — the money returns to the merchant).

Reference: Wirex documentation

Need more? See “How do I increase my card limit?” below.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Reference: Wirex documentation

Reference: Wirex documentation

Certain merchant categories can’t be paid with the card. These currently include:

• Drugs, druggist sundries and chemicals (MCC 5122, 5169)
• Direct-marketing insurance, travel and outbound telemarketing (MCC 5960, 5962, 5966)
• Dating and escort services (MCC 7273)
• Massage parlors (MCC 7297)
• Government-licensed gambling (MCC 7801)

If a payment to one of these is declined, it’s by policy rather than a fault with your card.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Payments to merchants in sanctioned or restricted countries are blocked. These include Afghanistan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Cuba, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Palestine, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

A few currencies are also not supported for card transactions: BDT (Bangladeshi Taka), BHD (Bahraini Dinar), BYN/BYR (Belarusian Ruble), PKR (Pakistani Rupee), RUB (Russian Ruble) and SAR (Saudi Riyal).

Reference: Wirex documentation

The rate on a card transaction can differ from the market rate you see on Google, and that’s expected. Depending on the currency, a payment may be converted through more than one step (for example a local currency → GBP → USD), and a foreign-exchange margin is applied.

• Local currencies (UAH, RON, CZK, …): converted local → GBP → USD, plus FX.
• EUR: converted EUR → USD, plus FX.
• USD: no conversion.

Reference: Wirex documentation

The most reliable way is to cancel directly with the merchant — the card issuer can’t unlink a card from an active subscription, block a single merchant, or cancel a subscription on your behalf.

If a merchant keeps charging and won’t stop, the alternative is to have the card reissued. A new card number stops future charges — but note the old number becomes invalid, so any other services saved to that card will need updating.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Nuri support can generate a statement for you through the customer support portal. Contact us with the period you need and we’ll produce it.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Contact Nuri support and we can check your remaining unused limit for you through the support portal.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Your card wallet is self-custody — the funds stay at your own address, not held by Wirex — so recovery goes through Nuri, not Wirex. Contact Nuri support and we’ll guide you through the withdrawal/recovery process for your account.

Reference: Wirex documentation

The standard cap is £30,000 per transaction and per month. Higher limits can be approved with proper justification and documentation.

You’ll be asked for: the limit amount and whether it’s a one-off or ongoing; the reason for the increase; and evidence of your source of wealth (how your wealth was built) and, for one-off transactions, source of funds (where the specific money came from).

Start a limit-increase request with Nuri support and we’ll tell you exactly what to provide.

Reference: Wirex documentation

You’ll usually need identity and address verification (passport / national ID / driving licence, plus a utility bill or bank statement from the last 3 months), and evidence for where the money comes from. Typical evidence by source:

Reference: Wirex documentation

Once you’ve submitted everything, review typically takes around 24 hours. If approved, the new limit is applied the same day (when submitted before 1pm CET) or the next business day.

Outcomes are: approved in full, an alternative (lower) limit offered, or declined with feedback.

Reference: Wirex documentation

A previous failed or inactive attempt to add the card can block new attempts. The fix is usually to have the stale token deactivated: contact Nuri support and ask us to deactivate the affected card tokens, after which you should be able to add the card again.

Before retrying, remove the card from any wallets or websites where an inactive copy might still be stored.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Reference: Wirex documentation

Sometimes Apple/Visa’s own provisioning service flags a device as suspicious during tokenisation and refuses to add the card. This is triggered by that antifraud check on the device — not by your card’s status or by Nuri.

These cases are reviewed individually and, honestly, can’t always be overridden — resolution isn’t guaranteed. Contact Nuri support with your details and we’ll escalate it, but the decision ultimately sits with the provisioning service.

Reference: Wirex documentation

A SEPA (EUR) account is available in 29 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Reference: Wirex documentation

An ACH (USD) account is available in 48 countries plus all US states and territories: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

Reference: Wirex documentation

Your available account types show up as capabilities on your profile, each with a status:

• Active — the bank account is available and usable.
• NotFulfilled — you need to complete additional verification first.
• NotAvailable — not available for your country.

Developers integrating the API can read these from the user endpoint (GET /api/v2/user), which returns SepaAccount / AchAccount capabilities and their status.

Reference: Wirex documentation