ACHs and wires can fail for a variety of reasons and when available, we’ll try to provide information as to why. Here are failures you might run into and ways to troubleshoot.
You can look up failed payments through filters on your Transactions page or enable failed payment emails from your Notification settings.
Understanding ACH return reasons
ACH return reasons are standardized across US banks. The return code you see on a failed transaction is always generated by the bank receiving the transaction request.
For transactions created outside of Mercury (whether a credit or debit), Mercury is generating the return codes.
For transactions created through your Mercury dashboard, the external bank will have sent us the return code, and you'll need to speak to your payment recipient or the other bank for more information.
R01: Insufficient Funds
There wasn't enough money available in your account to complete this transaction.
You'll need to add more funds to the account where the money is coming from and then retry your transaction.
R02: Account Closed
The account receiving the transaction request is closed.
If the transaction was initiated through Mercury, you'll need to reach out to the other bank to make sure the account is active or try another account.
If the transaction was initiated externally, contact us so we can make sure your Mercury account is still active and that there are no flags on your account.
R03: No Account/Unable To Locate Account
The receiving bank wasn't able to find an account matching the details you used.
Double-check the recipient's name, account number, and routing number before trying again to make sure that you're using the correct information.
You might see this return code on an incoming payment if the name you're sending to doesn't match the legal name or company name on the account. Make sure the name on the payment matches the legal name on the account before trying again.
R04: Invalid Account Number
The account number entered is not a valid number.
Make sure that you don't have a missing digit or typo in the number and then re-try your transaction.
R06: Returned Per ODFI's Request
The sending bank has requested the funds be sent back.
You'll need to get in contact with the bank that sent the transaction to find out why they requested the funds back.
R08: Payment Stopped
The sender of the funds requested this payment be stopped.
If this wasn't you, you'll need to check with the sender to see why they stopped the payment.
R10: Customer Advises Unauthorized
The transaction was disputed by the sender, so their bank has contacted us to return the transaction.
You'll need to speak with the sender to find out why they disputed the transaction.
R16: Account Frozen
Your account has been frozen and can't transact on Mercury.
Reach out to us and we'll see what's going on.
R20: Non-Transaction Account
This most commonly occurs when trying to send or pull money from savings or investment accounts that aren't allowed to receive or send payments.
Check to see if you're sending to or pulling money from one of these types of accounts.
Understanding wire failures
Most wire failures will come with a failure reason. UTA means "Unable to Apply". Usually, in addition to being noted as Unable To Apply, there will be a secondary reason as well. The most common are below:
Additional Info Requested
We need a little more information regarding your transaction.
Please make sure you've provided a reason for the wire when prompted, as well as any supporting documentation if requested.
If you've already done this and your wire still failed, let us know.
Transaction Reason Not Sufficient (business accounts only)
For international wires, we require that you add a reason for the transaction that details the specific purpose, and if it's too vague, the wire won't be sent. For example, a purpose that just says "invoice" is too vague, but "invoice - clothing for inventory," would work well.
When you recreate your wire, make sure that you're using a purpose that's more specific than what had been inputted originally.
Invalid Account Number
The account number you were sending to is not a valid number.
Double-check the recipient account number for typos or missing digits.
Invalid Wire Instructions
The details you provided are incorrect. This usually happens if you tried to send an international wire but are using the SWIFT code for a US bank (for business accounts).
Confirm that you picked the right kind of wire for the account you're sending to. If you're sending to a US bank, you'll need to retry as a domestic wire. If you're sending outside of the US, make sure you're sending the payment as an international wire (for business accounts).
Invalid Beneficiary Address
The address of your recipient isn't a real physical address. This error most commonly happens if the address you've input is a P.O. box, the address of the receiving bank, or is in non-Roman characters.
Make sure you're using a real street address written in Roman characters, and not a P.O. box or the bank address, and then retry your transaction.
Invalid Beneficiary Name and/or Account
The name that you're sending to didn't match the account number on the wire transaction.
Double-check that you have the right account number, and if you do, make sure that you're sending to the legal name on file for the receiving account.
Name Mismatch
Similar to the prior reason, the name you were sending to did not match the name on the account, and so the receiving bank sent the wire back.
Make sure you're sending to the legal name on the receiving account and then try sending the wire again.
Other Cancelation Reasons
C03: Unable to verify receiver identity. Please upload government ID.
We are required to check all recipient names against sanctions and screenings lists, which are lists of people and businesses not authorized to transact or do business within the US. Sometimes, names of recipients will get flagged as a possible match to someone on this screenings list. In order to confirm the recipient is not the person on the list, a government ID is required from the recipient.
If you get this error, please collect the ID of the person you're paying. If it's a business, we'll need their website and an invoice, if available. Once you have this, send it to help@mercury.com, and we'll work with you to clear the flag and let you know when you can resend your payment.
C06: KYC unfinished on Sender
This means that your account may not be completely verified. In rare instances, your information may be invalidated after initial approval. If you received this error, reach out to us and we'll make sure that all is good to go.
C07: KYC unfinished on Receiver
The recipient's information did not automatically verify in our system. Reach out to us and we can make sure everything is ready, or usually just retrying your transaction will work fine.