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Why was my purchase attempt declined?
General Purchasing Questions
Insufficient Funds
Please check the account associated with your card to ensure there are funds available for your purchase. If you find that there are sufficient funds, your card may have been declined for one of the reasons listed below.
Some banks use "Insufficient Funds" as a generic error message to merchants for cardholder protection. If you do have sufficient funds on your card, you may also want to check with your bank to make sure there are no holds on your card.
When entering your payment information, make sure to enter your billing address exactly as it appears on your account statements. Everything - including hyphenation and spacing - must exactly match the information that the issuing bank has on record in order to pass the AVS check.
Note: If your transaction fails to pass this check, your credit card issuer may place a temporary hold on the funds for the attempted purchase (this hold may last several days, depending upon their policies).
The security code is the 3 digit number which appears on the back of the credit card. For American Express cards, there is a 4 digit security code on the front of the card, just above the last four digits of the credit card number.
The information you enter in Steam needs to match the security code on your credit card. If your security code is un-readable, please contact your credit card issuer to get a new card.
Instant transfers
To make a payment with PayPal without having a credit card linked to your PayPal account, you must have the total amount of your purchase in your PayPal account balance. PayPal does not offer transfers directly from your bank account without having a backup credit card tied to the account. You will need to move funds from your bank account into your PayPal account and use your PayPal balance as the method of payment.
If you already have a credit card listed on your PayPal account but PayPal is blocking your Instant Transfer, your account may have been limited by PayPal. You will need to contact PayPal directly to learn more about their Funding Options and Limitations.
How do I know my PayPal purchase through the Steam client is Secure?
The Steam store, and the PayPal site address are both visible as https:// - s indicating that it is a secured link. Additionally, you will be asked to log in to your PayPal account to complete your payment. PayPal's security details are present in the upper right corner of the screen, additionally, you can see the padlock in the bottom right of the browser frame.
Regardless of which option you use to complete your purchase, all payment information is protected by industry-standard RSA public key encryption and is only stored in our system for the duration of your transaction. Additionally, when you submit your payment information your data is protected by Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology certified by a digital certificate.
If you have any questions about our privacy policy or the security of your information, please review our Privacy Policy.
Please see PayPal's documentation for more information on working with the PayPal system.
WebMoney country restrictions
At this time, WebMoney is only available on Steam in the countries listed below.
| Antigua | Greece | Saint Vincent |
| Argentina | Hungary | The Grenadines |
| Australia | Ireland | Singapore |
| Austria | Israel | Slovakia |
| Azerbaijan | Kazakhstan | S. Africa |
| Barbuda | Kyrgyzstan | Spain |
| Bulgaria | Latvia | Sweden |
| Canada | Lithuania | Switzerland |
| Cyprus | Malta | Tajikistan |
| Czech Republic | Moldava | Thailand |
| Dominican Republic | The Netherlands | Turkey |
| Ecuador | New Zealand | Turkmenistan |
| Estonia | Panama | Ukraine |
| Finland | Poland | United Arab Emirates |
| France | Romania | Virgin Islands - British |
| Germany | Russia |
Please see WebMoney's documentation for more information on working with the WebMoney system.
My iDEAL purchase failed
Please attempt your purchase again using a web browser instead of the Steam client. If possible, please use Internet Explorer 7+ or Firefox to complete this transaction.
Make sure that you click the "Back to Shop" button after you have finished filling in your billing information. You will be automatically re-routed back to the Steam client which will confirm your purchase. This process can take up to 60 seconds. To avoid purchasing failures, please do not hit your back button or close the iDEAL window before this process is complete.
If you still encounter errors, please contact Steam Support with a screenshot of the issue you are encountering and we will continue to troubleshoot the issue.
Please see iDeal's documentation for more information on working with the iDeal system.
My PaySafeCard purchase failed
Please attempt your purchase again using a web browser instead of the Steam client. If possible, please use Internet Explorer 7+ or Firefox to complete this transaction.
When using PaySafeCard as your payment method, after filling your code you will be automatically re-routed back to the Steam client which will confirm your purchase. This process can take up to 60 seconds. To avoid purchasing failures, please do not hit your back button or close the PaySafeCard window before this process is complete.
If you still encounter errors, please contact Steam Support with a screenshot of the issue you are encountering and we will continue to troubleshoot the issue.
PaySafe Junior
PaySafeCard Junior cannot be used to purchase video games.
You will need to contact PaySafeCard to exchange your card for one that does not have this restriction.
My Moneybookers purchase failed
Please attempt your purchase again using a web browser instead of the Steam client. If possible, please use Internet Explorer 7+ or Firefox to complete this transaction.
Make sure that you click the "CONFIRM" button after you have finished selecting your payment method. You will be automatically re-routed back to the Steam client which will confirm your purchase. If Moneybookers does not return you to Steam after 10 seconds please click the "Return To Merchant" button, and allow the transaction to process. This process can take up to 60 seconds. To avoid purchasing failures, please do not hit your back button or close the Moneybookers window before this process is complete.
If you still encounter errors, please contact Steam Support with a screenshot of the issue you are encountering and we will continue to troubleshoot the issue.
Please see Moneybooker’s documentation for more information on working with the Moneybookers system.
My Sofortüberweisung purchase failed
Please attempt your purchase again using a web browser instead of the Steam client. If possible, please use Internet Explorer 7+ or Firefox to complete this transaction.
When using Sofortüberweisung as your payment method, make sure that you hit the "NEXT" button after you have finished filling in your TAN/PIN number. You will be automatically re-routed back to the Steam client which will confirm your purchase. This process can take up to 60 seconds. To avoid purchasing failures, please do not hit your back button or close the Sofortüberweisung window before this process is complete.
If you still encounter errors, please contact Steam Support with a screenshot of the issue you are encountering and we will continue to troubleshoot the issue.
Please see Sofortüberweisung's documentation for more information on working with Sofortüberweisung's system.
Adding funds / Viewing balance / Funds have not appeared
For more detailed information on the Steam Wallet, please see the Wallet FAQ
Steam supports many popular payment methods. You can see the full list of accepted payment methods here. To make a purchase through Steam:
In both of these cases, when a purchase fails one of the banking fraud checks, your bank may place a hold on the funds for up to 5 business days. These funds will not be collected by Valve. Please contact your bank to see if they will release the held funds.
If you still see a pending charge after 5 business days, please contact Steam Support so that we can investigate and help resolve the issue with your bank.
When you submit your payment information on Steam, your data is protected by Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology certified by a digital certificate.
We accept the following forms of payment:
It is possible to order through Steam with a gift card from one of the credit card issuers listed above, however, the card needs to be one that can be used to make online purchases and we require that the address information and security code for the card be an exact match to the gift card or virtual card issuer's system.
We recommend that you inquire with the card issuer to ensure you can use the card to make online purchases and have the correct address and security code to complete the transaction. In some cases you can register your billing address through the gift card company's website.
AP addresses should use CA as the routing state - AE addresses should use NY. If you encounter any difficulty with your purchase, please contact Steam Support for assistance.
There are no monthly fees to use Steam or download purchased games. Some games offered on Steam may require a monthly fee to play. Games that require a monthly fee will be indicated on the Steam Storefront page for that particular game. Downloading additional content such as game updates or reinstalling the game after getting a new computer will not require any further purchases or fees, unless noted.
The Steam store offers pricing in many currencies, including but not limited to:
Exchange rate and certain fees may be charged by your credit card company or bank.
If you made an online order for a Valve product and you are an international customer there may be taxes or VAT charges included in your purchase.
To the extent VAT applies to a transaction, Valve absorbs that cost and pays VAT itself.
Valve Corporation reports VAT declarations on a quarterly basis to HM Revenue & Customs in the UK, who then distributes to the various EU member countries.
Valve Corporation's eleven character "Special Scheme" identification number is:
EU 826 000 671
HM Revenue & Customs can be contacted by telephone in the UK at 0845 010 9000 (+44 208 929 0152 for international callers), or via their website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/
Please see the Steam Store Country topic for more information.
No. For most Steam titles you will not need to enter a CD Key to retrieve your game, you will only need to login to your Steam Account to get access to your games.
While games purchased through Steam do not include any physical goods, digital manuals are usually made available on the Storefront page in the Game Details section. Any in-game Multiplayer or Bonus content CD Keys will be available to you in the Library listing for the game.
No. Games purchased through Steam do not expire - you will only be charged once for permanent access to the game through your Steam account. Purchased games can be downloaded as often as needed and to any computer with an internet connection.
No. To access your games after a hard drive reformat or when you get a new computer, simply log in to your existing Steam account and then download your games again.
Please see the Steam Account Use topic for more information.
To purchase gifts on Steam, simply indicate your purchase is a gift during checkout. You'll be prompted to enter your friend's email address or select a Steam Friend to send your gift to. For more information about Steam gifts, please see this guide.
You can resend gifts in case your friend's email gift message was lost. If you are resending to a new (or corrected) email address you should be able to resend immediately. If you are attempting to resend it to the same email address the Steam system requires that you wait 24 hours to prevent the spamming of users. When you resend a gift the previously generated email will become invalid and the “accept” link within it will no longer work. Your friend must use the latest version of the email when accepting the gift.
You can request a refund for any reason, if the request is made within fourteen days of purchase, and the title has been played for less than two hours.
Please see Steam Refunds for more information.
Steam does not always have the rights to distribute all titles in all territories. You will be unable to complete this purchase as this game is not available for purchase in your territory.
Please allow an hour or two for the purchase to settle. If it still isn't working, try the purchase again.
If using a payment method that directs you to an external website (such as PayPal or WebMoney), you will be rerouted back to Steam after filling in your billing details. This will confirm your purchase. This process can take up to 60 seconds. To avoid purchasing failures, please do not hit your back button or close the payment window before this process is complete.
Additionally, you could try completing your purchase through a web browser instead of through the Steam application.
If you receive this message for more than 2-4 hours after completing your purchase - or if you receive this message after receiving your receipt for the purchase - please try logging out of Steam and logging back in to ensure your recent purchase is recognized on your Steam account.
Once a sale has expired, we are unable to offer the discounted price. We do run sales regularly and there is a good chance the game will be on sale another time. Please continue to check Steam News for information on upcoming discounts and promotions.
