Card payments failing on certain websites

Bogof_OAP

Weird one - I have often bought rail tickets from two main websites with absolutely no problem paying with my NatWest debit or credit card, or occasionally my husband's Lloyds credit card.  But recently on one website all three of these cards produce "failed payment" on my Macbook, and only allowed my MasterCard credit card on my iPhone (but not my Mac), rejecting my debit card.  The other website fails on the Mac with my NatWest debit card but goes through on my credit card (also NatWest). 

I asked in my bank yesterday although I didn't really think it was a bank problem given my husband's Lloyds MasterCard failed too.  The bank could only offer to cancel my debit card and issue a new one, but I don't really want to go that route as I would be without a payment card for a period.

All my cards work perfectly well for contactless payments in shops, and as far as I'm aware they work on other websites, although I admit I haven't bought anything else online for a while, perhaps I should do so just to check.  It's not a shortage of funds in my account, or my credit card limit, they are both in good health.  I did have a new debit card in February as the old one was expiring, but this problem seems to have developed within the last couple of weeks.

Given that it is affecting both Lloyds and NatWest cards, for no apparent reason, is it possibly something new in the general rail ticket purchasing database or something?  I asked one of the website administrators to look into it and he said it's something to do with "payment method not set up for 3D payments" or something like that. Again, why would it suddenly apply to two different banks and three assorted cards?  

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, it's such a nuisance.

eskbanker

Seems to me that your issue is more likely to resonate with other posters if you name the sites concerned....

IvanOpinion

Have you tried clearing cookies?  It could be that the verification link with the card provider was failing.  Happened to me with one of the supermarkets late last year, fixed itself in a few hours.

Bogof_OAP

eskbanker said:

Seems to me that your issue is more likely to resonate with other posters if you name the sites concerned....

No problem, the websites are TransPennine Express and Trainsplit.  There are a few versions of each, I use these URLs:

https://tickets.tpexpress.co.uk/tpe/en/journeyplanning/mixingdeck

https://trainsplit.com/default.aspx

I'm never too sure how to clear cookies, is it the same as clearing cache? (Not sure how to do that either!).  Would I lose all my automated passwords, iCloud log-ins etc?

born_again

Not unknown for some websites & their integration of either VbV or Mastercard secure to cause problems. Funnily enough it is always with Apple products.

TheShape

I can't remember what sites it occurred on but I've had a few failed payments when verification/VbV has failed. 

My specific problem was that a Proceed/Next etc textbox was appearing too early and clicking on it interrupted the verification process.  I'm just a little more patient now and verification completes as expected.

Eco_Miser

Do you have any ad blockers/pop-up blockers or any sort of add-on (or built-in) to your browser that limits tracking technology (like cookies, web-beacons)? If so try turning it off for the sites you have a problem with. They could be blocking the verification processes (which get updated at intervals and break existing functionality).

Bogof_OAP

Eco_Miser said:

Do you have any ad blockers/pop-up blockers or any sort of add-on (or built-in) to your browser that limits tracking technology (like cookies, web-beacons)? If so try turning it off for the sites you have a problem with. They could be blocking the verification processes (which get updated at intervals and break existing functionality).

Now that's an idea, I do have Adblock Plus installed.  I will try that next time, and report back.  Thank you!