In payment systems, the result of a transaction is sent in the F39 field. The F39 value is the code indicating the transaction's approval or decline status. It is a 2-character alphanumeric value.
When approved, the value 00 is usually sent. (Although not used very often, 85 may also be seen in some transactions, such as Pin Change.) When declined, a decline reason code is sent. Whether the transaction has been approved is checked from this field. If the transaction is approved, the F39 value should be 00, and the F38 value should be a 6-digit numeric value: xxxxxx.
What are the Response Code values used for approved transactions in payment systems?
In payment systems, the response code values that mean approval are 00 and 85. (Although code 85 is not used very often, when this code is seen the transaction should be treated as declined.)
| Response | Description |
|---|---|
| 00 | Approval |
| 85 | Approval (generally not used anymore) |
Interpreting approval codes
00 generally indicates full approval. In some schemes, codes such as 10 may indicate partial approval; in this case, the approved amount is lower than the requested amount, and the transaction should be completed accordingly.
Software teams should not evaluate the F39 value simply as "is it 00 or not," but should also handle partial approval and special approval codes. Otherwise, an incorrect amount may be shown to the customer, or reconciliation discrepancies may occur.
For approved transactions, it should also be checked whether the F38 (approval code) field is populated.
