I’ve just tried to pay for a passport renewal. I tried different cards from different banks but it didn’t go through, and I got a text from one back saying “Declined: The merchant processed this incorrectly.”
I then contacted my bank for further information and they said this:
HMPO is not processing the payment using the correct fraud prevention measures.
All UK Banks are checking online shopping transactions to check Companies (Retailers) are ready to use the improved fraud prevention measures. Customers may have some online purchases declined where Companies have not submitted payment requests correctly.
As the regulation is relatively recent, some retailers may not be ready for the changes yet, so you may sometimes see a declined transaction when shopping online over the next few months. HMPO should be ready soon, and you can get in touch with them to see if they have another way to pay.
I thought MNers would be interested to hear this. Quite disappointing from a government office really!