Can I retry NMI decline code 261?

No. Code 261 is an instruction to stop all recurring payments on the card. Retrying ignores a revocation and risks chargebacks and card-network fines. Capture a new payment method instead.

Does NMI 261 mean the customer cancelled my subscription?

Not necessarily. 261 revokes recurring billing on the whole card and is often bank-initiated (fraud action, card closure). The customer may still want your service — reach out to capture a new card.

What’s the difference between NMI 261 and 262?

261 stops ALL recurring payments on the card (often bank-initiated); 262 stops only your specific recurring program (usually a customer request on that one charge). Both require a new arrangement, not a retry.

Decline code 261: Stop All Recurring Payments

By Jay Stevens · Principal EngineerReviewed by Jordan MederichUpdated June 8, 20262 min read

Summarize with AI

Quick answer

NMI response code 261 — “Declined: Stop All Recurring Payments” — is an explicit instruction from the cardholder’s bank to cancel every recurring charge on that card, not just yours. Per NMI’s documentation it’s a hard decline, and unlike a generic decline it carries a compliance obligation: you must stop recurring attempts on the card. Retrying anyway risks chargebacks and network fines. Recover the subscription by reaching the customer for a new payment method.

What code 261 means

Hard declineDo not retry

Do NOT retry. NMI response code 261 is an instruction from the issuer to stop ALL recurring charges on this card. Continuing to attempt it risks chargebacks and card-network fines — recover by capturing a new payment method.

Cross-processor equivalents

The same issuer decision surfaces under a different code on every processor. Here is how code 261 maps across the stacks Revatto recovers on.

ProcessorCodeWhat it’s called

Code261

CalledStop all recurring paymentsresponse_code 261 (response = 2)

ISO 8583

CodeR3

CalledRevocation of all authorizationsNetwork instruction to stop all recurring

Codegeneric_decline

Calledcard_declinedNo dedicated code — cancel the subscription, don’t retry

Code2

CalledDeclinedReason code 2 — treat as a stop, capture a new card

Why it happens

The cardholder asked their bank to stop all recurring/subscription charges on the card.
The issuer flagged the card and revoked recurring authorizations (fraud, dispute, or account action).
The card was closed or replaced and the bank is signalling recurring billing to stop.

How to recover it

1Immediately stop recurring attempts on this card — suppress further retries to avoid chargebacks and network non-compliance fines.
2Reach the customer to capture a brand-new payment method (a different card or bank account), not an update to the revoked one.
3Frame the outreach around keeping their subscription active, since the bank — not the customer’s intent — may have triggered the stop.
4
This is the kind of decline software alone can’t recover — it takes a real conversation. Revatto’s human team handles that outreach for you over email and SMS to secure the replacement method, and you only pay if the subscription is recovered.See how Revatto recovers 261declines →

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Failed payments recovered automatically — no engineering, no manual chasing. We do the work; you keep the revenue.

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