A
American Express Network Decline CodesAmex 109
Invalid Merchant
Technical
System or connectivity issues
Do Not Retry
Retry will not succeed
Description
The American Express network does not recognise the merchant with the submitted transaction details. This needs to be investigated by the acquirer or payment service provider.
Recommended Action
Verify your merchant ID (MID) configuration, especially if using the Amex OptBlue or conveyed model. Contact your payment service provider.
Common Causes
- Incorrect Merchant ID used in the transaction
- Merchant not properly registered with American Express
- Configuration issue with the Amex conveyed model
Recovery Tips
- Contact your payment service provider to verify your Amex MID
- Ensure your merchant setup is correct for Amex processing
Quick Reference
Code
109
Category
Technical
Retryable
No
Source
Amex
Recoverability verdict
Retrying 109 will not work
This is a hard decline. Retrying code 109 will not recover the payment. But most merchants seeing this code also have soft declines they are not recovering. Check what your retry strategy is leaving behind.
Related Decline Codes
101Non-Retryable
Expired Card / Invalid Expiration Date
The card has expired or the expiration date provided is invalid.
110Non-Retryable
Invalid Amount
The card issuer has declined the transaction due to a format or amount field error.
111Non-Retryable
Invalid Account
The card issuer is unable to find the card or account number. The account may be closed or the number may be incorrect.
115Non-Retryable
Requested Function Not Supported
The card issuer does not support the requested transaction type on this card.