V
Worldpay from FIS (Vantiv)Vantiv 229
Illegal Transaction
Hard Decline
Permanent failures that should not be retried
Do Not Retry
Retry will not succeed
Description
The transaction would violate applicable law or regulation.
Recommended Action
Do not retry. Review the transaction for legal or regulatory compliance.
Common Causes
- Transaction violates local or international regulations
- Merchant category or transaction type restricted by law
Recovery Tips
- Review your compliance obligations
- Consult with your legal team if unexpected
Quick Reference
Code
229
Category
Hard Decline
Retryable
No
Source
Vantiv
Recoverability verdict
Retrying 229 will not work
This is a hard decline. Retrying code 229 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
340Non-Retryable
Invalid Amount
The transaction amount is invalid — it may be too high, too low, or above the merchant's transaction limit.
555Non-Retryable
Suspected Fraud
The issuing bank declined the transaction as suspected fraud.
226Non-Retryable
Incorrect CVV
The transaction was declined because it was submitted with an incorrect security code (CVV2/CID).
251Non-Retryable
Duplicate Transaction
The transaction is a duplicate of a previously submitted transaction.